Homeless Man Wins $50,000 In Illinois Lottery

By Samantha Abernethy in News on Apr 1, 2013 9:40PM

A man who lives in a tent in Bloomington, Ill., won $50,000 off of a $1 scratch-off ticket from the Illinois State Lottery. Tribune columnist John Kass interviewed a DeKalb pastor Greg Davis, who was in line behind the homeless man named Dennis when he cashed in the winning ticket.

From Kass' interview with Davis:

"Dennis hands her over the ticket. He spent his last dollar on that ticket. And he said to the girl, 'Did I win anything?' He had a very gruff voice. She looked at it, her eyes got wide. Really wide. As big as saucers.

"'Yes, sir,' she said. 'You just won $50,000.' I thought the man was going to have a heart attack. 'Wow,' he kept saying. 'Wow' and 'Are you sure? You're not kidding me, are you?' 'Yes,' she said. '$50,000.'"

But Dennis didn't believe it. So another clerk came up and examined the ticket. And that clerk said, yes, Dennis had won $50,000.

Illinois State Lottery spokesman Mike Lang confirmed Dennis' win and said Dennis arrived in Springfield to collect his prize. Dennis was told to leave an address, so he left that of a friend, but he wasn't happy to wait. Dennis told Lang that he just wants to buy a trailer to live in.