Flossmoor woman uses $20 lotto prize to buy $2M-winning ticket

A south suburban Flossmoor woman won $2 million when she scratched off a lottery ticket she bought with her winnings from another lottery ticket.

Marla Gordon was at the Golo gas station at 450 Cicero Ave. in University Park when she bought a $2 instant ticket, scratched it and won $20, according to a statement from the Illinois Lottery. She decided to buy a “Merry Millionaire” ticket, which she scratched off with a quarter to discover she had won the $2 million prize.

“I started shaking and crying right there in the middle of the store,” Gordon said. She chose to take her winnings as a one-time lump sum of $1,200,000 before withholding and plans to use the money to pay bills, invest and go on a vacation to Hawaii.

The gas station received a bonus of $20,000, or 1 percent of the prize amount, for selling the winning ticket.