Arkansas woman places her lottery ticket under pillow for good luck, wakes up $2 million richer

In a fairytale story, a woman who placed her lottery ticket under her pillow like children do with their milk teeth, won a $2 million prize. The superstitious winner who chose to be anonymous said that it was a tried and tested trick that helped her win the lottery before. This time, she didn't just win the lottery her prize was also doubled by the Power Play Multiplier. 

"I can't believe this," she told the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery. "Little old me. Your new millionaire, right here," she added. 

The trick for Good Luck or a Winning Strategy?

After one of her daughters offered her money to play the lottery, the lucky woman from Maumelle purchased her ticket at a Circle K Store in Maumelle for the December 13, 2023, drawing.  She spent a total of $15 on the tickets and opted for the Power Play option too as she was a big fan of Powerball and the Mega Millions lottery. 

On top of that, she was pretty confident about her trick as well. "I said I was going to win big," she told the Arkansas Lottery. She said that her trick of keeping the ticket under her pillow had brought her good luck previously when she won $100,000. That night, the numbers 3,8,41, 46, 64, and Powerball 18 were drawn. 

The woman woke up the next morning and realized she had become a millionaire. She matched all five of the numbers but missed out on the Powerball 18. Thus she won the $1 million prize which was doubled to $2 million by the 2X Power Play multiplier. Had she matched the Powerball 18 as well, she would have hit the jackpot to win a whopping $504.1 million.

She told the lottery officials that at first she had no idea how much she had won. She called up her daughter who told her that the winnings could be anywhere between $100,000 and $1 million, as she did not want to reveal the exact amount until they met in person.

After learning she had become a millionaire, she shared that she called up her other children to celebrate the "miracle" with them. The Circle K store that sold her the ticket also received a $20,000 bonus (1% of the prize). 

The superstitious winner claimed her prize at the Little Rock Claim Center and told the lottery that she intended to move into a new home. She added that she has no plans of giving up playing the lottery and is determined to hit the jackpot next time.

This month, the jackpot for the September 14, Power Ball drawing stands at $152 million. The highest amount for the jackpot this year rose to $1.23 billion earlier in April. However, there were no winners to claim the prize that could have been a lump amount of $452.3 million after taxes. 

One of the biggest winners of the year bagged the $810 million Mega Millions jackpot on Tuesday. The unidentified winner matched all five white ball numbers and the golden Mega Ball, to get the option of taking $409.3 million (after taxes) home, as per the lottery.