A Chicago woman won $250,000 from her first-ever lottery ticket, which she wasn't even planning to buy.
La Ongkwan Pinyapap instantly won the top prize after scratching a 25X The Money ticket, the Illinois Lottery said Wednesday in a statement.
"This is the very first lottery ticket I have ever played!" she said. "My friend was buying a ticket, so I thought I should try one, too. We couldn't believe it when I won!"
Pinyapap bought her ticket at the BP gas station on W. Fullerton Ave. in the city's Bucktown neighborhood and took it home to scratch.
She plans to share the windfall with her family, according to the Lottery.
The store will receive a bonus of $2,500, or 1 percent of the prize amount, for selling the winning ticket.
25X The Money is a $5 instant ticket, the Lottery said, with 12 top prizes worth $250,000. Of those 12, six have not yet been claimed.
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Nice that she won but now let's see if The State of Illinois can/will actually cash it...... G5
I believe in beginners luck. Congratulations to the winner!
but even money sez they going to make her jump the half dozen hoops to get it
Me too. Seems to work at a Blackjack table more often than not.
Congrats!!!
My sentiments exactly.
i'm happy for the "1st" time winner. Congrats.
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!TO 1ST time lottery winner!!!
I wonder if Illinois lottery will pay her before before the budget deadline this week? I have a feeling they will come up with a sad excuse i.e. having to collect the funds from all the lottery retailers before disbursement.
Congratulations to her and hope she gets paid.
Her claim has been filed already and temp budget accounts for her and any claims before before July 1st
So she got it in just before deadline and will be paid
If she would have waited and claimed July 1st then she would go on waiting list
Will actually be interesting to see if some people are sitting on winners and rush to claim before 1st. $3,000,000 Jumbo Bucks game has a large # of tickets sold and only 1 winner of grand prize so far so it may be case that someone is sitting on claiming that winner (Tax or other reasons) so they might show up finally
I can't believe there's a 'waiting list' to get paid for a ticket you spent money on!
I can. Illinois has a 250 million dollar pension obligation shortfall. As of yesterday, they suspended MegaMillions and PowerBall. To top it all off, the State cant even pay the electric bill for the Capitol building in Springfield. I guess they'll be legislating in the dark. Kinda like they do it in Washington, DC. G5
Thank you for the update, glad that she is getting paid and able to enjoy her winnings.