Lottery player in disbelief when he sees ‘more and more zeros’ appear on ticket
A “typical morning” for an Illinois man took an unusual twist when “more and more zeros started to appear” on his scratch-off ticket.
While at a Shorewood gas station buying a cup of coffee, a $20 lottery ticket caught his eye, Illinois lottery officials said in a May 5 news release.
He was in disbelief when the ticket revealed a $2 million prize.
“I just couldn’t believe it. I kept staring at the ticket, thinking, there’s no way… this can’t be real,” the man told lottery officials.
He took the ticket back into the convenience store to scan it, but he still didn’t believe his win.
With the machine flashing the word “winner,” the clerk came over to see if the man needed help.
“I showed her the ticket,” the man said. “She put on her glasses, took one look, and screamed!”
The multi-million-dollar winner started to believe his win, but his wife was at first skeptical, he told lottery officials.
“I kept saying, ‘I just won two million dollars!’ and at one point I thought she was going to faint,” the winner said.
The winner said he is a long-time car collector and plans to purchase another classic car to add to his collection. Additionally, he hopes to buy a few acres of land.
Shorewood’s Gas N Wash received a $20,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket.
Shorewood is about a 45-mile drive southwest from downtown Chicago.
This story was originally published May 5, 2025 at 4:19 PM with the headline "Lottery player in disbelief when he sees ‘more and more zeros’ appear on ticket."
