News writer
Do you play your lucky numbers in the lottery? Is your lucky number 5?
If so, and you play the Pick 3 draw game for the Illinois Lottery, then you may be one of the thousands of winners they had this week when triple 5's were drawn.
The winning draw
All of the winnings took place on Wednesday, May 23, during the midday drawing for the Pick 3 game. The winning numbers drawn were 5-5-5, and the added FIREBALL was also 5.
According to the Illinois Lottery, the last time triple 5s with a FIREBALL of 5 were drawn in a Pick 3 drawing was in March 2019.
Thousands of winners
With the Pick 3 drawing giving us triple digits, the Illinois Lottery saw thousands of winners for that May 23 midday draw. In total, they had $1.8 million in prizes won from that draw alone. The largest prize won by any lucky ticket holder was $5,500 won by an iLottery player online.
In addition to the thousands of winners, the retailers that sold the winning tickets will also be cashing in. The retailers that sold winning tickets will receive a selling bonus of one percent of the prize amount for each winning ticket they sold.
The Illinois Lottery said these lucky winners have one year from the date of the winning draw to claim their prize. They encourage these winners to write their names on the back of the ticket and keep it in a safe place until they're ready to claim their prize.
Another triple-digit win
While the triple 5s win in Illinois hasn't happened since 2019, there was a two-night stretch of triple-digit draws for Connecticut Lottery players.
These drawings were for their Play3 game and it took place in March. It started on Sunday, March 17, when the Play3 drawing was 1-1-1 with the Wild Ball being 1 also. Then on Monday, March 18, the triples continued with lucky number 7. The Play3 drawing was 7-7-7 with the Wild Ball being 7.
The triple digit plays are popular with Connecticut Lottery players also, as those two drawings resulted in over $3.5 million in prizes for over 13,000 lucky players.
Funds from the Illinois Lottery
While the lucky winners are celebrating in Illinois after the triple 5s came up, there are other organizations celebrating too. The Illinois Lottery was founded in 1974. Since that time, they have contributed over $24 billion to the State's Common School Fund. This fund has supported K-12 public education in Illinois since 1985.
While the Common School Fund is the Illinois Lottery's primary benefactor, receiving nearly 99% of Illinois Lottery proceeds, the lottery also supports various specialty causes as described in the Illinois Lottery Law. Some of these causes include the United Negro College Fund, Special Olympics, police memorials, and Illinois DREAM Fund. In the end, 100% of profits from the Illinois Lottery go to good causes.
Enjoy playing the Illinois Lottery, and please remember to play responsibly.
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