Roland Newbern of West Memphis recently won a $50,000 lottery prize playing the $20 $50,000 Blast instant game. He claimed his prize at the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery Claim Center on March 4.

The winning ticket was sold at Tobacco Warehouse #11 on 315-B W. Broadway in West Memphis.

Roland purchased the winning ticket during a quick tobacco store run before heading to his part-time job. While inside, he picked up a pack of beer for a coworker and decided to purchase three instant game tickets. An infrequent player, the West Memphis resident opted for one of each of the first three games available.

Roland waited until he returned home from work to scratch his ticket. At the time, he was more preoccupied with his laptop; soon, though, the ticket captured all of his attention.

“I started scratching the top row, and that’s when I knew I’d won something,” Roland shared with lottery officials.

The man initially thought he had only won a few thousand dollars; in his shock, he had not noticed the “5X” icon that would automatically award him the $50,000 top prize.

Stunned, the West Memphis resident sat quietly for thirty minutes. In another room, his girlfriend and stepson grew concerned about his silence.

“They asked me, ‘What’s going on?’ and I couldn’t even answer,” Roland said.

The winner noted that the $50,000 prize was his biggest yet. Previously, he had only ever received $100 and $200 prizes.

“God is good,” he said.

With his winnings, Roland plans to pay off his truck, catch up on other expenses and invest the rest.

Magnolia resident J. Wilson also claimed a $10,000 Mega Millions® prize on Wednesday, March 6.

The winning ticket was sold at Dixie Mart #7287, 1119 S. Jackson in Magnolia, for the Friday, March 1 drawing. The winning numbers were white balls 15, 33, 37, 55 and 61, with the Megaball® being 24.

Wilson and his wife, monthly lottery players, purchased the winning ticket after seeing the high Mega Millions jackpot. With digits selected by the terminal, their ticket matched four out of five of the winning white balls and awarded them a $10,000 prize.

“Oh my God, I can’t believe it,” Wilson’s wife thought before immediately texting her daughter with the news.

The couple intends to save their winnings and continue playing lottery games. 

The Mega Millions jackpot rises to $687 million for tonight’s drawing. The LOTTO jackpot jumps to $1.222 million for tomorrow night’s drawing.

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 $7.2 billion and returned more than $1.3 billion for scholarships to benefit Arkansas students. More than 720,000 college scholarships distributed by the Arkansas Department of Higher Education have been awarded to Arkansans. The lottery has awarded more than $4.9 billion in prizes to players, more than $409 million in retailer commissions, and provided more than $175 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 get help with problem gambling, contact the National Problem Gambling Helpline at 1-800-522-4700.

Roland Newbern of West Memphis won a $50,000 prize playing the $50,000 Blast instant game.