Illinois Lottery players are hoping Santa brings them a little luck Wednesday night.
At the Mobil Gas Station on Waukegan Road in Deerfield, station owner Muki Bhatia found out that he sold a $1 million Powerball ticket this week. Mr. Muki is very excited about all the lotto fever around his gas station right now.
Bob Tramutola is leaning on the Lord ahead of Christmas, with the Powerball jackpot now hitting a whopping $1.7 billion.
"Cleaned up, went to church, and came here," Tramutola said. "I said a prayer."
There's a special reason he's visiting the particular Deerfield gas station.
"My daughter Liz said one of the winning tickets was sold here at this gas station in Deerfield," Tramutola said. "I figured I'd take a chance and hopefully win something... I'm feeling very lucky."
Illinois Lottery officials say this is the fourth largest lottery prize in U.S. history, if someone is able to match all six numbers.
"Everyone knows now somebody has one a million dollars," Bhatia said. "My friends all called, they are getting the numbers from here."
Bhatia just found out he sold the million dollar ticket, where someone managed to match five of the six numbers.
He says once news spread that his location sold that winning ticket - people having been stopping by to try their luck.
"They already knew about it, I don't know how, that someone won a million dollars over here, and they would like to be the next one," Bhatia said.
Some lottery players say they're already banking on it paying for a vacation next year.
"I wouldn't tell too many people. I would help a lot of people," lottery player Elamore Hunter said. "We live in a dangerous time, they would have me in the basement, tied up with my mouth, but I would help a lot of people."
A lot of people went to buy their tickets at the Lucky Mart on 87th Street, on Chicago's South Side.
"I'm gonna take my husband on the cruise because he'll be turning 65," lottery player Gigi Lee said.
If there's anyone who knows how to play and win big, it's Clarence Bradley.
"I won with my badge number another $30,000, I won with my house number another $25,000.," Bradley said. "The first thing I do is take care of the family, give them a share. Then after that, retire."
Tim Chartier is a Davidson College mathematics professor, and he is breaking down the science behind the drawing.
"I believe it's the dream of being a billionaire, that for one day you just have to buy that one ticket, and you can dream of being a billionaire," Chartier said
He says the odds of a winning ticket being sold increase around the holidays.
"Once the lottery tops a billion dollars, people come out of the woodwork to buy those tickets, so the chances are 50% or higher and with the holidays, it's likely to be higher than 50%, so even better than a coin flip," Chartier said.
In Deerfield, Mr. Muki is sharing advice to first-time Powerball players.
Tickets are $2 per play and are sold in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Monday night's drawing is at 9:59 p.m. CT.
Top 10 Powerball jackpots and winning locations
1. $2.04 billion -- Nov. 7, 2022 -- California
2. $1.787 billion -- Sept. 6, 2025 -- Missouri, Texas
3. $1.765 billion -- Oct. 11, 2023 -- California
4. $1.7 billion (current estimated jackpot)
5. $1.586 billion -- Jan. 13, 2016 -- California, Florida, Tennessee
6. $1.326 billion -- April 6, 2024 -- Oregon
7. $1.08 billion -- July 19, 2023 -- California
8. $842.4 million -- Jan. 1, 2024 -- Michigan
9. $768.4 million -- March 27, 2019 -- Wisconsin
10. $758.7 million -- Aug. 23, 2017 -- Massachusetts
ABC News contributed to this report.