Anonymous winner turns $10 ticket into $1M payday in Illinois

• An Illinois-based player won $1,000,000 from the Lotto game but chose to stay anonymous
• The person picked the "Rainy Day Fund" nickname to pose with the outsized check during the customary photo-op
• They are planning to take the money and invest it, with some amount going into their upcoming wedding and honeymoon

An anonymous player in Illinois has won a $1,000,000 prize from the lottery. The person, who was only identified by their chosen soubriquet – "Rainy Day Fund" posed for a photo-op with an outsized check proudly presenting the reward and covering their torso and head.

The win was realized on the Lotto game, after the person purchased $10 worth of tickets with the Extra Shot add-on, when they realized that they had won! In a statement published by the Illinois Lottery, the person said:

"I play the lottery once in a while when I have extra cash. I hadn’t played in a while, but the jackpot was nearly $12 million, so after filling up my gas tank, I decided to buy $10 worth of Lotto tickets with the Extra Shot add-on."

The ticket was bought at 8755 W. 79th Street in Justice at the Citgo gas station, with the person matching all six Lotto Million 1 numbers. However, the win happened much earlier – on Thursday, July 10, but the person had only been announced this week.

The person also shared how they found out about the win. The next day, at work, they heard that someone from Justice had won the top prize, and where the winner had bought the ticket. Checking the ticket with the app, the person realized that it was indeed them who had won the huge prize.

Naturally, the winner had a hard time grasping the realities of what had transpired. At first, they told the lottery, they thought they had won $1,000, before realizing that there were a few extra zeroes they had to also factor in!

"Then I scanned it again, and a few more zeroes popped up. I had to do a double take and scanned it about 20 more times before it finally sank in. I was freaking out," they said. The winner also added that they are indeed planning to use the money wisely.

For example, they have friends who work in finance, and on whom they are going to count for investing the funds wisely. However, the winner is also going to treat themselves by taking a bit of the money out to use for their upcoming wedding and honeymoon.

"My friends are in the financial industry, so I’m hoping they’ll help me invest wisely. But one thing’s for sure—I’ll be using some of it for my wedding and honeymoon next year," they said.

Image credit: Illinois Lottery