CHICAGO — A lucky Illinois iLottery player is now a believer after recently claiming a $1.1 million Lucky Day Lotto jackpot at the Illinois Lottery Prize Center in Rockford.
“I received an email saying that I won, but with so many email scams out there, I thought it was fake,” said the winner, who playfully dubbed himself ‘My Hole-in-One.’ “Even after checking the winning numbers and calling the Illinois Lottery, I still wasn’t convinced. As the old saying goes—‘the hay's not in the barn yet.’”
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The lucky winner matched all five numbers—14-22-23-32-36—in the Lucky Day Lotto midday drawing on Sunday, July 27, scoring the $1.1 million jackpot.
“I was out on the golf course a few days before I claimed the prize when it finally hit me—I really did win,” he shared. “Tears came to my eyes. It was incredibly moving.”
When asked how he plans to use his newfound fortune, My Hole-in-One laughed, “Try and keep the money away from my wife,” he joked. “We’re both retired and live simply, so we’ll keep most of it in the bank for a rainy day. But we’ll celebrate and splurge with a vacation to Florida or California—and my wife’s already eyeing a kitchen remodel… we’ll see about that.”
Lucky Day Lotto is an Illinois-only draw game with two daily drawings at 12:40 p.m. and 9:22 p.m., and jackpots starting at $100,000. Tickets are available in-store, online, and via the Illinois Lottery app.
