Woman Wins $2M with Scratch-Off Lottery Ticket

Convenience Food and Liquor in Forest View will receive $20,000

A west suburban woman officially accepted her $2 million lottery prize Tuesday after using her old sports jersey number to choose the winning scratch-off ticket.

Monique Abbate, 39, purchased the “$2,000,000 EXTRAVAGANZA!” ticket from Convenience Food and Liquor, at 4559 S. Harlem Ave., in Forest View.

She chose the ticket from a bin marked "10" because it’s the number that adorned her old basketball and softball jerseys, Abbate said in a statement.

Abbate scratched the ticket off in her car, and rushed home to record her mother’s and grandmother’s reactions.

"I started screaming," said Abbate, a school administrator. "I couldn’t believe it."

Abbate said she will use the winnings to pay off student loans that financed her bachelor’s and two master’s degrees. She said she'll also plan a trip to Las Vegas for family and 14 of her friends later this month.

Convenience Food and Liquor will receive $20,000, or 1 percent of the prize amount.

Copyright CHIST - SunTimes
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