A Catlin man is one-million dollars richer after scratching off an instant Illinois lottery game ticket. Fifty-four year old Jake Essen says he was having breakfast with his wife at a Nashville, Illinois restaurant when he decided to buy a lottery ticket.
‘’When we saw the $1-million dollar prize amount, I borrowed a pen from our waitress and immediately signed the back of my ticket,’’ said Essen. He says he plans to share the winnings with his family and buy a house. Essen and his wife have four children.
Essen won playing the Illinois Lottery’s ‘Million $$ Match’ game which features three top prizes of $5-million dollars, five prizes of $1-million dollars, and 14 prizes of $100,000.
‘’You can’t play if you don’t win,’’ said Essen as he presented his winning ticket at the Illinois Lottery Prize Center in Springfield.
