Lucky souvenir makes trip to Illinois one to remember
By Kate Northrop
CHICAGO, Ill. — A tourist visiting Chicago, Illinois picked up a souvenir that made their trip one of the most memorable yet — a $3.18 million winning lottery ticket.
While seeing the sights in Chicago, Illinois, a visitor decided to play the lottery on a whim and ended up winning a jackpot worth over $3 million.
Dubbed "Traveling Treasure" to conceal their identity, the lucky tourist recounted their busy trip to Illinois Lottery officials. It had already been off to a great start prior to the win, which was just the cherry on top.
"I've been to Chicago before but never had the chance to explore the tourist spots, so on this trip I made sure to see as much as I could," "Traveling Treasure" told the Illinois Lottery. "I visited the Skydeck at Willis Tower, checked out some filming locations from Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and of course, I couldn't leave without seeing The Bean."
But the packed day was not over yet, the visitor decided. There was one more fun activity to try out while they had the opportunity, and it was to play the local lottery in Illinois.
"Before heading back to my hotel one evening, I stopped at a nearby convenience store," the winner recalled in a press release. "I noticed the 'Ultimate Diamond Jackpot' game had a pretty high prize amount at the time, so I decided to try my luck and bought a ticket."
"Traveling Treasure" purchased their $30 "Ultimate Diamond Jackpot" FastPlay ticket at Komal Wine and Liquors on North Cumberland Avenue in Chicago, a 10-minute drive from Chicago O'Hare International Airport. This FastPlay game offers a progressive jackpot that grows with every ticket purchase.
"When I got back to the hotel and checked it, I saw that I'd won the jackpot — over $3 million!" the winner laughed. "It was a moment of shock and awe, and I completely froze."
"Traveling Treasure's" total jackpot win amounted to $3,188,104, and the winnings could not have been timed better, the out-of-state player related to Lottery staff. The prize money will allow them to simultaneously escape a tricky living situation and secure housing.
"I've been wanting to buy a house for a while, but with how expensive real estate is these days, it just hasn't been possible," the winner explained. "Then, I recently found out my landlord is selling the apartment I've been renting, so now I have to move out. I feel incredibly lucky — this win couldn't have come at a better time!"
For selling the winning ticket, the retailer receives a bonus commission of $31,000, or one percent of the prize amount.
The jackpot for the "Ultimate Diamond Jackpot" FastPlay game resets to its starting amount of $75,000 every time it is won. As of Saturday morning, the jackpot stands at over $444,000.
In this year alone, the game has resulted in more than 395,000 winning tickets and awarded players with over $26 million in prizes, according to the Lottery.
There are currently more than 25 FastPlay games available at various price points and play styles in the Illinois Lottery. Tickets can be purchased in-person at retailers or online through the Lottery's official website or mobile app.
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Enjoy the winning and may you find the best house deal 🤝
Congratulations 🎉
* That has never happened to either myself or friends in all our travels - l wonder what we missing!
LUCK!!!
That's what you are missing 🤣🤣
Two years ago I did a 13 state road trip. I bought lottery tickets in all those States.
Guess how much I won?
Zero 🤣
It's all about luck.
May luck find us soon 🤞
* l think you must be right. Years ago, a visitor from AZ * l think, took a trip to NY with his wife for 3 days to visit friends, while on a foot walk, bought a single lottery ticket, a few days later flew home only to check his ticket & find out he won over $200 mil. Had to do a return trip to NY, which l think was no bother. It was big news back in AZ.
Can you even fathom that.
Remember everyday NY locals would walk into that store and buy their tickets.
Even, the exact same day the visitor bought their tickets am sure some locals did buy tickets as well.
The guy just got lucky and his steps led him to that store at the time when he was supposed to be there.
Completely off topic but .... as I was saying not too long ago ....,. looks like PB will surpass MM in a week or so on there current runs.
Doesn't look good for MM.
I would think it logical that MM starting at 50 mil .,... it would generate momentum and start off with at least a $10 mil amt and increasing by 5 mil every draw thereafter 10 15 20 25 etc
I want to play MM again ...... @ 250 mil ...... would someone out there start buying some ticket? " crickets "
* l tend to agree with you, but like they say in the movies" No turning back, no retreat, no surrender." The powers that be do not want to come off looking like fools, after all they took more than quite a while to come up with this weird plan.
* Perhaps like George Custer who may have thought before facing the foe at Little Big Horn, " it looks like a trap, but l may succeed." We all know how that turned out, don't we?
It's wasn't luck it was a "Blessing".
Come on ShagE3,
There are so many threads on MM/PB to comment on.
WTF are you doing here?
Don't take away from all of the good vibes from this thread.
I appreciate your view of it as a blessing.
However, I still consider it LUCK!!
Whether the win actually becomes a BLESSING or a CURSE, that we shall see some few years down the line 😉