Two Arkansans win a total of $150,000 in instant game lottery prizes

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Two lucky Arkansans each scored big on instant games this week.

Jeanene D. of Hot Springs Village won $100,000 while playing Big 777, a recently launched $5 instant game, and Shawn D. of Smithville scored $50,000 after playing the $50,000 Blast instant game.

Jeanene, a daily lottery player, said she purchased her winning ticket while on break from work. She noted that she usually opts for $20 instant games but when she learned they were sold out, she went with a Big 777 ticket.

Just after she returned to work, she quickly raced back to the gas station after she found out she just won $100,000.

“I just couldn’t believe it,” she told lottery officials.

Arkansas Scholarship Lottery officials said this win was Jeanene’s largest to date, beating out her $2,500 prize from last summer.

Jeanene said she plans to use her winnings to pay off some of her bills and make some home repairs.

Shawn, a construction worker and Smithville resident, noted that he rarely plays lottery tickets but went ahead and got one at the insistence of a coworker while making a trip to the ATM.

He scratched off his ticket in the gas station and quickly learned he was the winner of $50,000.

I knew I’d better go to the truck,” he said. “The adrenaline rush I’d had was making me sick to the stomach.”

He first shared the good news with his coworker and then later his family and friends.

“First, they were excited,” he laughed. “Then it was, ‘Can I get a loan?’”

Shawn said he plans to use his prize to buy a car for his teenage son, who will start driving soon.

For information on games and odds, visit MyArkansasLottery.com .

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