The winner of the $2 million Powerball® prize from Wednesday’s drawing claimed it today at the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery Claim Center in Little Rock. She is a resident of Faulkner County and has elected to remain anonymous.

The Powerball jackpot for the next drawing was increased this morning to $1.6 billion making it the largest national lottery jackpot in history. The drawing will be at 9:59 p.m. tomorrow. Tickets sales close at 8:59 p.m. Tickets may be purchased at any lottery retailer or on the Jackpocket app.

The winner hadn’t heard the news that the winning ticket was sold in Wooster until a friend called her yesterday and asked if she had checked her Powerball tickets.

“I had been busy and forgotten to check,” the winner said. “So I went to the lottery website and laid the ticket next to the computer and couldn’t believe it when I saw that five of the numbers (2, 11, 22, 35 and 60) matched. The first thing I said was “thank you, Lord!”

The winner won with numbers she selected. They were relative to grandchildren’s and her birthdays and ages. 

“My husband was cutting soybeans so I was waiting on him to give him the good news before I told anyone else,” she said. “All I could do was pace the floor. However, I finally called my daughter because it was about an hour before he came in the house.”

The winner said she works from home and babysits her five-month-old grandson and does not plan to quit her job.

“I might buy a new farm truck, but the majority of the money will go to investing for our retirement,” she said.

She added that she only purchased her Powerball ticket around 6 p.m. the day of the drawing.

“I had to go to Wooster to get some things for dinner so I decided to get my lottery ticket. I filled out the Playslip and gave it to the cashier. He tried to run it, but the machine jammed up, and he had to reboot it. I was running late for church and almost left before I could get the ticket. I’m sure glad I didn’t leave without it!”

For more information on game odds and how to play, visit MyArkansasLottery.com. 

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 $1.2 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 $360 million in retailer commissions and provided more than $158 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.