Antioch Twp. woman celebrates $1 million Powerball win

Debbie Otto said she didn't use a high tech system, match anniversaries or select the birthdays of her children when picking Powerball numbers on Aug. 8.

Instead, the Antioch Township woman said she chose numbers that “looked right.”

Good decision — Otto matched five numbers to win $1 million from the jackpot. She said she'll take the lump sum payment of $700,000.

“I'm real excited,” she said Wednesday as she held an oversized check at the Antioch Kwik Pantry on Grass Lake Road. “We will pay off some bills, pay off the house, buy a car and I'm taking trip to Hawaii.”

This is the second time Otto has scored a large win through the Illinois Lottery.

The dental assistant at Grayslake Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in Grayslake said she won $70,000 about 18 years ago playing Little Lotto — now called “Lucky Day Lotto.”

“Unfortunately, I didn't make enough this time to retire,” she said. “So, I'll have to keep playing.”

Otto narrowly missed cashing in on the $212 million grand prize in the Aug. 8 drawing. She said her Powerball number was 4, but the winning number was 12.

“But I'm OK with this,” she said. “I have a lot of plans for this money.”

She said she hasn't heard from any “long lost aunts” since her Powerball win, but added that her kids have put in their requests.

“All of them said they want a new car,” she said, smiling. “We will see about that.”

The Antioch Kwik Pantry collected $10,000 for selling the winning lottery ticket to Otto.

Otto was one of five people to match five numbers in the Powerball on Aug. 8. The other tickets were sold in Rockford, Hoffman Estates, Crete and Addison.