The Chicago River may have washed out the green dye and the empty beer cans have been cleared off the street from the parades, but some of St. Patrick’s luck is still alive in Chicago’s South Side.
Video Connection in Hyde Park, an Illinois Lottery retail location, sold a winning Lucky Day Lotto ticket that will cash in for $850,000. The winning number combination was 1-16-42-43-45.
It wasn’t just good luck for the owner of the winning ticket, but for Video Connection as well. Per the Illinois Lottery’s policies, stores that sell winning tickets receive 1% of the winnings. In this case, it will be $8,500.
Video Connection owner Charles Newsome has already allocated the store’s winnings. He said:
“We plan to use the bonus to catch up on outstanding bills. We also plan to do something special for our dedicated employees who have remained loyal during the difficult times.”
Newsome was shocked when he first heard the ticket was purchased at his store. So much so, he assumed it must be an elaborate ruse.
“I thought my business partner was pulling an April fools prank on me when he sent me a text message that our store might have sold the winning jackpot ticket. I quickly realized that it wasn’t a prank when an Illinois Lottery representative called to congratulate us – that was an awesome moment!”
The winner hasn’t come forward yet to claim the money, but Newsome is hopeful that a Video Connection regular is in possession of it, saying:
“After more than three decades at this location, we have developed close relationships with many of our customers, so we are all hoping that it’s someone that frequents our store.”
For anyone interested in testing their luck and seeing if lightning will strike twice at Video Connection, you can visit them at 1208 E 53rd St.
Illinois Lottery first to hit the web
In November, the Land of Lincoln became the first state to offer online gambling options with the implementation of Fast Play online.
Fast Play tickets range in price from $1 to $10 when buying on your web browser.
It was first introduced to retail locations in Sept. 2020 as a quicker way to buy and receive results from your ticket. There are no numbers to pick, no play slip to complete, no penny needed to scratch off results, and no waiting to view winning numbers.
In its opening 14 months following the retail launch, Fast Play accumulated over $48 million in sales and sold nearly 11.7 million tickets. Players cashed out too, bringing in nearly $36.7 million in total winnings.
With tickets being even easier to access from your mobile device, those numbers should continue growing.
But there will always be some extra charm in a story when a winning ticket is purchased from a local establishment like Video Connection.
