If you found out you won $1.45 million playing the lottery, how would you react? This Illinois Lottery player said they almost passed out!
'This can't be real'
The winning ticket matched all five numbers from the Sunday, September 22, evening draw for the Lucky Day Lotto to win the $1.45 million jackpot that night. The winning numbers were 6, 16, 32, 33, and 40.
The ticket was purchased at the BP gas station, located at 1215 Lee Street in Des Plaines. For selling the winning ticket, the lucky retailer received a $14,500 bonus from the lottery.
The lucky winner, who chose to remain anonymous, has now come forward to claim their winnings.
The Lucky Day Lotto winner exclaimed:
When I realized how big my prize was, I almost passed out! I thought 'No way, this can't be real'. I checked the winning numbers online multiple times the morning after the drawing. It wasn't until I clicked on 'check your numbers,' and entered the numbers on my ticket that I realized 'Oh my gosh, I really won!'
No retirement worries now
The big winner happens to be the 77th player in 2024 to become a millionaire playing the Illinois Lottery. With that, comes a little less stress about worrying about financing their retirement.
The lucky winner told lottery officials:
I called my best friend to share the news, and they said to me, “Just last week, you were worried about not having enough money for your retirement. Well, I guess you don't have to worry anymore — I'm so happy for you!“ They're right — I am so happy that I can't stop smiling and crying at the same time.
The Lucky Day Lotto draw game is an Illinois-only game that holds drawings two times a day at 12:40 p.m. and 9:22 p.m. CT. Players can buy tickets at any lottery retailer, as well as online and on the Illinois Lottery website.
One of those other millionaires
As stated above, there have been 77 players to win $1 million or more playing the Illinois Lottery in 2024. One of those winners happened to be in central Illinois and they took home the top prize on one of the Illinois Lottery's scratch-off tickets.
The winning ticket was purchased at Fas Mart, located at the Marathon gas station at 3801 South 6th Street in Springfield. For selling the winning ticket, the retailer received a $10,000 bonus from the state lottery.
The lucky player won the top prize on a $10 Gold Multiplier instant ticket, which was launched earlier this month.
For 2024, lottery officials said there have been more than 45.8 million winning instant tickets sold. Those lucky winners have netted over $1.1 billion in prizes. Currently, the Illinois Lottery offers a range of instant tickets with games priced from $1 up to $50, which are available for purchase at almost 7,000 retailers across the state.
Enjoy playing the Illinois Lottery, and please remember to play responsibly.
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