Tammy Surprise of Bloomingdale wins $400K lottery prize

After playing Lucky Day Lotto online for four months, the aptly named Tammy Surprise won a $400,000 jackpot prize!

Recently, while checking her email inbox, Surprise saw a message from the Illinois Lottery notifying her that she had won a prize and should contact one of the Lottery Prize Centers.

"I was so, well, surprised!" she said appropriately after confirming that her numbers matched all five numbers - 03 - 12 - 18 - 23 - 37 - to win $400,000 in the November 1 midday drawing.

Once she had read and re-read the notification email from the lottery, Surprise called her husband to share the news.

"He started laughing, and I started crying! We never thought we would win a prize this big," she said.

The couple has two children and one grandchild. Their plans for the windfall include investing for retirement.

Surprise said she plays two weeks of Lucky Day Lotto drawings at a time and always chooses a new set of numbers.

"I used to forget to buy a ticket or I would lose it or forget to check it. I don't have to worry about any of this now that I play online," she said.

All players who win via the Illinois Lottery's website are sent a notification to their personal email address, eliminating the chance of a prize going unclaimed. Winners of large prizes then fill out, sign and submit required paperwork before receiving their prize. Small prizes are automatically credited to the player's online Lottery account.