A lucky Illinois Lottery Player is the proud winner of a $12.5 million jackpot after purchasing a ticket at an Elgin liquor store over the weekend.
According to Illinois Lottery officials, the winning ticket was purchased at Total Liquors in the 800 block of Summit Street in Elgin. The ticket matched all six numbers in the Saturday Lotto drawing, earning the ticketholder a jackpot prize of $12.5 million.
According to officials, that is the largest Lotto jackpot victory since June 2020, and the winning ticketholder is the sixth to win at least $1 million in a drawing this year in the state.
The winner has not yet come forward to claim their prize.
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Store owners Bharat and Chetan Patel expressed their shock after the winning sale, with the owners receiving a $125,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket.
“I didn’t believe it, so I checked the Illinois Lottery’s website and saw our store’s name listed as the retailer that sold the winning ticket,” Bharat said. “At that moment, my disbelief turned to sheer joy!”
Patel says he plans to use the money to reinvest in the business.
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The Lotto drawing occurs on Monday, Thursday and Saturday, and is only available in Illinois. The next drawing will take place Monday night, with a jackpot of $2 million.
