Illinois woman rakes in $1M with scratch-off lottery ticket

$25 Diamond Crossword scratch-off lottery ticket | Illinois Lottery

A scratch-off Illinois Lottery ticket landed one family the top prize of $1 million.

The winning player, who opted to remain anonymous, said her husband bought her the ticket as a gift.

The winning ticket was purchased at Monee Tobacco, at 5701 W. Monee Manhattan Road, Suite 103.

"My husband was on his way home from work and was so tired that day he didn’t want to stop at the store," the lucky winner told lottery officials. "He knows I like crosswords and puzzles in general, so he bought me a $25 Diamond Crossword scratch-off lottery ticket."

The winner said the only people they have told so far are their kids. She said buying a house with the money is her "top priority."

Monee Tobacco will receive a selling bonus of $10,000.

In 2024, over 39 million winning instant tickets have been sold in Illinois, totaling over $1 billion in prizes.