Community Corner
These IL Lottery Winners Are Living Big After Scoring Millions In 2023
As we look ahead to 2024, it's time to look back at some of our biggest stories from the past year. Including, Illinois' big lottery wins.
ACROSS ILLINOIS — From a Chicago man who got to kickstart his retirement early to a happy mistake that lead to big money for one Illinois resident, this past year's lottery winners are easy to feel a little envious of.
As we look ahead to 2024, which will debut in the coming days, we are looking back at some of the lottery stories from 2023 in Illinois. Some walked away with thousands, but a select few with the right scratch-off became millionaires.
Below, we've included our favorite stories of good luck and big wins in 2023:
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Chicago Man Gets Early Retirement After Turning $10 Into $1 Million
A 68-year-old Chicago man who was planning on retiring in 2024 has now adjusted his future plans after capturing a $1 million payday in the Illinois Lottery ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, lottery officials said in late November. The man, who was identified only as "Mr. M" purchased a $10 scratch-off ticket from a Harwood Heights convenience store that was worth $1 million, allowing him to retire early and spend more time with his family.
“I was going to retire next year - but now I don’t have to wait," the lottery winner said in a news release. “It’s time I focus on what really matters — my family. With this money, I can retire early, and I’m going to move closer to my kids to be more present in their lives. I’m also a grandfather, and it’s finally time for me to enjoy spoiling my grandkids.”
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Illinois Man Wins $1M On $20 Ticket Purchased With Morning Coffee
A longtime Illinois construction worker who purchased a scratch-off lottery ticket in November along with his morning coffee — even after his wife asked him to stop playing the lottery —became a millionaire after hitting it big on a $20 winner.
The winner, who is choosing to remain anonymous, bought the winning ticket at a gas station just eight miles south of Champaign, the Illinois Lottery announced in early November. The resident, who says he has worked in the construction industry for more than 30 years, happened to pick up the ticket along with his coffee and immediately returned home after discovering his purchase had earned him $1 million.
“It’s the craziest thing to ever happen to me — I still can’t stop shaking,” the Illinois resident said in a news release. “My wife was just saying ‘You’ve got to stop buying those things.’ So you can imagine how ecstatic I was to be able to tell her I won.”
$1M Lottery Winner Is 'Big News' For Small Illinois Community
An Illinois resident from a small community north of Bloomington not accustomed to having a lot happening around town is now a newly minted millionaire – just in time for the holidays.
A regular customer at a Spring Valley convenience store hit the jackpot on a holiday-themed scratch-off ticket that was purchased recently at Happy’s Super Store, Illinois state lottery officials announced on Monday.
The winner scratched off a Merry Multiplier ticket in front of the store’s owners and couldn’t believe what happened next.
“Next thing we know, the customer is jumping up and down and screaming, so we knew it had to be a big winning ticket,” said Lisa West, who owns and operates the store with her husband, Fred. “It was a pretty exciting moment.”
She added: “There’s not a lot of action going on here, so someone winning a million bucks playing the Lottery is pretty big news around — and we’re so excited that it happened at our store.”
Weeks before the downstate win, Illinois Lottery officials announced a second million-dollar winner of its Merry Multiplier ticket in Chicago. The lucky winner turned in a $20 purchase of a Merry Multiplier scratch-off ticket from a South Side convenience store and landed the $1 million top prize.
The $1 million ticket was purchased from Super Shopper Food Mart, located at 1351 W. 79th St. in Chicago, lottery officials said.
Chicago Lottery Winner Becomes Merry Millionaire With Scratch-Off Win
A $20 purchase of a Merry Multiplier ticket bought at a 79th Street food store turned one lucky resident into a new millionaire. (Photo courtesy of the Illinois Lottery)
CHICAGO — The holidays are still nearly two months away, but that didn’t keep one local resident from getting into a holly-jolly mood early and walking away with $1 million in the process.
Illinois Lottery officials announced on Tuesday that the lucky winner from turning a $20 purchase of a Merry Multiplier scratch-off ticket from a South Side convenience store and becoming a millionaire.
The $1 million top prize-winning scratch-off was purchased at Super Shopper Food Mart, located at 1351 W. 79th St. in Chicago, lottery officials said.
IL Man Wins Lottery After Gas Station Employee's Ticket Mistake
A happy accident made by a Michigan gas station employee has left one Illinois man hundreds of thousands of dollars richer. Michael Sopejstal, 60, won $25,000 per year when his Lucky For Life ticket matched the five white balls drawn Sept. 17, according to the Michigan Lottery.
Sopejstal bought the lucky ticket at the GoLo gas station at 102 W. Buffalo St. in New Buffalo.
“I come to Michigan every few weeks to eat at my favorite restaurant and I always get a Lucky for Life ticket for 10 or 20 draws while I’m here,” Sopejstal told the lottery. “I asked the retailer for a ticket for 10 draws, but he accidentally printed a ticket with 10 lines for one draw, but I told him I still wanted it.”
Small Illinois Community Basks In $3M Lottery Winner Mystery
A rural Illinois town of 750 residents just outside of Moline is buzzing these days after a lucky lottery player managed to win a jackpot of $3 million in a scratch-off game. Now, the mystery remains: Who’s the lucky winner?
According to the Illinois Lottery, the newly minted millionaire spent $30 and turned it into a $3 million payday at the BP station at 111 Northwest 5th Street in Woodhull, which is 30 miles southeast of Moline and 65 miles northwest of Peoria. The winner won big on the Illinois Lottery’s 200X Payout game, which has brought notoriety to the small Illinois town.
“Lately, all anyone can talk about is the $3 million winning lottery ticket — everyone in our tiny town is trying to figure out who the lucky winner is,” said Jennifer Damer, the gas station manager. “We have an idea of who it could be, and we especially hope it’s someone local. But ultimately, I would really like to congratulate whoever won, and share in the excitement of this moment with them,”
'Lucky' Liquor Store Sells Another Winning Lottery Ticket
And when it comes to lottery-related news, it's always good to know the "lucky" spots for picking up a ticket. In September, a "lucky" liquor store in Carpentersville sold its second multi-million dollar winning Illinois Lottery ticket in three years.
Shar’s Armanetti Fine Wines & Spirits, located at 222 W. Main Street in Carpentersville, sold the winning jackpot scratch-off ticket worth $3 million to one of its regular customers, according to a news release from The Illinois Lottery. The lucky customer spent $30 on a Titanium Black 7s instant ticket and ended up winning the games top prize.
The store owner, Dhiren Patel, said the big winner, who visits the store often, thanked him on the spot.
“She scratched the ticket right in front of me after purchasing it and I witnessed the shocked look on her face,” Patel said. “She then came over closer to me and excitedly said ‘Pinch me, I need to make sure this is real! I won a big amount - thank you, thank you!’ It’s so exciting when the big wins go to our regular, local customers.”
$7M In Unclaimed Lottery Tickets Still Out There In IL
And if you are hopeful you might have a winning ticket in your purse or a random coat pocket, it may be a good time to start searching for any unclaimed tickets around your house. Last week, the Illinois Lottery announced there's more than $7 million in unclaimed lottery prizes from the past year still out there.
The unclaimed prizes total between $200,000 and $2 million and were sold at businesses in Chicago, Buffalo Grove, Skokie, Chicago Heights, Bellwood and Loves Park as early as April the year.
We've got a rundown of where the tickets, which all have more than $100.000 prizes, were sold in our story here.
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