FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Lucky lottery player Michael Koontz of Winslow unexpectedly won $500,000 in the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery (ASL) Play It Again® Oct. 26 drawing.
Koontz's ticket was originally a non-winning scratch-off, which came from the $20-$1,000,000 Riches ticket. Although it was not an initial winner, the ticket was randomly selected from the other eligible entries of players' non-winning scratch-offs.
“I received a phone call from the lottery saying that I had won in one of those second-chance drawings,” Koontz said to ASL. “I didn’t get too excited because I thought it was a scam and was waiting on the punch line.”
His wife checked The Club website to verify if Koontz's name was on the list. Koontz was selected out of the 327,000 members registered to The Club.
Koontz told ASL that he plans to pay his bills and take a vacation with the winnings.
Koontz and other players collected their winnings at the ASL Claim Center this week.
Another big winner this week was Connie H. of North Little Rock with $120,000. She played in the Oct. 20 Natural State Jackpot (NSJ) drawing. Her winning numbers with 11, 31, 32, 34, and 35. Like Koontz, Connie also plans to take a vacation with her winnings.
Other claimants this week were Antonio Robinson of Marion with $25,000 from the $2 Jumbo Bucks Elite instant tickets, Charles Adams of Little Rock with $15,292 from the AR Progressive Jackpot, and three other Arkansas Lottery players from North Little Rock, Searcy, and Stuttgart with $10,000 each from the $10K Loaded instant ticket.
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