Do you feel lucky? Suburbs on a roll with 3 lottery wins, bigger jackpot looming Friday
So you didn't win the $731.1 million Powerball.
Not to worry, something even bigger is on deck with Friday's Mega Millions drawing.
With a jackpot projected to be in the very nice neighborhood of $970 million, someone could win the third-largest lottery drawing in U.S. history.
The $970 million trails only a $1.586 billion Powerball jackpot won by three players in January 2016 and the Mega Millions record of $1.537 billion from October 2018. Friday's drawing will be the 37th since the last time the Mega Millions jackpot was hit.
Eleven Mega Millions tickets nationwide came close to cashing in on the big prize during Tuesday night's drawing, hitting all five winning numbers but missing on the gold Mega Ball. They each won $1 million. That group included one person who purchased their ticket from Lively Liquors at 1170 E. Higgins Road in Elk Grove Village.
"We don't know who the winner is yet," store manager Rich Robertson said Thursday. "I hope it's one of our regulars."
While he may not know who it is, he knows who it isn't.
"I had a guy call this morning and said he won but lost his ticket," Robertson said. "He wanted me to track it through his credit card purchase, but I told him we don't take credit cards for lottery tickets. He hung up and called back later and said he paid cash and wanted me to track it that way. I don't think he was the winner."
Illinois Lottery retailers earn a 1% selling bonus on any winning ticket sold in store,
Customer John Masciola, who works across the street, stopped in Thursday to try his luck.
"My wife told me somebody won a million dollars here so I had to come in," Masciola said. "Maybe lightning can strike twice."
"I have five grandkids so hopefully I can build a trust fund for them so they don't have to worry about money all their lives."
The lump-sum payout for a potential Friday winner would be $716.3 million. The full total is paid out as an annuity over 30 years.
While someone in Maryland won the $731.1 million Powerball prize Wednesday, the Chicago suburbs are on a little bit of a lottery hot streak of their own.
In addition to the $1 million Mega Millions ticket in Elk Grove Village, two local Powerball players are $150,000 richer after Wednesday night's drawing.
One ticket was sold at the BP Gas Station, 2250 S. Arlington Heights Road, in Arlington Heights, and the other was sold at the Jewel-Osco store, 1151 S. Roselle Road, in Schaumburg.
Both tickets matched four of the five numbers and the Powerball.
Mega Millions and Powerball are available in 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Powerball also is offered in Puerto Rico.
•Daily Herald senior photographer John Starks contributed to this report.