A central Illinois woman played the lottery occasionally, but said she never won anything, until she was given the wrong lottery ticket.
“I asked the clerk for a $1 Lotto Quick Pick ticket and when I got home I realized she had given me a Lucky Day Lotto ticket instead,” winner Tammy Mann said to staff at the Illinois Lottery Prize Center in Springfield.
Mann purchased the ticket at a Toluca, Illinois gas station. A few days after the drawing, Mann stopped in at another gas station to check her ticket on the self-serve scanner. The message “file a claim” appeared on the screen so she asked the clerk to tell her how much she had won.
“I was so shocked when she told me, I had to sit down,” Mann said.
Tammy and David Mann have a combined nine children, eleven grandchildren, and two on the way. The two plan to put their winnings toward the purchase of a new home.
The Toluca gas station that sold Mann the ticket will receive a $1,500 bonus.