Although the winning Mega Millions® ticket for Friday night’s historic $1.337 billion jackpot was sold in Illinois, an incredible 81,281 players in Arkansas won prizes from $2 to $2 million.

Judy Dudley from Lake City claimed her $2 million this morning at the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery Claim Center in Little Rock. She purchased the winning ticket at the Kum & Go, 4810 E. Highland in Jonesboro. She was one of six people in the United States to win $2 million in Friday night’s drawing. She becomes the 89^th person to win $1 million or more from the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery since it started in 2009.

The winning numbers were 13, 36, 45, 57 and 67. Judy matched all five white balls, but not the Megaball® number 14. However, because she purchased the $1 Megaplier®, which was 2 for that drawing, she doubled her prize to $2 million.

Dudley said she bought her Quick Pick ticket last Thursday when she took her mother to the chiropractor in Jonesboro.

“On the way home we stopped at the Kum & Go to get my mom a Dr Pepper so I bought my Mega Millions ticket there,” Dudley said. “I always buy Powerball® and Mega Millions tickets when the jackpots get up to at least $300 million.

“My five-year-old granddaughter from Texas was visiting, and she was ready to go to bed Friday night before the 10 o’clock news. I told her I had to wait until the Mega Millions numbers were announced on the TV, but Friday night they didn’t announced the numbers.”

So Dudley said she went to the lottery website on her cell phone.

“I was holding the phone in one hand and my ticket in the other. I saw that I had all the white balls, and thought, oh my gosh, I think I just won $2 million! My husband, Dave, had fallen asleep in the chair so I woke him up and then called my daughter who lives close by.”

The local store that sells lottery had closed by then so they all drove to Jonesboro to check the ticket at a retailer around 11 p.m. The ticket reader told them it was a winning ticket, and they needed to claim the prize in Little Rock.

Dudley said she also called her daughter who lives in Texas and a cousin to give them the good news.

“It was hard to sleep Friday night,” she said. “But my main concern was keeping the ticket safe even though I had signed the back of it. It’s taken a while for all of this to sink in. But I don’t care if the world knows I won. My seven-year-old granddaughter announced it in Sunday School Sunday that I had won.”

Dudley retired from Arkansas State University in May 2021, and her husband retired three years ago. The couple plans to enjoy their retirement, take the entire family on a Hawaiian vacation next summer and help her daughter who is building a new house. Plus, her daughter who lives near her is expecting a baby later this month, and the new millionaire plans to babysit a lot.

Players who purchased tickets in Arkansas for Friday night’s Mega Millions drawing won prizes totaling $2,478,154. One player from Harrison won $10,004 by matching four white balls plus the Megaball. Thirty-five winners won $1,000 by matching four white balls, then doubling their $500 prize by buying the Megaplier.

Other winning tickets of more than $500 were purchased in Hot Springs Village, Fort Smith, Clarksville, Batesville, Bryant, Lonoke, Jonesboro, Gassville, Cave City, Bald Knob, Little Rock, North Little Rock, Sherwood, Camden, West Memphis, Hot Springs, Texarkana, Arkadelphia, Star City, Pine Bluff, Mountainburg, Centerton, Western Grove and Van Buren.

Retailers receive a 1 percent commission from the sale of winning lottery products, which means the Kum & Go in Jonesboro will receive $20,000 commission for selling the winning Mega Millions.

Friday night’s Mega Millions jackpot was the second largest in the history of the game and second largest ever for any lottery game in the United States. A $1.537 billion jackpot was won in October 2018.

About the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery

More than 92 cents of every dollar of ASL revenue goes to prizes, scholarships, retailer commissions and other expenses in Arkansas. Since 2009, the lottery has raised more than $1.1 billion in proceeds for scholarships. More than 675,000 college scholarships have been awarded to Arkansans. The lottery has awarded more than $4 billion in prizes to players, about $352 million in retailer commissions and provided more than $155 million in state and federal tax revenue.

Follow the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Visit MyArkansasLottery.com for more information on scholarships, winners, games, odds, promotions – and to join The Club for free. To hear winning numbers, call the Winning Numbers Hotline at 501-682-IWON (4966). To get help with problem gambling, contact the National Problem Gambling Helpline at 1-800-522-4700. 

Judy Dudley is pictured with her husband, Dave.