Chicago – Yancy Hicks caught the luck of the Irish when the 48-year-old Chicagoan won the Illinois Lottery St. Patrick’s Day Millionaire Raffle. The Millionaire Raffle gave Lottery players the best odds at becoming millionaires, with four $1 million prizes and only 500,000 tickets sold. These great odds persuaded Yancy, an avid fan of Illinois Lottery instant games, to take a chance on the St. Patrick’s Day Millionaire Raffle.

“Since the store where I purchased my ticket was a Lucky Lottery Location, I ended up buying two: one for myself and one for my girlfriend,” Yancy said. “My girlfriend came over for the drawing and when we realized the winning numbers matched ours, we just stared at the ticket all night long, imagining the things we could do with $1 million.” One of the things that Yancy, a general manager at a fast-food restaurant, plans to do with his winnings is buy a franchise restaurant of his own, just as soon as he purchases a brand-new Corvette.

Although it is his biggest win, the $1-million Millionaire Raffle jackpot isn’t Yancy’s first stroke of luck playing the Lottery. He previously won $500 and $200 playing instant games, both in the same week. “I definitely feel like a lucky and blessed person,” Yancy said. “I told my co-workers about the big win, and at first nobody believed me. But now, they’re all playing the Lottery and I’ve convinced about 200 people to buy the lottery raffle game tickets next time.”

For Yancy, there’s more to the Lottery than the big paydays. Win or lose, he enjoys playing. “I’m definitely going to play the Lottery in the future,” Yancy said. “In fact, I’m going to play later today.”

Shop-N-Save, at 135 East 71st Street in Chicago will receive a bonus of 1 percent of the top prize, or $10,000, for selling the winning ticket.