Rockford woman wins $1M in Illinois Lottery off $2 ticket

The Illinois Lottery said the winner, who wished to remain anonymous, spent $2 on an iLottery ticket and hit the jackpot.

“I’ve never been a big lottery player– in fact, I’ve never won anything big in my life– until now!” shared the winner, nicknamed Lucky Lotto Millionaire. “After Thursday’s drawing, I got an email saying I’d won, and I figured that I’d won back the $2 that I had spent on the ticket. And I did win back my two dollars… but imagine my surprise when I realized I’d also won $1 million, too!”

She matched the winning numbers, 1-11-16-21-26-44, in the April 3 Lotto Million 1 drawing.

“It wasn’t until I compared the winning numbers with those on my ticket that I realized I had actually won $1 million. I even sent a copy of my ticket to my dad, who is super analytical, to double-check it for me. He’s not a lottery player, but I have a feeling he might start playing now,” laughed the winner.

“The next person I told was my best friend, who was over the moon for me! She texted me smiley-face emojis all day, which perfectly captured how I was feeling. My cheeks have been sore from smiling so much!”

And what does she have planned for her prize money?

“I’d love to treat my family to a nice vacation. My niece is especially fascinated by the history of Egypt, so I’m hoping to surprise everyone with a special trip there!” she said.