$500K Illinois Lottery jackpot ticket sold in Chicago suburb

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International House of Wine & Cheese employees, Landon Fischer and Sarah Mirocha, after learning their store sold a $500,000 winning Lucky Day Lotto ticket | Illinois Lottery

RICHMOND, Ill. - A $500,000 jackpot-winning Lucky Day Lotto ticket was sold in a Chicago suburb over the weekend with the winner yet to come forward.

Illinois Lottery winner

The backstory:

A jackpot-winning Lucky Day Lotto ticket worth $500,000 was sold at the International House of Wine and Cheese in Richmond, Illinois. 

The ticket, for the January 12 evening drawing, was purchased at the store located at 11302 US Highway 12. The retailer, a longtime lottery ticket seller, first learned of their role in the win when owner Tom Jiaras received a call from the Illinois Lottery while on vacation.

"Everyone at our store is so excited!" Jiaras said. "I’m especially happy for the lucky customer who won the jackpot. I hope they come back and tell us so we can share in their joyful moment."

This isn’t the first big win for the store, which has been selling lottery tickets since 1971. In the past, they sold a $260,000 winning ticket and recall the excitement it brought to both the customer and staff.

Winning Lucky Day Lotto numbers

By the numbers:

The winning Lucky Day Lotto ticket matched all five numbers—2, 3, 10, 19, 26—to secure the $500,000 jackpot. In addition to the big winner, over 21,500 other tickets won prizes in the January 12 evening drawing, totaling nearly $560,000 in winnings.

For their role in selling the jackpot-winning ticket, the International House of Wine and Cheese will receive a $5,000 retailer bonus, equivalent to one percent of the prize.

Store owner reacts

What they're saying:

Tom Jiaras expressed pride in his store’s history with the Illinois Lottery, noting how much things have evolved since they began selling tickets. 

"We may not look like your typical lottery retailer, being a wine and cheese store, but we’ve actually been selling Lottery tickets since they were first introduced fifty years ago," Jiaras said.

Reflecting on the win, Jiaras added, "It’s been such a joy to sell lottery tickets to our customers for so many years, and I’m excited to see how this big jackpot win may attract even more lottery customers to our store."

Next step for winners

What you can do:

For those who purchased a ticket for the Sunday evening drawing, there’s still time to check your numbers and claim your prize. Winners have one year from the draw date to claim their winnings.

The Illinois Lottery advises winners to sign the back of their ticket and keep it in a secure place until ready to claim. Tickets can be purchased in-store, online, or through the Illinois Lottery app. For more information, visit IllinoisLottery.com.