Illinois Lottery Player Wins $1 Million By Using Favorite Color

Looking at the photo above, you've got to ask yourself if the winner's face is covered up because the check is so big--or is it because the winner really would prefer to keep his identity quiet so that everyone he's ever met won't show up on his doorstep?

I'm going to go with the latter one, here. Anonymity can be a good thing.

In Illinois, The Size Of Your Jackpot Win Plays A Big Part In Whether Or Not You Can Keep Your Identity Private

Here in Illinois, if you win a lottery jackpot worth over $250,000 you can request to keep your name and hometown confidential. We've had Illinois lottery winners get a lot more than that as you probably know, so I guess that Illinois lottery officials think that prize money totaling less than a quarter million dollars just isn't worth anyone's time to bug a winner for a few bucks.

If you wanted to keep all that information to yourself, these states are happy to try to accommodate you (hat tip to MyHighPlains.com):

• Delaware: Winners are allowed to remain anonymous, regardless of prize size.
• Kansas: Winners in Kansas can request to remain anonymous.
• Maryland: In most cases, winners can remain anonymous.
• Mississippi: The state lottery won’t identify a winner unless they have given written consent.
• Missouri: Your name is only released if you give the lottery written consent
• Montana: Your name is not released, but where you live may be.
• New Jersey: Winners can choose to remain anonymous.
• North Dakota: Winners have the option to remain anonymous
• South Carolina: A winner in South Carolina can remain anonymous, despite recent efforts to change that.
• Wyoming: Winners can remain anonymous or give permission to the state’s lottery to share some information.

Say Whatever You Want About Superstitions, But An Illinois Man Is $1 Million Richer Because He Chose To Embrace His

Not that going with your favorite color to choose your lottery ticket is some sort of crazy superstitious act, if we're being honest about things. We pick things based on our favorite colors all the time, so why not with something you're more than likely going to scratch then pitch into a garbage can.

WGNTV.com:

“My favorite color is green because Saint Jude—my favorite Apostle—wore a green robe,” exclaimed the lucky winner, who dubbed himself San Judas Tadeo. “I saw the green scratch-off ticket, so I took a chance—and boy, did it pay off big time. I was in complete shock—totally speechless. I didn’t say a word to anyone, just kept staring at the ticket. Then I slowly walked to my car like nothing had happened.”

As you might imagine, when the winner told his wife and kids about his big win...they didn't believe him. That all changed when he scanned the winning ticket and confirmed it was the winner.

The winner plans to get his family's finances organized, then go to a Bulls game with his son and sit in the VIP section.