SPRING VALLEY, Ill. — A $20 holiday-themed scratch-off ticket has turned an Illinois Lottery player into a millionaire.
According to the Illinois Lottery, the Merry Multiplier ticket was sold at Happy’s Super Service Convenience Store in the 100 block of East Dakota Street in Spring Valley, and the store’s owners say they watched as the big winner scratched their way to riches.
“Next thing we know, the customer is jumping up and down and screaming, so we knew it had to be a big winning ticket. It was a pretty exciting moment,” said Lisa West, who owns the store with her husband Fred.
The store’s owners say Spring Valley, located about 90 miles from Chicago, only has about 5,500 residents, so the million-dollar win is pretty significant.
“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,” West said.
The recently minted millionaire picked up just one of the 61 million winning instant tickets sold so far in 2023, snagging a small portion of the $1.35 billion won by Illinois Lottery players.
West said she is still processing the big win and the accompanying bonus that she and her husband will receive for selling the ticket, equal to 1% of the prize amount.
“I’m not sure it’s sunk in yet that we get such a generous prize, too. My husband and I have owned this store for over 16 years. You never think the big wins will happen to someone you know and at such a joyful time of year. We can’t wait to celebrate!” West said.
The odds of winning the impressive prize were 1 in 757,740 and only three players total will snag one of the top prizes. The Illinois Lottery says the winner can choose to have the prize paid out as a one-time cash payment of $600,000 or take an annual payment of $50,000 for 20 years.
Lottery officials released details about the big win on Monday afternoon and did not disclose the name of the million-dollar winner.
Winners have one year from the date of winning to claim their prizes and players are advised to write their names on the backs of winning tickets and keep them in a safe place until they are ready to claim their prizes.
