Persistence pays off: after years of hoping for a big win, one Faulkner County player turned a non-winning ticket into a $250,000 prize.

John O. won $250,000 in the Sept. 11 Play It Again® Second-Chance drawing with a non-winning $50 or $100! 2024 Edition instant ticket. He claimed his prize at the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery (ASL) Claim Center later that same day.

“I’ve been hoping for this day,” John told lottery officials.

John, a long-time lottery player, regularly enters his non-winning tickets into the official AR Lottery + The Club app. He appreciates that people can still benefit from non-winning tickets, whether through Points for Prizes® points or the Play It Again Second-Chance drawings. With this in mind, the player set his sights on the Second-Chance drawings. John told his wife that even if he didn’t win one drawing, there would be another chance.

Finally, on Sept. 11, the lucky day had come. He received a voicemail from the lottery office on the day of the drawing, asking him to call back. Initially fearing it was a scam, John almost deleted the message. Instead, he called and listened as the lottery official confirmed his win.

“I had to go into the closet and scream,” he laughed. “It’s a feeling you cannot explain.”

He rushed to tell his wife, who was sitting in the family room with their grandson. While John was overjoyed, his wife was panicked—she saw him answer the phone call in the closet and anticipated bad news. What she learned was much to the contrary: John had won a $250,000 prize, and they needed to visit the ASL Claim Center to collect the prize.

“We have to go now!” he said, excited.

The lucky winner has yet to share the good news with his children.

“I don’t know how they’re going to handle it!” he said.

John plans to help his daughter pay for college with his winnings. He told lottery officials that he appreciates how lottery ticket sales support scholarships for Arkansas students.

The next Play It Again Second-Chance drawing is Dec. 18 for a $500,000 prize. Visit theclub.aslplayerservices.com/drawings to see a list of eligible tickets and their deadlines.

For more information about lottery games and how to play, visit MyArkansasLottery.com.

About the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery
The Arkansas Scholarship Lottery (ASL) creates winning people, winning futures, and winning moments. Since 2009, the ASL has sold over $8 billion and returned more than $1.5 billion for scholarships to benefit Arkansas students. More than 822,000 college scholarships distributed by the Arkansas Department of Higher Education have been awarded to Arkansans. The lottery has awarded more than $5.5 billion in prizes to players, more than $459 million in retailer commissions, and provided more than $188 million in state and federal tax revenue.

Follow the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery on Facebook, X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram. Visit MyArkansasLottery.com for more information on scholarships, winners, games, odds, promotions – and to join The Club for free. To get help with problem gambling, contact the National Problem Gambling Helpline at 1-800-522-4700.