CHICAGO: Nirmal Dhamodarasamy, a graduate student at the University of Illinois at Chicago, has not gotten over his pleasant shock winning $1,000,000 playing Powerball lottery.
A few weeks ago, Dhamodarasamy decided to try his luck in a different way and instead of buying a ticket at a store, he bought a Powerball subscription via the Illinois Lottery’s online sales channel. “It was very convenient to sign up and buy my tickets online,” he said and bought a winning ticket that had numbers – 04 – 13 – 31 – 36 – 52 – and the Powerball number 08.
Dhamodarasamy won $1 million when he matched the five numbers. Before Dhamodarasamy received an email from the Illinois Lottery notifying him of his win, he already knew he had won. “That same evening, after I purchased my subscription using Quick Pick numbers, I used the Illinois Lottery app to check the winning Powerball numbers. My heart started racing when I realized I had won the lottery. I still can’t believe I won a million dollars!”
Dhamodarasamy, 23, hails from India and is completing his master’s degree in Industrial Engineering. His plans for the windfall include bringing his parents here from India for his graduation. When asked what prompted him to start playing Powerball online he said, “The historic $1.5 billion jackpot sparked my interest. I wanted to try my luck even after it hit!”
Illinois residents, 18 and over, can buy tickets for Powerball and all of the Illinois Lottery’s draw-based games online at illinoislottery.com or at nearly 8,000 retailers statewide. Players can also use the Illinois Lottery’s mobile app. The free app (the first of its kind in the United States) is available for download on iOS and Android devices and offers any Illinois adult the chance to purchase lottery tickets on their smartphone.
Powerball drawings take place Wednesday and Saturday nights at 9:59 p.m.
Founded in 1974, the Illinois Lottery has contributed over $18 billion 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, the fight against breast cancer, MS research, and assistance for people living with HIV/AIDS. In addition to playing in-store, the Illinois Lottery offers online and mobile play for Mega Millions, Powerball and Lotto at illinoislottery.com. Players must be at least 18 years old.
V Sunthat
