By Arkansas Black Vitality Staff – An unnamed Pine Bluff resident has won nearly $6 million as the third-largest jackpot ever won in Arkansas on any lottery game.
According to Arkansas Scholarship Lottery (ACL), the Jefferson County resident won by matching all five numbers plus the Lucky Ball in the Lucky for Life game last Thursday. He claimed a $5.75 million grand prize on Friday (Feb. 24) at the ACL Claim Center in downtown Little Rock, and is the only person in Arkansas ever to win the Lucky for Life grand prize.
The winning numbers were 1, 7, 20, 21, 38 with Lucky Ball 15. The winner had his choice of taking $7,000 a week for life or the lump sum of $5.75 million. The 60-year-old winner selected the cash option and took home $4,088,250 after taxes. He elected to remain anonymous.
Under a new Arkansas law passed in 2021, Arkansas lottery and gambling winners of $500,000 or more can remain anonymous and exempt from public records requests under the Freedom of Information Act. However, after three years, their identity would become public knowledge after three years.
According to ACL, the winning ticket was sold at the A-to-Z Mini Mart, 2601 W. 65th St. in Little Rock. That retailer will receive a 1 percent commission check for $50,000 for selling the winning ticket. The unnamed Pine Bluff winner said he purchased one $2 Lucky for Life ticket and one $1 Natural State Jackpot ticket last Thursday. Both were Quick Picks.
The next morning, he stepped outside to enjoy the sunrise and realized he had not checked the numbers on his tickets. So, he pulled out his cell phone and was surprised to see that all five numbers and the Lucky Ball number matched the numbers on his Lucky for Life ticket. He kept checking to ensure his eyes were not playing tricks on him.
Then he showed his phone with the winning numbers and his ticket to his wife. She agreed that all six numbers matched. However, she asked her husband, “What does that mean?”
The winner said he thought he was dreaming and kept waiting to wake up.
“We were sitting at home this morning pondering what to do. I Googled everything I could think of to make sure I won,” the winner said. “Then I told my wife, ‘Let’s go to Little Rock and see if we won, and if we did, how much.”
The couple, who have two grown children, said they are still in shock. They plan to do some home renovations and purchase a GMC Denali.
“We need to calm down before we make future plans for the money,” he said. “We plan to get with a financial advisor right away.”
A Lucky for Life player from Little Rock bought a ticket on the Jackpocket app for last night’s drawing and won $5,000. Two other players won $5,000 on Lucky for Life last week – one ticket purchased at the Tobacco Superstore, 405 Southwest Drive in Jonesboro, for Friday night’s drawing and one person in Little Rock who ordered a ticket on the Jackpocket app for Saturday night’s drawing.
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