Lucky Illinois resident claims $1.3M Cash Castle jackpot

Posted on June 6, 2025
(Photo courtesy: Illinois Lottery)

CHICAGO (WMBD) — An Illinois Lottery FastPlay game netted one lucky person a $1.3 million jackpot, the lottery said on Friday.

The game was Cash Castle and it’s a $30 progressive jackpot FastPlay game, the lottery said. The jackpot begins at $100,000, which is the highest starting jackpot of any Illinois Lottery FastPlay game, and grows with each ticket sold statewide until the jackpot is won.

“I only ever play the lottery on my app and enjoy trying the newest games for fun,” explained the lucky winner, who proudly dubbed himself the ‘King of the Castle.’ “On that particular day, I was thinking about my family—we’ve been going through some challenging times.

“I took a chance on Cash Castle, and couldn’t believe it when I actually hit the jackpot. This win truly came at the perfect time,” the winner said.

This is the second-largest Cash Castle jackpot prize won to date, following a $1.4 million jackpot win in April and a $462,000 jackpot win in March, the lottery said.

“When I realized I’d won, I started screaming my wife’s name—she and my daughter came running, worried that something was wrong. I didn’t realize I was shouting that loud!,” laughed the lucky winner. “I was overwhelmed with emotion and crying tears of joy. This win still feels unreal, like a dream. It really is a beautiful shock.”

When asked what he’d do with the money, the lucky winner told Lottery officials he’d go to Disney World.

“We’ve always wanted to take our family to Walt Disney World, but we’ve never been able to fit it into our budget. Now is the perfect time! We can’t wait to treat our five kids and eight grandkids to their first Disney World vacation,” he said.

Since its launch on Feb. 27, more than 350,000 winning Cash Castle tickets have been sold, with total prizes amounting to over $27.8 million for Illinois Lottery players, the lottery said.

Tickets for the game can be purchased in-store, online, or on the Illinois Lottery app. For more information or to buy tickets online, please visit IllinoisLottery.com.

WMBD TV can be reached at [email protected].

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