Glenview Man Wins Lottery Using Birthdays Of Daughters

GLENVIEW, IL — Rich Pascente felt like a lucky man when his youngest daughter was born on Christmas Eve. Now, 39 years later, the father of two is still feeling the luck from that special day.

Pascente, an avid Illinois Lottery player and resident of Glenview, chose each of his daughters’ birthdays when recently purchasing his Pick 4 tickets, according to the Illinois Lottery. Those numbers, 1-2-2-4 and 2-3-7-7, brought home two prizes of $2,700 a piece, totaling $5,400 for the proud dad.

"I got excited!" Pascente told Illinois Lottery. "I have been playing the Illinois Lottery for about 10 years and my favorite games to play are Pick 3, Pick 4 and Lucky Day Lotto."

He couldn't wait to break the news to his wife of 44 years, who was home with him when he checked the numbers on the Illinois Lottery app and realized he had won.

"My wife told me to make sure to save for the kids and our grandson," Pascente said.

When it comes to playing the Lotto, Pascente has found luck with two things: sticking to his lucky numbers and buying tickets from his go-to-guy at his favorite retailer, EZ Pantry, located at 8208 W. Oakton in Niles, according to Illinois Lottery.

"My advice to other players is to be consistent and play the same numbers," Pascente said.

Pick 4 is an Illinois-only game with two draws daily for double the excitement and more chances to win, according to Illinois Lottery. Players can select four numbers and a style of play. For 50 cents, players can win up to $2,500, and for $1 players can win up to $5,000.

Pick 4 drawings are conducted daily at 12:40 p.m. and 9:22 p.m. and are available for viewing on the Daily Drawings page and the Illinois Lottery YouTube channel. For more information, visit illinoislottery.com.