Lightning has struck twice at Shar’s Armanetti Fine Wines & Spirits in Carpentersville, which has sold two multimillion-dollar lottery tickets in the last three years.The latest winner purchased $30 in Titanium Black 7s scratch-off tickets and won the top prize of $3 million, a news release said.
“She scratched the ticket right in front of me after purchasing it and I witnessed the shocked look on her face,” said Dhiren Patel, who owns the 222 W. Main St. business.
“She then came over closer to me and excitedly said, ‘Pinch me, I need to make sure this is real! I won a big amount. Thank you, thank you!'” he said in the release. “It’s so exciting when the big wins go to our regular, local customers.”
Patel, who will receive a $30,000 bonus from the Illinois Lottery for having sold the winning ticket, said his store also sold a $6 million Instant Ticket winner in March 2020.
“We must be a lucky location for Lottery players,” Patel said. “(The first win) was during COVID so business was quiet and, sadly, we didn’t get to celebrate that win with the customer. So, this is an especially exciting win for our store.”
Patel said he plans to use the bonus to make some improvements to his business and also will put some into his kids’ college funds.
There have been 20 Illinois Lottery players who have become millionaires by purchasing Instant Tickets so far this year, officials said.