Illinois releases more details about $14.6m Lotto game winner, its biggest in 2025

• The Lotto game in Illinois has crowned its largest jackpot winner in 2025 so far
• The person won the incredible $14.6m from the late August draw
• The winner, who chose to remain anonymous, is going to spend the money

The Illinois Lottery has minted its biggest Lotto game winner in 2025, with one lucky soul grabbing the eye-watering $14.6-million jackpot, as first reported in August. Now, the lottery was able to provide more details.

The winner was in joy, finding out on the very next day of the draw that it was indeed they who had won.

Inside the mind of the $14.6m lottery winner

While details about the lucky winner remain scant, they shared a few words about how they stumbled upon their life-changing lottery win and what comes next.

For starters, the winner obviously chose to remain anonymous but still posed for the customary photo-op with the outsized check.

The check displayed the winner’s preferred name: East St. Louis Lotto Winner, which at least gave some geographical detail about where the person may have won their reward. As for the events that led to the win?

They are quite ordinary. The player said that they started playing the Lotto game in January 2024. The game quickly grew on them, and they kept going. As to the winning numbers?

There was nothing special about them. The 5, 9, 14, 18, 22, and 23 were what the winner described as their "favorite numbers," no more, no less. The sum was actually won in the August 25 Lotto drawing but was not revealed until last week by the Illinois Lottery.

"I started playing Lotto in January last year, and it quickly became my favorite game. They’re my favorite numbers," the anonymous winner volunteered.

"I checked the Illinois Lottery’s website to see who won, and realized it was me. Of all of the people, it was me! I cried because I was too shocked," they added, describing the incredible joy of finding out that they had won a transformative amount of money.

Largest jackpot of 2025 in the Lotto game yet

Of course, with a figure so high, it’s not just the actual lottery winner who is in for something special. The venue that sold the ticket, Crown Mart at 306 E. Broadway in East Saint Louis, Illinois, is also in for a $146,000 bonus, or 1% of the prize pool. As to what is next for the winner? Well, there are a few things they would like to do.

"I just want to take care of my family, get a nice house, and drive a Lexus – Paris is also on my list, and I am looking forward to sightseeing and taking it all in," they added. The $14.6-million prize is also the largest to have been won in 2025 so far from the Lotto game. Yet, it may not be the largest by the end of the year!

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