ILLINOIS LOTTERY FORTUNE COOKIE GIVEAWAYS MAY BRING LUCKY NUMBERS TO LOCAL PLAYERS

Players Have a Chance to Find Their Fortune Playing Their Cookie’s Lucky Numbers

CHICAGO – The Illinois Lottery wants to bring a bit of good luck and fortune to players. The Chinese zodiac calendar designates 2020 as the Year of the Rat, which represents wealth and abundance. To commemorate this Lunar New Year February 2 through February 8, Illinois Lottery brand ambassadors will hand out fortune cookies at two locations in Chicago.

Not just a sweet treat, these fortune cookie numbers may bring a bit of luck to players who decide to play them when they purchase their next lottery ticket. In the past, fortune cookie lucky numbers have brought winning jackpots home for a number of players, both in Illinois and across the country:

• A North Carolina player won $344 million from his fortune cookie lucky number¹
• A $2 million Powerball prize was won by a woman in New York who played the numbers from her fortune cookie²
• An Illinois player won a $200,000 Lucky Day Lotto jackpot playing his fortune cookie numbers³
• One Michigan player cashed in on a $300,000 prize with his cookie’s lucky numbers⁴
• After playing his fortune cookie lucky numbers for 18 years, a Missouri man won a $50,000 lottery prize⁵

*Source: ¹Business Insider; ²WLNY-TV; ³ABC News; ⁴Newsweek; ⁵Powerball.com

FIND YOUR FORTUNE COOKIE EVENT DETAILS:

CHINATOWN LUNAR NEW YEAR PARADE

Players have a chance to capture one of these coveted cookies this weekend at the 2020 Chinatown Lunar New Year parade.  A proud sponsor of this event, the Illinois Lottery will have brand ambassadors passing out cookies to parade-goers along the route.

WHAT: Illinois Lottery brand ambassadors at Chinatown Lunar New Year Parade

WHEN: Sunday, February 2, 2020 - 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.

WHERE: Parade begins at W. 24th St. and S. Wentworth Ave. - Chicago, IL 60616

LUNCHTIME AT JAMES R. THOMPSON CENTER

Players who can’t make it out to the Lunar New Year Parade will have another opportunity to find their fortune next week during lunchtime hours at the James R. Thompson Center.

WHAT: Illinois Lottery brand ambassadors at James. R. Thompson Center

WHEN: Friday, February 7, 2020 - 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

WHERE: James R. Thompson Center - Concourse Level - 100 W. Randolph St., Chicago, IL 60601

Fortune cookies were made by OpenFortune and will be available while supplies last and players must be 18 or older to play Illinois Lottery games.

About the Illinois Lottery:

Founded in 1974, the Illinois Lottery has contributed over $21 billion (since 1985) 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 homelessness prevention, Illinois Veterans services, the fight against breast cancer, MS research, Special Olympics, police memorials and assistance for people living with HIV/AIDS. In addition to playing in-store, the Illinois Lottery offers online and mobile play for all draw-based Illinois Lottery games at illinoislottery.com. Players must be at least 18 years old.