A lucky Pulaski County resident recently won a big prize with a $5 lottery ticket.

A. Nelson of Little Rock won $41,542 with a $5 ticket for the AR Progressive Jackpot Fast Play game. She claimed her prize at the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery Claim Center on July 1. The winning ticket was purchased at Nikki Food Mart at 10401 Arch St. in Little Rock.

During a routine trip to the service station for lottery tickets, the Little Rock woman purchased an AR Progressive Jackpot ticket but did not win. Not discouraged by the loss, Nelson opted for a second ticket.

“Just give me one more,” the woman said.

Lucky for Nelson, her new ticket held the three matching Arkansas symbols needed to win the $41,542 jackpot.

Excited, the winner shared the news with her daughter, who asked if she would visit the claim center to collect her prize the following day.

“No, I’m going today!” Nelson said.

Nelson plans to use her lottery prize to pay bills and renovate her home. She also intends to continue playing lottery games, hoping to win big with LOTTO or the Natural State Jackpot.

Tonight’s Natural State Jackpot (NSJ) is $520,000, tying for the highest jackpot in the game’s history. The last $520,000 jackpot was previously won in June 2022.

The NSJ transitioned to daily draws in April 2024 to produce higher, faster-growing jackpots. Drawings occur at 8 p.m. NSJ tickets cost $1 per play, and ticket sales cut off at 7:59 p.m.

NSJ Tickets are available for purchase via licensed Arkansas lottery retailers, the Jackpocket app, Lotto.com and Jackpot.com.

An NSJ player selects five numbers from 1 to 39. To win the jackpot, a player must match all five numbers drawn. Once the jackpot is hit, the amount resets to $50,000. It increases by $5,000 with each draw until it reaches $100,000. After that, the jackpot increases by $10,000 until it is won.

Winners have 180 days from the draw date to claim their prize.

For more information about the lottery, 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 $7.4 billion and returned more than $1.4 billion for scholarships to benefit Arkansas students. More than 770,000 college scholarships distributed by the Arkansas Department of Higher Education have been awarded to Arkansans. The lottery has awarded more than $5 billion in prizes to players, more than $418 million in retailer commissions, and provided more than $176 million in state and federal tax revenue.

Follow the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery on Facebook, X, formerly known as 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.