Rockford, IL – Three years ago, Nathan Grove gave a subscription to Lotto, a household favorite Illinois Lottery game, to his wife for her birthday. Nathan contacted the Lottery and set up his numbers – based on his and his wife’s anniversary and birth dates – and let the subscription go to work. Throughout the life of the subscription, the Lottery calculated Nathan’s small winnings and mailed him a check. After three years of enjoying his pain-free subscription and automatic payments, Nathan was surprised when he received a phone call from the Lottery.

“I got home around 7 p.m.,” Nathan recalled. “My wife said somebody from the Lottery had called. At first, I didn’t think it was going to be a big deal. I checked the winning numbers online and then we got out our numbers from my desk. We stared at our numbers and the winning numbers until we finally realized that we had really won $5 million.”

Despite a restless night of sleep, Nathan woke up early for his job, which he plans on keeping despite being $5 million richer. “My wife and I both really like our jobs,” the warehouse manager said, “so we’re keeping them. We’re both still in shock, but we don’t have any extravagant plans. Our cars are paid off, so we’ll keep driving those. We only have eight years left on paying off our house, so we’re staying put.”

The couple did allow themselves a celebratory vacation to Disney World, and the Grove family hobby might pick up some speed – Nathan and his wife frequently travel to auctions and purchase video and pinball games, which currently occupy their basement.

“We’re very excited that our subscription service resulted in such a huge win for The Groves,” said Jodie Winnett, acting superintendent for the Illinois Lottery. “We’re always looking for new ways to make the Lottery even more enjoyable for our players, and subscriptions make everything easier and more fun to play.”