Unclaimed Illinois Lottery Prizes - Excuse Me, is this Your $4,750,000?

I really don't play the Illinois Lottery that often. If I'm in a store and think of it, I get a quick pick. Maybe you're the same way. Or, maybe you're hard core and play every day.

Either way, the one thing none of us wants to do is buy a lottery ticket, win a bundle of dough, and not go and get the money. But that happens to some people. If you don't pick up your cash prize within a year, you lose it. All of it. With a slim-to-none chance of ever getting free money like that again.

That's why I tend to check in with the Illinois Lottery's list of unclaimed, large sum winning tickets. It's like cheering for the underdog or hoping for a miracle on someone else's behalf.

When will someone pick up the $4.750 million they won in Romeoville on July 19? Or, how about the $250K that belongs to someone who purchased a lottery ticket at the Amoco station on 1768 W. Armitage on December 18, 2007? (It's now a BP.)

Hope these winners realize their good fortune before their luck runs out.