A Lincoln Park man who has chosen to remain anonymous won $4 million on a $30 World Class Million scratch off lottery ticket.
“I scratched the numbers on the ticket first, before revealing the prizes,” said the winner, who did the game right there in the store. “When I saw I had a match, I figured that I had won my $30 back. As I scratched the prize off, I quickly realized it was more than $30. Once I saw the ‘4MIL’ symbol, I could barely breathe and thought I was having a panic attack.”
Only a few people were in the store at the time, all of whom kept staring at the winner “because I was acting pretty funny,” he said.
He handed the ticket to the clerk so he could scan it, who then started screaming, and told the winner to sign the ticket quickly.
When the winner got home, his girlfriend thought something was the matter. He tried explaining what was going on, but his nerves were getting the better of him, so it took a while to get the good news out.
“Needless to say, we are both really excited about winning $4 million.”
However, he realized that there was an issue when he tried to schedule an appointment to collect his winnings. He needed his driver’s license, and Social Security card to be able to claim the prize, but had left his wallet in North Carolina when visiting a friend.
“I called my buddy and told him I’d pay him $1,000 to drive my Social Security card up,” the winner said. “He was standing on my doorstep the next morning with the card.”
After winning the lottery, players can choose between a lump sum payout, or an annuity. The former pays out the winnings in one lump sum, while the annuity pays out the winnings over the course of the year. With an “immediate” annuity, a person can generally start receiving payments in about 30 days.
The winner chose to take his prize as a lump sum payout of $2.5 million rather, according to the lottery office. He plans to use the money to buy a new car, and a new house, as well as donate to charity, set up college funds for some family, and invest what’s left.