News writer
The luck continues in March for Arkansas Lottery players. This time, we have a player from Russellville claiming their $25,000 prize from the LOTTO.
$25,000 LOTTO win
The big winner, Benjamin S. of Russellville, won the $25,000 prize in the March 6 LOTTO drawing. On March 15, he went to the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery Claim Center to claim his winnings.
Benjamin purchased the winning ticket at Tobacco Superstore #49 on 620 Union Street in Dardanelle. He was on his lunch break when he purchased the winning ticket.
For the March 6 LOTTO drawing, the winning numbers were 4, 5, 22, 26, 27, and 36, with the bonus number being 32.
Benjamin often plays the lottery, but he normally prefers buying draw games and scratch-off tickets with his previous prizes. On this lucky day, he ended up buying a Quick Pick LOTTO ticket, so the computer selected his winning numbers. For the $25,000 win, Benjamin matched five out of the six winning numbers plus the bonus number.
He didn't even know he won
Benjamin had no clue he even won the $25,000 until March 11, which is when he stopped by the same retailer to purchase another ticket. The clerk told him someone won $25,000 from that store and asked if he had checked his ticket.
So, he went and scanned his ticket inside the store and was a little confused at first, as the machine told him to “file claim ticket.” He didn't know what that meant, but the worker confirmed he won, so he called his wife to celebrate.
He also let his boss know, who seemed to not believe him at first. Benjamin told lottery officials:
He said, “You're kidding me.” I spent five minutes convincing him.
He finally did convince him, and the boss was celebrating with him and insisted he take the next day off work to go claim his prize.
The hunt for the big win continues
Benjamin said he plans to save the $25,000 for now — and continue to play lottery games. He said while gesturing to his check:
There's not enough zeros after this.
While Benjamin is still looking for an even bigger win, he has an opportunity as the LOTTO jackpot continues to grow. The next drawing is Wednesday, March 20, and the jackpot stands at $1.32 million.
The Arkansas Scholarship Lottery — where does the money go?
The Arkansas Scholarship Lottery is all about giving back. More than 92 cents of every dollar of lottery revenue is handed out, whether it be to prizes awarded, scholarships, retailer commissions, or other expenses in Arkansas.
Since 2009, the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery has raised more than $1.3 billion in proceeds for Arkansas college students. Those proceeds have helped the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery to hand out more than 720,000 Arkansas Academic Challenge scholarships so far.
Enjoy playing the Arkansas Lottery, and please remember to play responsibly.
