Chicago grad student wins $1 million in lottery

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Nirmal Dhamodarasamy, a graduate student at the University of Illinois at Chicago, is still in shock he won $1 million playing Powerball.

A few weeks ago, Dhamodarasamy decided to try his luck in a different way and instead of buying a ticket at a store, he bought a Powerball subscription via the Illinois Lottery's online sales channel.

Dhamodarasamy won $1 million when he matched the five numbers in the February 6 Powerball drawing. The winning numbers were - 04 - 13 - 31 - 36 - 52 - and the Powerball number was 08.

Before Dhamodarasamy received an email from the Illinois Lottery notifying him of his win, he already knew he had won.

"That same evening, after I purchased my subscription using Quick Pick numbers, I used the Illinois Lottery app to check the winning Powerball numbers. My heart started racing when I realized I had won the lottery. I still can't believe I won a million dollars!" he said.

Dhamodarasamy, 23, is originally from India and is completing his master's degree in industrial engineering. His plans for the windfall include bringing his parents here from India for his graduation.

When asked what prompted him to start playing Powerball online he said, "The historic $1.5 billion jackpot sparked my interest. I wanted to try my luck even after it hit!"