Chicago – First, a new grandson, and then a $3 million Illinois Lottery win, has one suburban Chicago player feeling like the luckiest man in the world.
The winner, who has requested to remain anonymous, recently won the top prize of $3 million on a 200X Payout Instant Ticket.
“I’m no stranger to buying tickets, just ask my wife,” joked the man. “But I’ve definitely never won a prize like this before.”
The $3 million winning scratch-off ticket was purchased at a 7-Eleven, located at 606 W. Northwest Highway in Mount Prospect, where the winner has been a regular customer for many years.
“The owner, his wife, and his son are very nice people,” explained the winner. “The owner said to his wife recently, ‘That guy is going to win someday! He always comes in, sits in his truck, and scratches his tickets – and he’s always so happy. He’s definitely going to win.'”
The player is thrilled that they were right! “He was actually the first person I told,” shared the winner. “After scratching the ticket in my truck, I ran back into the store and gave the owner a big hug. He scanned the ticket, and you should have seen the shocked look on his face!”
His wife was the very next person to find out. “When I got home, I left the winning ticket on the kitchen table for my wife to find. She said ‘Are you messing with me? Is this real?’ For years, she’s joked with me – ‘Can’t you just win the lottery already?’ Well, we did! And just in time for retirement.”
When asked how winning the lottery will change his life, the man said, “We’ve been planning our retirement for a while now and winning the lottery helps us to be more comfortable with the decision. We’re already planning to move near our daughter and son-in-law so that we can be closer to our new grandson.”
The winner added, “It will be nice to enjoy the win and bask in it a little. My wife is big on traveling, so we were talking about taking a trip to Hawaii. It sounds like the perfect getaway to relax.”
This is also a big win for the 7-Eleven in Mount Prospect, as they’ll receive a selling bonus of one percent of the prize amount, or $30,000.
Already this year, over four million winning Illinois Lottery Instant Tickets have been sold, netting players over $105 million in prizes.
The Illinois Lottery currently offers a range of Instant Ticket games priced from $1 to $50, available at approximately 7,000 retail locations across Illinois.
The Illinois Lottery encourages all winners to write their name on the back of their ticket and keep it in a safe place until they’re ready to claim their prize. Winners should visit IllinoisLottery.com/winning for more information on how to claim their prize.