Photo caption: Febin Thomas, owner of a BP gas station in Des Plaines (middle), takes a celebratory photo with employees, Abdul Gaffar (left) and Muneeb Ahmed (right) after finding out they sold a $1.45 million winning Lucky Day Lotto ticket.
An Illinois Lottery retailer is celebrating after selling a winning $1.45 million Lucky Day Lotto ticket over the September weekend.
“I’m almost too excited to think straight!,” laughed Febin Thomas, owner of the BP gas station where the winning ticket was purchased. “I actually know who the winner is because they came to the store yesterday morning to tell us the big news – they were so excited!”
The ticket was purchased for the Sunday, September 22, 2024, evening drawing at the BP gas station at 1215 Lee Street in Des Plaines.
The winning ticket matched all five numbers in the Sunday evening drawing to score the $1,450,000 jackpot prize. The winning numbers were: 6-16-32-33-40.
Thomas shared, “I couldn’t be happier for the winner. They’re a regular customer who has been coming into our store for many years. I’m thrilled this win is going to a familiar face and that we were able to celebrate with the lucky winner.”
This is also a big win for the retailer that sold the winning ticket, as the store will receive a cash selling bonus of one percent of the prize amount. For BP on Lee Street in Des Plaines, that means a bonus of $14,500.
When asked what he plans to do with the bonus, Thomas expressed, “I have many longtime employees, some have even worked for me for over ten years, and I’d love to share the bonus with them.”
This isn’t the first time the retailer has sold a big winning lottery ticket. In the last two years, this BP has sold winning $25,000 and $50,000 scratch-off tickets.
So far this year, over 9.8 million winning Lucky Day Lotto tickets have been sold, with total prizes amounting to more than $53 million for Illinois Lottery players.
Winners have one year from the date of the winning draw in which to claim their prize. The Illinois Lottery encourages all lucky 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.
Lucky Day Lotto is an Illinois-only game with twice daily drawings at 12:40 p.m. and 9:22 p.m.
Tickets for the game can be purchased in-store, online, or on the Illinois Lottery app. For more information or to buy tickets online, please visit IllinoisLottery.com.
Lucky Day Lotto b-roll available for use by the media; download here.
As the Lucky Day Lotto jackpot continues to grow, the Illinois Lottery encourages players to remember it’s a game of chance. For more information about the odds of winning, visit the Lucky Day Lotto game page on IllinoisLottery.com. Be Smart, Play Smart®. Must be 18 or older to play.
