From the Arkansas Lottery, on the winner of the $2 million Powerball prize this week.
The winner of the $2 million Powerball® prize from Wednesday’s drawing claimed it today at the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery Claim Center in Little Rock. She is a resident of Faulkner County and has elected to remain anonymous.
The Powerball jackpot for the next drawing was increased this morning to $1.6 billion making it the largest national lottery jackpot in history. The drawing will be at 9:59 p.m. tomorrow. Tickets sales close at 8:59 p.m. Tickets may be purchased at any lottery retailer or on the Jackpocket app.
The winner hadn’t heard the news that the winning ticket was sold in Wooster until a friend called her yesterday and asked if she had checked her Powerball tickets.
“I had been busy and forgotten to check,” the winner said. “So I went to the lottery website and laid the ticket next to the computer and couldn’t believe it when I saw that five of the numbers (2, 11, 22, 35 and 60) matched. The first thing I said was “thank you, Lord!”
The winner won with numbers she selected. They were relative to grandchildren’s and her birthdays and ages.
“My husband was cutting soybeans so I was waiting on him to give him the good news before I told anyone else,” she said. “All I could do was pace the floor. However, I finally called my daughter because it was about an hour before he came in the house.”
The winner said she works from home and babysits her five-month-old grandson and does not plan to quit her job.
“I might buy a new farm truck, but the majority of the money will go to investing for our retirement,” she said.
She added that she only purchased her Powerball ticket around 6 p.m. the day of the drawing.
“I had to go to Wooster to get some things for dinner so I decided to get my lottery ticket. I filled out the Playslip and gave it to the cashier. He tried to run it, but the machine jammed up, and he had to reboot it. I was running late for church and almost left before I could get the ticket. I’m sure glad I didn’t leave without it!”