Winning $300,000 Lucky Day Lotto Ticket Sold In Skokie

SKOKIE, IL — Someone purchased a lottery ticket worth $300,000 at a local retailer as a Skokie convenience store sold the winning ticket for Saturday's draw, lottery officials announced Monday.

According to the Illinois Lottery, as-yet unidentified buyer of the winning ticket to the Jan. 11 midday Lucky Day Lotto was the only person in the state to correctly pick all five numbers — 8, 11, 26, 28 and 39.

The owner of the 7-Eleven at 7950 N. Crawford Ave. is set to receive a $3,000 bonus, equivalent to 1 percent of the prize.

In Sunday's draw, two tickets matched all five numbers. One was purchased at Rainbow Food & Liquor, 1355 W. 127th St. in Calumet Park. The other was bought at Fiesta Food Mart, 220 Jackson St. in Aurora, according to an Illinois Lottery release. Half of the $200,000 jackpot can be claimed by each winner, with store set to receive a $1,000 bonus.

Across both days of Lucky Day Lotto drawings, there were more than 28,000 other winners who won about $72,500 in prizes of $200 or less, according to the release. Lottery officials recommended all winners sign the back of their ticket and keep them in a safe place. Winners have one year from the drawing date to claim their prices at one of the state lotteries prize centers in Chicago, Des Plaines, Rockford, Springfield and Fairview Heights.

The odds of winning the Illinois Lottery's Lucky Day Lotto game, which was expanded from 39 to 45 numbers in July 2014, are about 1 in 1.22 million, according to lottery strategy company Smartluck Inc.

Note: If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, help is available by calling 800-GAMBLER, 1-800-426-2537, or by texting "ILGamb”"to 53342. Self-exclusion and more information is available at 800-252-1775.