$1M Powerball ticket sold in Chicago suburb as jackpot climbs to $1.7B

$1.7B Powerball jackpot still up for grabs on Christmas Eve

The Powerball jackpot has climbed to $1.7 billion for Wednesday night's drawing after no ticket matched all six numbers on Monday.

CHICAGO - The Powerball jackpot has climbed to $1.7 billion for Wednesday night's drawing after no ticket matched all six numbers on Monday.

What we know:

Some Illinois players, however, are already celebrating big wins.

A $1 million ticket in Deerfield matched five white ball numbers for Monday's drawing. The ticket was purchased at the Mobile gas station at 650 Waukegan Road.

Another player in Rantoul, near Champaign, won $100,000 by matching four numbers plus the Powerball and choosing the Power Play option.

Seven more players statewide, including at least four in the Chicago area, each won $50,000 by matching four numbers and the Powerball.

The winning numbers from Monday's drawing were 3, 18, 36, 41 and 54, with Powerball 7.

On Wednesday in The Loop, some customers at a 7-Eleven were buying Powerball tickets because the jackpot reached the billion mark.

"I just play because every once in a while you never know, but when it's really this big, come on, you think I'm going to let that slide for $3," said one man, who identified himself as "Super Rico."

We asked him what he would do with the money if he won.

"Feed a lot of mouths, help a lot of people. Lot of people," he said.

Heidi Foreman and Felipe Maldonado are on vacation and spent Christmas Eve shopping. They decided to not only buy some scratch-off tickets, but also some Powerball tickets. Both of them said they would buy new houses and travel the world if they won the jackpot.

"There's like magic in the air definitely, especially since we just went to the Christkindlmarket. It was beautiful, very beautiful experience here in Chicago," said Foreman.

"We'll have to come back here to Chicago every year, buy from the same machine every time then," said Maldonado.  

The backstory:

The current Powerball jackpot run began on Sept. 7.

During this stretch, nearly 1.5 million winning tickets have been sold across Illinois, paying out more than $18.4 million in prizes.

What's next:

The next Powerball drawing is set for Wednesday night. Tickets cost $2 per play, with an optional $1 Power Play add-on that can multiply non-jackpot prizes.