A lottery player in Illinois is $9.2 million richer after playing the wrong game when a machine at a local grocery store malfunctioned.
The accidental winner, who has wished to stay anonymous, was attempting to play a different game when a problem arose with the machine at Jewel-Osco, located at 140 West Lake Street in Addison, which is about 20 miles west of Downtown Chicago.
He ended up playing the lottery instead and bagged the $9.2 million jackpot.
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"It was a normal day just like any other. I was picking up groceries at Jewel and on my way out the door, I decided to buy a lottery ticket," the lucky winner told the Illinois Lottery.
"I actually wanted to buy a ticket for a different game and the machine got stuck on Lotto. I was a bit frustrated. I said, ‘What is going on? The machine won’t give me the right game!’ So I decided I may as well buy the Lotto ticket."
It proved to be a life-changing decision.
The winning ticket matched all six numbers in the Aug. 24 Lotto drawing to score the $9.2 million jackpot prize. The winning numbers were 2, 15, 21, 29, 42 and 44.
The lucky winner held onto the ticket for about a month before claiming his prize.
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"The morning after the drawing, I scanned the ticket at a machine to check if it was a winner," the man said.
"When the machine showed the $9.2 million prize amount, I couldn’t believe it. I looked at my wife and she was completely speechless. We are laughing over how angry I was at the broken machine and we're so grateful for how it all turned out."
For selling the winning ticket, Jewel in Addison will receive a one percent bonus of the prize amount, or $92,000.
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The win is the second-largest prize won in the lotto game this year in Illinois, according to the Illinois Lottery, with the largest being a $10.4 million winning ticket sold in Park Ridge in February. The lottery takes place three times a week, on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
Founded in 1974, the Illinois Lottery has contributed over $24 billion to the State’s Common School Fund in support of K-12 public education in Illinois since 1985. The Common School Fund is the Illinois Lottery’s primary beneficiary, receiving nearly 99% of Illinois Lottery proceeds. The Illinois Lottery also supports various specialty causes.
Meanwhile, playing the Mega Millions lottery will get more expensive in April next year with lottery tickets climbing by $3 to $5.
