News writer
Lucky player, B. Patel from Mountain Home recently traveled to the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery Claim Center to collect her $260,000 prize that she won playing the Natural State Jackpot. The winning numbers for the March 8 drawing were 3, 5, 13, 23, and 27.
Ms. Patel and her boyfriend purchased her winning ticket from the Phillips Express located at 1954 Buzzard Roost in Mountain Home while running some errands. In an interview with the Arkansas Lottery, she explained that they like to play the occasional instant-win game but prefer to play draw games, particularly when the jackpots are high.
“We wanted to try the Natural State Jackpot again since we hadn’t in a while.”
The couple play together a few times each month. They pick the numbers together, and her boyfriend buys the ticket. On this occasion, they purchased a $1 ticket for the March 8 drawing and used their birthdays as the numbers on their ticket. Their strategy was a hit because they matched all five winning numbers to nab the $260,000 jackpot.
They didn’t realize they were winners until several days later when Ms. Patel’s boyfriend decided to check their numbers online. The couple were both still in shock when they arrived to claim their prize.
“We’re calm.” Ms. Patel said, smiling. We’re trying to be calm.”
As yet, the pair have not decided what they are going to do with their winnings.
How to play the Natural State Jackpot
The Natural State Jackpot is a lottery drawing game that is unique to Arkansas. Drawings are held Monday through Saturday at 8 p.m. CT. Each play costs $1, and you can mark up to five plays on one play slip.
To play, select five numbers between 1 and 39 and mark them on your play slip or check the Quick Pick box, and the computer will generate random numbers for you. There are four ways to win:
- Match five numbers: You win the jackpot prize
- Match four numbers: You win $300
- Match three numbers: You win $7
- Match one number: You win $1
The jackpot for this game starts at $50,000 and increases by $5,000 every drawing until it reaches $150,000. At that point, it goes up by $10,000 every drawing until it’s won. The prizes will be shared if more than one player matches the same numbers.
How the lottery helps Arkansas
The Arkansas Scholarship Lottery (ASL) was launched in 2009. Since then, the lottery has awarded more than $4.9 billion in prizes to players. It has also contributed more than $1.3 billion to scholarships for students throughout the Natural State. That means more than 720,000 college scholarships have been distributed by the Arkansas Department of Higher Education.
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