South Suburbs Lucky Lottery Stores: 25 Places To Play Powerball

Is it possible for lightning to strike twice in the same place? How about three or four times? As 2018 draws to a close, this Friday’s Mega Millions jackpot has swelled to $348 million, and is the largest end-of-the-year drawing in history.

Earlier this week, a gas station in Gilberts, located in Kane County, sold a $1 million Powerball ticket in the Dec. 26 drawing. The winning ticket was purchased at Shell, 385 Higgins Road, in Gilberts and matched all five numbers – 5 - 25 - 38 - 52 - 67 – to win the prize. The Powerball number, which this ticket did not match, was 2.

Players are ducking into corner convenience stores, gas stations and supermarkets to snap up a Mega Millions ticket or two. Honestly, we haven’t seen this much gambling in the south suburbs since Illinois legalized video gaming. The odds of matching all five numbers, plus the Mega ball number, are 1 in 302,575,350.

To help you find your lucky lottery store, we dug deep into the Patch way-back machine to pull out retailers that sold big jackpot winners:

1. A gas station in Lyons and a bowling alley in New Lenox, each sold the winning Lucky Day Lotto Quick Pick tickets on Aug. 16, 2018. The winners walked away with $300,000. The lucky establishments were Quik Mart, 8204 47th St., Lyons, and Laraway Lanes, 1009 W. Laraway Road, New Lenox.
2. DuPage County had a pair of big Lucky Day Lotto winners in 2018. The luck of the Irish was smiling down on whomever bought their $1 million St. Patrick's Day Millionaire Raffle ticket at Solo Liquors, 1474 E. Chicago Ave. in Naperville. In August, Mobil, 8 W. Chicago Ave., Hinsdale sold a $400,000 winning ticket.
3. A $1 million Mega Millions winner was sold Oct. 19, 2018 at Stop N Go Liquor, 5214 W. 159 St., Oak Forest. One player was rumored to have purchased $2,500 tickets at one time, although it was unclear when the ticket was actually sold.
4. Lightning struck in the south suburbs again, this time in Bedford Park, at Speedway, 6800 S. Archer Road, which sold a $1 million Mega Millions ticket on July 20, 2018.
5. Nick’s Barbecue, 12658 S. Harlem Ave., Palos Heights - Last year, this neighborhood eatery sold the largest jackpot winner in Illinois lottery history, when a south suburban couple’s Quick Pick ticket won the $393 million prize in the Mega Millions drawing.
6. Joliet had two Powerball winners in August 2017. Mickey’s One-Stop, 1415 Plainfield Road sold a $1 million winner. Less than three weeks later, Highland Liquors, 2774, 1619 E Cass St., sold a $2 million winner. Might be worth the drive to one of these establishment.
7. A Lucky Day Lotto ticket with a $250,000 prize was purchased in April 2017 at 7-Eleven, 10658 S. Ridgeland Ave., in Chicago Ridge.
8. E&M Food & Liquor, 7758 Archer Road, Justice, sold an $850,000 Lucky Day Lotto winner in March 2017.
9. Thornton's, 10559 S. Harlem Ave., Chicago Ridge - Sold a winning $100,000 Lucky Day Lotto ticket on Oct. 25, 2017.
10. Some lucky Jewel shopper won $750,000 in March 2016 playing Lucky Day Lotto at Jewel-Osco, 8801 Ridgeland Ave., Oak Lawn.
11. Harvey's Corner BP, 18300 South Cicero Avenue, Country Club Hills, sold a Lucky Day Lotto winner with a $1,050,000 prize in 2016.
12. Shidra Citgo, 6801 W. 87th St., Oak Lawn. This gas station sold a $700,000 winning lottery ticket on New Year’s Eve in 2015; a few years prior, a $350,000 winner was sold.
13. Jewel-Osco, 3795 Orchard Road, Oswego - Sold a $1 million Lucky Day Lotto Winner on Dec. 29, 2015.
14. 7-Eleven, 4502 W. 95th St., Oak Lawn. The store sold its first big winner, a $250,000 price on Sept. 14, 2015.
15. 7-Eleven, 1790 North Farnsworth Ave., Aurora. Sold a $50,000-winning Illinois Lottery Crossword instant ticket in July 2015 to an Elmhurst resident.
16. 7-Eleven, 704 E. 31st St., La Grange. Sold a $10,000 winning ticket in the January 2015 New Year's Millionaire Raffle.
17. Prestige Hoyne Liquor, 2043 W. 79th St., Chicago. Manager Sam Gavrilos was unaware the store had sold the winning Lucky Day Lotto mid-day pick with a prize of $200,000 on June 19, 2015, until Patch called them. A lucky South Side grandma won the jackpot playing her grandchildren's birthdays.
18. E&M Food and Liquor, 7758 Archer Road, Justice. Jo Hurley, an occasional lottery player, used a dime to scrape off $100,000 on a $100 Million Money Mania scratch ticket in April 2015.
19. Jewel-Osco, 21164 South La Grange Road, Frankfort. Christopher Bielecki, of Burbank, won $250,000 on a Black Diamond 7 instant lotto ticket in September 2014.
20. Super Mercado Imelda, 13036 S. Western Ave., Blue Island. Owner Delores Diaz was shocked to learn that her store had sold the $260 million winning ticket in the Mega Millions drawing on June 2, 2015.
21. 7-Eleven, 10301 S. Sawyer Ave., Chicago (Mt. Greenwood). It's only fitting that the $1 million winning lottery ticket in the St. Patrick's Day Millionaire Raffle was sold in Mt. Greenwood on March 18, 2015.
22. Foodie Foods, 9652 S. Pulaski Road, Oak Lawn. As of November 2011, neighborhood convenience store Foodie Foods had sold two quarter-million jackpot lottery winners in six years.
23. Gennaro Liquors, 5549 W. 87th St., Oak Lawn. Gennaro is due.
24. Danny's Market Place, 1965 Vermont Street, Blue Island. Alice Griffin, of Alsip, won $1 million on a $10 Cash Spectacular scratch ticket on March 25, 2013. The year before she won $5,000 purchasing a scratch ticket at the same store.
25. LaGrange BO, 100 N. La Grange Road, La Grange. Sold a $100,000 Little Lotto ticket on May 13, 2011.

Photo by G-Jun Yam/Associated Press