Illinois iLottery player skips a frigid convenience store stop, snags $1M jackpot prize online

CHICAGO — As residents across the state battle frigid temperatures, one lucky Illinois Lottery player figured out a way to bring home a jackpot prize without having to leave their home.

According to officials, the big winner snagged a $1 million jackpot prize during Monday’s Lotto drawing when they managed to match all six numbers that were drawn.

The winning numbers were 8, 16, 20, 25, 42 and 46 and the lucky player managed to snag the prize without ever having to leave their home by playing the game through the Illinois Lottery app.

According to TaxAct’s Lottery Tax Calculator, Monday’s lucky player will end up taking home about $710,500, which equals out to about $240,000 in federal taxes and about $49,500 in state taxes, according to TaxAct’s Lottery Tax Calculator.

Lotto is a $2 game that can be played online or in-store and offers players three chances to win a jackpot prize.

The game draws three times a week on Monday Thursday and Saturday and each ticket purchase enters players into three separate drawings, with prizes ranging from $2 up to the jackpot, plus Lotto Million 1, and Lotto Million 2, which both have $1 million prizes.

Players can also add on an “Extra Shot” for a chance to increase their non-top prize winnings.

Lotto players have a 1 in 7.8 chance of claiming a prize, but the odds of claiming a jackpot are much higher at 1 in 15,890,700.

Officials shared details about the big win on Tuesday but did not disclose the name of the winner.

The big winner is not the only person celebrating their new riches this year. So far this year, Lotto players have collected more than $14.7 million in prizes from over 930,000 tickets that have been sold.

According to the Illinois Lottery, winners have one year from the date of winning to claim their prizes and officials advise players to write their names on the backs of winning tickets and keep them in a safe place until they are ready to claim their prizes.