If you’ve ever considered buying a lottery ticket, this is the summer to
start. The Illinois Lottery is giving away $200 million in total available
prizes through its largest ever second chance promotion, called “Set for
Life.” The Lottery is holding weekly drawings for 16 weeks, where one winner
will be randomly drawn to participate in a not-to-be-missed grand finale
event on Sept. 30th at Wrigley Field. The 16 lucky winners will walk away
with one of the following: $100,000 a year for life, the cash equivalent of
a new leased car every year for life or the cash equivalent of a fabulous
vacation every year for life. The first week’s winner, Wayne Koepple of
Round Lake Beach, hopes that he is lucky enough to take home the $100,000
grand prize. The only downside of being the first “Set for Life” winner is
that Koepple has to wait until Sept. 30 to learn which prize he will win at
the grand finale event.
“There are friends of mine who say, now that they’ve seen that I’ve won,
they’re going to start playing the Lottery,” said Koepple, who intends to
continue playing Lottery.
“Every year, the Lottery strives to bring its players the ultimate winning
experience, and this year we’ve really outdone ourselves,” said Illinois
Lottery Superintendent Carolyn Adams. “At times like these, I really wish
that I could play!”
To enter, players must send in $30 worth of eligible non-winning tickets
from the “Set for Life” instant ticket suite or any “Pick ‘n Play” tickets.
Players can mail in entries or submit online at IllinoisLottery.com by Sept.
1.
“It’s always such a rewarding experience for the Lottery when we see our
players win big, but ‘Set For Life’ takes things to a whole new level,”
added Superintendent Adams. “It’s amazing that we’re able to reward our
players with prizes that they can appreciate for the rest of their lives;
this is huge for us!”
Last summer’s second chance promotion, “Road to Riches,” had a record
breaking $150 million in available prizes. Lottery qualified winners over a
period of 20 weeks for a chance to win a brand new Chrysler car and cash
prizes ranging from $25,000 to $1 million. Winners had to wait until the
grand finale event hosted by Robin Leach, of the hit show “Lifestyles of the
Rich and Famous,” at U.S. Cellular Field on Sept. 24, 2005 to find out which
car and how much money they won. Barb Delgado of Downers Grove, Barbara
Zientara of Villa Park each won a new car and $100,000 while Marion Domanski
of Rockford walked away with a cool $1 million in addition to his new car.
“I didn’t even realize I had won. Robin Leach had to tell me three times
before it hit me,” said an overwhelmed Domanski at a press conference
immediately following the game. “I feel like I’m going to pass out and my
knees are buckling … Thank You Lord!”
“In September ‘Set for Life’ winners will experience for themselves the
excitement Marion Domanski felt last summer,” said Superintendent Adams.
