A million dollar dream has come true for two Illinois Lotto® players in the last five days – thanks to the two additional draws, Lotto Million 1 and Lotto Million 2, which were added to the Lotto game mid last year.
A Lotto ticket purchased at King Supermarket, located at 400 E. 41st St. in Chicago, won the Lotto Million 2jackpot in Monday night’s drawing. The winning ticket matched all six numbers, 3-21-26-36-45-49, to win the $1 million prize.
The other $1 million winning ticket was sold at Johnsons Lighthouse Pointe and Car Wash, 1 W. St. Charles Rd. in Villa Park, and matched all six Lotto Million 1 numbers in last Saturday, January 15 drawing: 12-13-23-39-49-50.
Joel Johnson, store manager of the family owned business in Villa Park, hopes the winner is someone they know.
“Our store has been a fixture of the community since 1991, so most of our customers are local,” said Johnson. “I don’t know who won, but I hope that it’s someone from our hometown.”
Retailers also have good reasons to celebrate as these wins bring their business a cash bonus of one percent of the prize amount for selling a winning ticket. For both of the retailers, that means a bonus of $10,000 each.
This is the second time that the Villa Park retailer has sold a winning Lottery ticket. In 2004, the convenience store sold a winning $1 million instant ticket.
Johnson said this time around, their family plans to pay bills and share the winnings with staff.
“The selling bonus couldn’t have come at a better time,” added Johnson. “We’re going to use the majority of the money to pay bills impacted by the Covid pandemic, but also plan to share some of the winnings with our dedicated and loyal store employees.”
Both of the Lotto winners have yet to come forward and claim their prize. They have one year from the date of the winning draw to do so.
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. Winners should visit IllinoisLottery.com/winning to learn how to claim their prizes.
Lotto is an Illinois-only game that is played three times a week on Monday, Thursday and Saturday, and the current jackpot is $6.5 million for the next draw, Thursday, January 20.
For more information or to buy tickets online, please visit illinoislottery.com or download the Illinois Lottery app on your smartphone.
