The 77 unclaimed prizes include five Mega Millions tickets worth $250,000 each. Tickets were bought in Bolingbrook, Crete and DeKalb.
Also, there are four second-place Powerball tickets worth $200,000 each that were bought in Lombard, Round Lake Park, Westchester and Chicago.
Winning tickets expire one year after the drawing so state officials are urging people who regularly play the Illinois Lottery to check junk drawers, glove compartments, unused purses and old wallets to make sure they're not holding one of the unclaimed prizes.
The first of the unclaimed winnings from 2011 expires Jan. 4.
Coincentally, no one won Tuesday night's big jackpot, and that means the prize for Friday's drawing is up to $173 million. Last night's winning numbers were 20, 24,27, 45, 51, and the mega ball was 31.
Online: http://www.illinoislottery.com/subsections/Unclaimed.asp
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
