One rock-paper-scissors loss costs a player a Powerball jackpot

One Arkansas couple is probably never looking at rock-paper-scissors the same way again. During Powerball's historic “Night of Millionaires” drawing on April 29, a quick game between partners helped decide one of the winning Powerball numbers, but it also may have cost them a share of the $143 million jackpot. Instead of becoming multimillionaires overnight, the anonymous players ended up with a still-impressive $2 million prize after matching five numbers and adding the Power Play option.

Night of Millionaires Powerball drawing

On April 29, 2026, the Powerball drawing created almost 100 new millionaires. It's been dubbed the “Night of Millionaires” after there were 89 Match 5 winners that night, in addition to the two tickets that matched all the winning numbers to split the $143 million jackpot.

The winning numbers that night were 3, 19, 35, 51, and 67, and the Powerball number was 15.

For those Match 5 winners, 62 tickets matched all five of the white ball numbers to win $1 million. In addition, 27 tickets matched all five of the white ball numbers and included the Power Play option to win $2 million.

Lottery officials later confirmed that the winning numbers formed a diagonal pattern on the bet slip, which is why we saw so many winners.

A rock-paper-scissors game costs a couple the jackpot

One of those Match 5 + Power Play winners happened to come from Arkansas. Now, Arkansas Lottery officials have confirmed the winner, who chose to remain anonymous, has come forward to claim their $2 million prize.

While they are happy to be taking home the $2 million prize, it looks like a game of rock-paper-scissors cost them a chance of splitting the jackpot three ways.

The lucky winner told lottery officials:

I play once in a blue moon, but I thought, 'Let me go ahead and try.' It was just one of those days.

It worked out, as they hit it big. They bought the winning ticket at BB One Stop, located at 20 Highway 64 W. in Beebe.

The lucky winner said they typically use birthdays and other important dates when picking their numbers, but this time they decided to create a pattern when choosing their numbers. They said:

I would pick a number on the playslip, skip a row, then pick another number, and so on.

Here is where things get upsetting, at least to us. To pick the Powerball number, the winner played a round of rock-paper-scissors with their partner.

The anonymous winner won the game of rock-paper-scissors, so they picked the number 16 for the Powerball. However, they said:

“My favorite number is 16, and my partner's favorite number is 15.”

Since they won the rock-paper-scissors game, they went with 16. Had the partner won, they would have gone with 15 and been the third jackpot-winning ticket of the night!

'This can't be real'

The Beebe resident went home after buying the ticket and fell asleep without checking the ticket. The next day, they were working and saw a news story about a winning Powerball ticket that was sold in Arkansas.

They checked the numbers online and thought, “This can't be real.”

The winner was shocked, so they called their partner because they “needed another set of eyes to look at the ticket.” Their eyes weren't deceiving them, as they matched all five of the white balls and included the Power Play option to win $2 million.

Even though they were just one number away from splitting the jackpot, the lucky winner said they are very grateful for the prize. Now with the winnings in hand, they plan on visiting family members who live out of state and will continue to play lottery games.

Enjoy playing the Arkansas Lottery, and please remember to play responsibly.