One week ago when the Tribune printed an article about a winning lottery ticket that was about to go unclaimed, very few hoped for a favorable outcome. It happened so many times in the past for lottery winners to miss out on this unique opportunity, that the skeptics had plenty of arguments. The ticket would have expired on Sunday, as the ticket was acquired on St. Patrick’s Day one year ago, but three days before the deadline the winner finally turned up.
Three lucky players split the millions
Despite lottery officials and media efforts to find the winners, all that was known about the ones purchasing the ticket is that they bought it in suburban Wood Dale. Every now and then the campaigns ran by the lotteries to find missing winners succeed, and fortunately this was the case. The three winners residing in Chicago area delegated an attorney to claim the prize on their behalf, and that’s exactly what he did on Thursday afternoon. He traveled to Des Plaines and presented the lottery officials the allegedly winning ticket, and following confirmation the money will be split among the three winners.
Their identity remains unknown, but as soon as they step forward to claim the prize and they will be identified, their names will be shared with the media. The $1 million jackpot will be divided in three parts, but not before the government takes its share of 30%. Why the lucky players will have to settle for a bit more than $200,000, the owner of the gas station where the lottery ticket was sold will also cash in on their success. Jim Batson heard the good news first from the Tribune, which informed him about the winners stepping up to claim the jackpot, just in the nick of time.
A silent reminder for lottery players
Fortunate as it is for a winning ticket to be redeemed in the last possible moment, this event should serve as a reminder for other lottery players. Many tend to put their tickets to somewhere safe but forget about them and fail to check the winning numbers against the ones on their tickets. This is why lottery officials urge players who purchase St. Patrick’s Day raffle tickets to sign them and to keep them safe but within reach. The same applies to all lottery tickets, because although one year looks like a long time to claim the prize, time flies by quickly when you are not aware of your good fortune.
Millionaire Raffle is held every year and a total of 500,000 tickets are printed and sold for $20 each, with four lucky players being awarded a prize of $1 million. There are guaranteed winners, hence no chance for the jackpot to be rolled over and the odds of scooping the big prize are 1 in 125,000.
Check out the Time is running out for lottery winner as well.
About Ben Imler
Hi there, my name is Ben and you can find me on Google+. I`m here to share my passion about the lottery. Lottery players from all over the world will find the latest lottery news, events, promotions and results on our sites. We have gathered more than 40 the biggest world`s lotteries here and I promise, we are not going to stop.
