44 Million Dollar Lottery Ticket About To Expire

Dateline, Florida.  Capital of the No Sweat News.  There's a million dollar lottery ticket about to expire.

That means there’s a very wealthy person walking around Florida, but they don’t know it yet. And it’s possible they’ll never know they’re a multi-millionaire.

That’s because:  it seems like they don’t know that they are in possession of a lottery ticket worth.  Get this.  44 million dollars.

There’s a statue of limitations on lottery tickets.  And this 44 million dollar lottery ticket is about to expire.

Gone.  Zilch.  Notta.  “You get nothing!  Good day!”

According to reports, the lottery ticket was drawn on June 14^th of this year at a gas station in Kissimmee, Florida.  The big winner was sold at the Sunoco Express on Orange Blossom Trail.  If the holder of the winning ticket doesn’t present it at lottery headquarters on or before Monday, December 11^th, it becomes just a worthless piece of paper.

Now, you may be asking yourself:  “What’s the deal with lottery tickets in New Jersey?”  How can I know if I have million dollar lottery ticket about to expire?

Well, according to the NJ Lottery website it looks like it’s a year.  They made an extension back during COVID and it's permanent.  “Draw” tickets like the Pick-3, Pick-4, Jersey Cash Five are a year.  You have a year to claim your dough.  That's the deal with Powerball and Megamillions tickets as well.  Winners have a year to cash in their tickets for their prize money.

Because they have different release dates, scratch off lottery tickets are a little different.  Scratch offs are also a year to claim your money.  But, it’s a year after the official game ending date which is different for each scratch off game because they all have differnt . Because the expiration date of scratch off lottery tickets is more confusing, the New Jersey Lottery has a website that is intended to help let you know what has expired.

So, if you have a winning scratch off ticket it probably best to bring that puppy in and collect as soon as possible.  Otherwise you might end up on the No Sweat News.

If a winning lotter ticket isn't claimed the money still exists, so what happens to it?  In the case of a multi-state lottery draw like Mega Millions or Powerball the money is returned to state lotteries in proportion to how many tickets each state sold.  In New Jersey, 30% of unclaimed lottery winnings must be returned to the state as revenue.  The rest is not kicked back into the prize pot for the next drawing, it is considered revenue so it goes into the spending arm of the lottery which directs the money to educational aid and so forth.

So, correct me if I'm wrong:  some of your unclaimed lottery winnings is spent by the state of New Jersey?  Damn.

I follow a whole slew of pages that focus on specific foods, pizza, burgers, subs…etc. I really like following the guys who created the "Jersey Pizza Joints" page..

These guys are hardcore. There are rare dust ups and occasional disagreements, but overall, the page is filled with passionate pizza lovers who want you to try their favorite places. Some of these people eat pizza several times a week.

I became somewhat of a fan of thin crust pizza a few months after moving to the Garden State over 25 years ago. Vic’s in Bradley Beach, and Pete & Elda’s in Neptune City were the restaurants chosen by my co-workers to initiate me into the thin crust pizza club.

WOW!! Pizza with a crunch! I thought that was kind of neat. The thin crust initiation was rather eye opening. I look back and think I was kind of sheltered and set in my ways when it came to pizza.
Recently, I have noticed quite a few people online in various parts of the state, asking for recommendations on where they can find the best thin crust pizza in New Jersey.

Matt Denton, one of the members of the “Jersey Pizza Joints” page, was the most recent to ask these questions:

Where is the best place in Jersey to get the following:
1. The best traditional thin crust pizza.
2. Where the crust cracks when you fold it in half.
3. And orange cheese grease runs down your arm when you pick up and hold the folded slice to eat it.
4. No fancy wood fired brick ovens, just the traditional neighborhood steel pizzeria oven.
Please provide location in addition to name.
Thanks!

Back in September, Raymond Danner asked, "Who has the best thin crust ( Dime coin thin ) pizza in NJ?"

Now it’s time to reveal the answers to Matt and Raymond's questions.

Eddie M. was the first to suggest Calabria, and several people agreed. Hey, El Presidente, Dave Portnoy gave them an 8.9 score for their thin crust pie. Dave rarely gives super high scores. If you hit their homepage HERE, Portnoy's photo is the first thing to hit your eyes.

Nate R.  said it loud and proud, Pete & Elda’s is pretty good.  Several people agreed with Nate. I'm one of them.

If a place has been around for over a century, you don't question a thing. They just picked up another award for Best Pizza in Monmouth County in the Asbury Park Press's Community's Choice Awards!

Jason K. and several others gave Patsy's old school bar pie an impassioned endorsement.

Michael B. kicked off the lovefest for Nancy's. When you find a thin crust pie that other's have described as "light and airy with no flop", you jump on it.

A thin crust sausage pie from this joint does not disappoint. Bill C & several others are avid fans of Star Tavern's thin crust creations. They've been around since 1945.

Hackensack is on my list of places to do a foodie road trip. Jeff Ananson, one of my foodie friends, makes a ton of recommendations for places to eat in this town. The JPJ page was full of fans recommending Lido's thin crust pies.

They are famous for appearing in the opening credits of The Sopranos, and just as famous for their delicious thin crust. Alberto G is not alone in his enthusiasm for Pizza Land's thin crust.

Mike V. simply said, "This place is amazing!" Others followed suit.

Primarily know for their ultra-thin crust, Kinchley's was a big winner with the crew on the JPJ page.

Apparently, Bayonne has a few places that fit the thin crust bill. Bobby D,  a top contributor to the page wrote: "The Vic, Kuhl's and Starting Point in Bayonne all get it done."

https://www.thevictavernmenu.com/

Robert K started the passionate thin crust parade for the Anchor Inn. Crisp, delicious, and served with a smile. Johnny C, "The Pizza Guy" said, "If you like places like the Star Tavern or similar style pies, this is the spot."

The JPJ page was a little light on South Jersey recommendations, so I ventured over the South Jersey Food Scene page to find the best thin crust joints in their neck of the woods, and this was the first place mentioned.

"All Our Pizzas Are Thin, Crispy, and Made With Love." That's the first thing I saw on their website. They were also mentioned quite a few times.

The pizza looks amazing!! Just a few people on the boards mentioned them, but I'm including them based on all the photos of their good looking pies.

A few hands were raised for this joint. Especially for the variety of inventive options offered by Angelotti's.

I had to save my first thin crust pizza experience for last. Vic's is like home to me for the last 27 years. If you've never been here, I urge you to make the trip. This is the quintessential old school joint on the Jersey Shore that everyone loves.