An anonymous Powerball player in Illinois is sitting on a $100,000 prize that remains unclaimed, with less than two weeks left to collect the winnings.
The winning ticket was purchased on March 23, 2024, at a convenience store in Centralia, a town about 60 miles east of St. Louis. Illinois Lottery officials are urging players to check their tickets and ensure they don’t miss out on this life-changing prize.
Powerball rules give winners exactly one year from the drawing date to claim their prize. If the ticket holder does not come forward soon, the money will be forfeited.
Besides this prize, Illinois has at least 10 other unclaimed jackpots. Among them are a $1.1 million Lucky Day Lotto prize drawn on September 8, 2024, in Chicago and a $1 million Mega Millions prize won on February 25 in Rockford. There are also Powerball prizes worth $650,000 and $500,000, along with smaller amounts like a $150,000 Lucky Day Lotto prize from March 6, 2025.
Players who won this year generally have more time to claim their prizes than those who won in 2024. During the 2024 fiscal year, which ran from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024, Illinois paid out over $3.8 billion in lottery prizes. Nearly $884 million was allocated to public education and other good causes.
Lottery retailers earned $179 million in commissions and bonuses, while $219 million covered operating costs.
Winning lottery prizes is difficult. According to Powerball odds, the chance of winning $50,000 is about 1 in 913,000, while the odds of hitting a $1 million prize stand at roughly 1 in 11.7 million.Illinois players are encouraged to double-check their tickets before time runs out.
