Metro-east woman wins $1M on lotto ticket from her favorite local store

A Granite City woman didn’t expect a routine convenience store trip would make her a millionaire.

Cynthia, who wants to be identified only by her first name, won the $1 million top prize on a scratch-off ticket she said she purchased Thursday at Curly’s Corner Market on Maryville Road.

“I shop at this store almost every day —the staff know me by name,” Cynthia said in a news release from Illinois Lottery.

She declined the BND’s interview request.

The release says the winning ticket was a $10 Money Match scratch-off. According to the Illinois Lottery’s website, the odds of winning the $1 million jackpot are one in approximately 1.3 million.

Cynthia discovered she won during a work break.

“I had to look twice to make sure I wasn’t seeing things,” she said in the release. “I started shaking.”

The first person Cynthia called was her husband. She plans to treat him to a belated honeymoon, according to the release.

“My husband and I have been married for 17 years but never had a honeymoon,” she said. “You bet we’re going to one of the most romantic places in the world: France.”

Cynthia also plans to take her grandchildren on a Disney vacation, buy a new car and make home improvements, she told Illinois Lottery.

Curly’s Corner Market, 527 Maryville Road, will receive a $10,000 bonus, or 1% of the prize, for selling the winning ticket, the release said.

This story was originally published May 16, 2026 at 2:24 PM.