Man Was Angry He Couldn’t Buy the Lottery Ticket He Wanted. Then He Won $9.2M Prize: 'Speechless'

Mar. 15, 2025

Illinois Lottery winner.Photo:Illinois Lottery

Illinois Lottery

An Illinois man got the surprise of a lifetime when a broken machine led him to buy a ticket for the wrong lottery game, but he still ended up winning a $9.2 million prize.

“I was picking up groceries at Jewel and on my way out the door, I decided to buy a lottery ticket,” he added.

However, he went on to say that he “wanted to buy a ticket for a different game” but the “machine got stuck on Lotto.”

“I was a bit frustrated. I said, ‘What is going on? The machine won’t give me the right game!’” he added. But, eventually he decided to just go with it and buy the Lotto ticket.

The winning numbers for the Aug. 24 drawing ended up being 2-15-21-29-42-44 — and the manmatched all six numbersto win the massive prize.

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“The morning after the drawing, I scanned the ticket at a machine to check if it was a winner. When the machine showed the $9.2 million prize amount, I couldn’t believe it!,” the winner told lottery officials.

“I looked at my wife and she was completely speechless,” he added. “We are laughing over how angry I was at the broken machine – and we’re so grateful for how it all turned out.”

Per the Illinois Lottery, this win marks the second largest Lotto prize won this year in the state.

source: people.com