An extraordinary stroke of luck struck an Illinois mother as she rose in the small hours of the night to care for her crying infant. After ensuring her child was back to sleep, she found herself wide awake with a restlessness that would soon turn into unbridled excitement. As she casually opened the lottery app on her phone to pass the time, her eyes widened in disbelief. The screen was displaying a life-changing message: she had just won $1.4 million. The woman, known as “Lucky Mom,” shared with lottery officials her astonishment, describing the situation as “Absolutely wackadoodle.”
On that fateful Wednesday evening, March 6, Lucky Mom’s routine decision to play the lottery using her children’s birthdays as numbers had paid off in the most dramatic way. She had successfully matched all five numbers in the Lucky Day Lotto drawing. The combination of 6, 8, 16, 17, and 20, representing significant dates in her family’s life, brought home the grand prize. This win was one of nearly 550,000 Lucky Day Lotto successes throughout March, with total prizes surpassing $3 million, as reported by the Illinois Lottery. The Lucky Day Lotto is unique to Illinois, holding drawings twice a day, providing Illinoisans with regular opportunities to test their fortune.
Lucky Mom elaborated on her experience, explaining her sporadic participation in the lottery but consistently using her children’s birthdates when she did play. Moreover, she celebrated the joy of her day-to-day life, stating, “I have the best job in the world: I’m a stay-at-home mom, and I already feel very lucky and blessed for where I’m at in life – but today, the word ‘lucky’ took on a whole new meaning.”
The slices of luck do not end here for those wishing to try their hand at fortune; purchasing a Lucky Day Lotto ticket is a simple errand. One can visit their local convenience store, gas station, or grocery store to enter the next drawing. Lottery enthusiasts have an even more convenient option to engage with the digital age of gambling. Through Jackpocket, the official digital lottery courier of the USA TODAY Network, individuals in various U.S. states and territories can order their lottery tickets online. This service is available in Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Texas, Washington D.C., and West Virginia.
The Jackpocket app revolutionizes the lottery experience, allowing users to select games and numbers, place orders, view tickets, and collect winnings, all from their phone or home computer. As the official courier for the USA TODAY Network, the app stands to generate revenue for audience referrals. However, users must be aware of their eligibility based on age, which varies by location, and acknowledge that the service is not affiliated with any State Lottery.
In an age where chance encounters with luck can be few and far between, Lucky Mom’s story serves as a heartwarming reminder that sometimes fate can smile upon us in the most unexpected of moments. For the Illinois mother whose nightly routine was interrupted by her child’s needs, it was this same interruption that led her to a remarkable discovery. Her astonishing win echoes the saying “when one door closes, another opens,” or perhaps more fittingly in this case, when one child wakes, a fortune beckons.
