HICKORY HILLS, IL— Hickory Hills resident Monika Zborek recently scratched an Illinois Lottery $250,000 Crossword ticket and won a top prize of $250,000 instantly. “I buy a ticket once a month and I always try my luck with a game I haven’t played before. I’m so happy this time I picked a big winner!”
Zborek was at home when she scratched her winning ticket. Since she did not know how much she won, she asked her husband to double check it. “He took it to a gas station to find out what the prize was and when he came home and told me we won a quarter of a million dollars, I screamed!” Originally from Poland, Zborek, 29, has lived in Illinois for the past 20 years. She plans to use the windfall to buy a house.
The winning ticket was purchased at Liquor Depot, 5114 South Knox Avenue in Chicago. The retailer received a $2,500 bonus, or one percent of the prize amount, for selling a winning ticket. $250,000 Crossword is a $10 instant ticket. Of the 48 top prizes of $250,000 available, eight have not yet been claimed. For more information, please visit illinoislottery.com.
About Illinois Lottery
Founded in 1974, the Illinois Lottery has contributed over $18 billion (since 1985) to the state’s Common School Fund to assist K-12 public schools, as well as hundreds of millions of dollars to the Capital Projects Fund and to special causes like Illinois Veterans services, the fight against breast cancer, MS research, Special Olympics and assistance for people living with HIV/AIDS. In addition to playing in-store, the Illinois Lottery offers online and mobile play for all draw-based Illinois Lottery games at illinoislottery.com. Players must be at least 18 years old.
