LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A resident of Pulaski County has now claimed the $5.75 million Lucky for Life grand prize. at the Arkansas Scholarship Claim Center in Little Rock.
The anonymous winner ordered the winning ticket via the Jackpocket app for the September 12 drawing. The winning numbers for the drawing were 3, 11, 13, 26, and 45 with a Lucky Ball of 13.
The winner explained that he played a special set of numbers which included his birthday (November 3), the street number of two previous addresses, the age difference between him and his wife (13), his age when his son was born (45), and his age when he lost his father (26).
After the drawing, the winner received a congratulatory email notifying him of his winnings, however, the player did not realize he had won anything until the next day.
"I check my emails every morning at work. I play Lucky for Life all the time and was shocked when I saw that I had won the grand prize." the winner told lottery officials. "I asked a close friend to confirm the win because I didn't think it was real. My friend thought it was a joke, so I asked my boss to check my ticket."
The winner's boss reassured him that he was now a multi-millionaire and he should go home and tell his wife but it took a bit of convincing before his wife realized that he was not joking about being a winner.
The 64-year-old winner was given the option to take $7,000 a week for life or the cash option of $5.75 million. He opted for the cash option and after taxes were taken out he was able to take home $4,099,750.
“I quit my job and would like my wife to do the same,” he said. “She’s a workaholic and wants to work toward semi-retirement.”
The couple plans to use the money to finish some ongoing projects.
This winner is now the second person in Arkansas to win the Lucky for Life grand prize and is now tied as the third-largest jackpot ever won in the state on any lottery game.
He is the 99th person to win a lottery prize worth $1 million or more in the state of Arkansas since 2009.