A gambler from Illinois, USA, became a millionaire after winning a lottery prize of 8.7 million euros ($9.2 million) after an unusual error in an automatic ticket machine in a supermarket. The man, who chose to remain anonymous, initially tried to participate in a different game, but ended up playing the state lottery due to a malfunction at a Jewel-Osco supermarket station in Addison, about 20 miles west of Chicago, FOX reports.
The gambler was shopping at the Jewel-Osco store, located at 140 West Lake Street, when he decided to buy a lottery ticket on his way out. “It was a normal day, like any other day,” he recalls. As he approached the station, he noticed that the machine was out of order. “I actually wanted to buy a ticket for another game, but the machine malfunctioned on the Lotto game,” he told Illinois Lottery. Frustrated, he decided to go ahead and buy the ticket for the game that the station insisted on showing: “I was a bit upset, and asked myself what was going on. The machine wasn't giving me the right game! So I decided to buy the lotto ticket.”
This decision ended up creating an extraordinary transformation. His “force” bet was the winning lotto draw on August 24, where all six numbers drawn matched: 2, 15, 21, 29, 42 and 44. The total prize amounted to 8.7 million euros ($9.2 million). .
The winner kept the ticket for about a month without receiving the prize immediately. Only the day after the drawing he decided to check if the ticket was indeed a winner. “The morning after the drawing, I ran the ticket through the machine to see if I had won,” he said. “When I saw the €8.7 million ($9.2 million) figure on the screen, I couldn't believe it. I looked at my wife and she was completely speechless. We laughed a lot about how angry I was about the broken machine, and we're so grateful that it all happened the way it did.” .
This prize is the second largest prize awarded by the Illinois State Lottery this year. The biggest prize of 2023 was recorded in February, when a ticket sold at Park Ridge secured the winner a total of 9.8 million euros ($10.4 million). The Illinois Lotto drawing is held three times a week, on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.
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