Illinois Man Wins $1 Million After Wife Says To Stop Playing

Having been happily married to Amy for several decades at this point, I can honestly say that whenever she's asked me to stop doing something, I've stopped doing it.

The only notable exception I can think of was when she told me to stop getting her pregnant, but in my defense, she was a willing participant in that exercise so it's not totally my fault.

We've never had a discussion about the dos and don'ts of lottery tickets, except to fantasize about what we would do if we ever won one of those billion dollar-plus sized Mega Millions or Powerball jackpots. In order to win one of those, of course, you have to buy a ticket...and that's where we've always come up short. We'll remember one of these times.

Someone in Illinois being told not to do something and then doing it and then winning a million dollars is the kind of thing dreams (and sleeping on the couch) are made of.

Stopping For A Cup Of Coffee On The Way To Work And Ignoring His Wife's Demand That He Stop Playing The Lottery Really Paid Off For A Long-Time Illinois Construction Worker

According to media reports, the $1 million scratch-off ticket winner has opted to remain anonymous (always a good idea when you come into a big pile of money), but he did share that he's been working construction for well over 30 years. He also said that his routine has been to grab a cup of coffee and a $20 scratch off lottery ticket every day on his way to work.

Fox32Chicago.com:

"It’s the craziest thing to ever happen to me - I still can’t stop shaking," said the lucky winner. "My wife was just saying ‘You’ve got to stop buying those things.’ So you can imagine how ecstatic I was to be able to tell her I won!

I was on my way to work when I realized my scratch-off ticket was a $1 million winner, and I pulled a U-turn in the middle of the road to go back home and tell my wife," he said. "When I showed my wife the winning ticket, she did a triple-take. She then asked me if she was dreaming, and I told her, ‘I hope not.’"

This is not the first time it's happened in Illinois. Let's go back to last month: