A surprise lottery win made one Springdale resident’s special day even more exciting.

Christy Baker won $50,000 playing Instant Million, a $20 instant game. She claimed her prize at the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery Claim Center on June 15.

Christy bought the winning ticket during an ordinary trip to Walmart Fuel Station #5738, located at 2293 Butterfield Coach Road in Springdale, on an otherwise extraordinary day—her wedding anniversary. A weekly lottery player, she enjoys scratch-off games and usually wins small prizes around $100. Still, Christy had high hopes for a bigger payout.

Ahead of her purchase, Christy checked online to see which games still had prizes available and noticed Instant Million.

“I do my research,” Christy told lottery officials.

She purchased three tickets, then scratched them off in the car as her husband drove to his office. Whether it was Christy’s research or the special occasion, luck must have been in the air: the last Instant Million ticket held a $50,000 prize.

“I had to check it two or three times before I believed it,” Christy said.

Christy’s husband had stepped into his office for a moment and missed the big win, but she was too eager to share the good news.

“I had to go inside and tell him!” Christy said.

With a family vacation already on the horizon, Christy plans to use her winnings to make the trip even more fun for her kids.

Two $1 million top prizes remain on Instant Million.

Visit MyArkansasLottery.com to learn more about scratch-off games.

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 $1.6 billion for scholarships to benefit Arkansas students. More than 873,000 college scholarships distributed by the Arkansas Department of Higher Education have been awarded to Arkansans. As of May 31, 2026, the lottery has awarded more than $5.8 billion in prizes to players, more than $484 million in retailer commissions, and provided more than $460 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.