The winner, who chose to remain anonymous under the name "Lucky," said he scratched the Millionaire Club Instant Ticket during a break at work—and couldn't believe what he was looking at. "I scratched off the ticket during a break at work and boom—I won," he said, Illinois Lottery said in a press release.
What makes the win even more remarkable is that Lucky almost didn't buy the winning ticket at all. He first purchased a $50 ticket at his go-to Mobil Gas station at 435 W. Roosevelt Rd. in Lombard—but it came up empty. Rather than walking away, he decided to try his luck one more time. That second ticket turned out to be the jackpot.
For the anonymous man, the win carries personal meaning beyond the money. His birthday came just weeks before the big scratch, and he says the timing couldn't have been better. "I just celebrated my birthday a few weeks ago, so this win feels like the perfect gift," he said. "It's especially exciting since I bought the ticket at a store I visit regularly."
The Lombard Mobil station is more than just a convenience stop for Lucky—it's a place where he knows the staff by name. After collecting his winnings, he wasted no time sharing the news with the people who work there. "I come to this store often, and I'm close friends with the staff here," he said. "When I bought the ticket, I told them I was coming back with a lot of zeros. I can't believe it actually happened."
The win also isn't entirely surprising, given Lucky's history with the lottery. He said he plays frequently and has racked up roughly 20 previous wins, with prizes ranging from $1,000 to $5,000. This time, however, the payout was on a different level entirely.
As for what he plans to do with the money, Lucky says his priorities center on family and community. He intends to buy a new home, invest in his family's financial future, update his wardrobe, and donate a portion of the winnings to a local hospital.
The Mobil Gas station in Lombard will also see a share of the winnings from the ticket. Under Illinois Lottery rules, retailers that sell jackpot-winning tickets receive a bonus equal to 1 percent of the prize amount—in this case, $10,000.
The Illinois Lottery, founded in 1974, has paid out prizes at nearly 7,000 retail locations statewide, offering Instant Ticket games ranging from $1 to $50. Since 1985, the lottery has contributed more than $26 billion to Illinois' Common School Fund, which supports K-12 public education across the state and receives nearly 99 percent of lottery proceeds.