The Arkansas Scholarship Lottery’s Natural State Jackpot reached a record of almost $500,000 dollars after no one won in last night’s drawing, lottery officials say.
The lottery is exclusive to Arkansas and costs $1 to play. Drawings are held every day except Sunday at 8 p.m. according to the Arkansas Lottery website.
The Natural State Jackpot, which was launched in 2012, starts at $50,000 and increases by $5,000 every draw until it hits a total of $150,000. Then it is increased by $10,000 every draw until it is won.
According to a news release from Arkansas Scholarship Lottery, the previous record of $430,000 was hit three years ago.
Ashley McNatt, the advertising and marketing director for the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery, said ticket sales typically go up on Fridays, but officials are expecting an increase in Natural State Jackpot ticket sales this week.
“We think it is our core players maybe buying more tickets because the jackpot is higher but we are hoping to attract some new players,” McNatt said.
McNatt also said they were notified a winning ticket from Monday’s Powerball drawing was sold in Little Rock. The ticket purchased through Jackpocket, an app that allows users to buy tickets and have them printed at another location.
The ticket — with numbers 02-20-27-44-51 and a powerball number of 25 — matches four of the five numbers and the powerball from Monday's drawing and is worth $100,000. The owner of the ticket has 180 days to claim the prize.
The Mega Millions jackpot is $247M for tonight’s 10 p.m. drawing. The Powerball jackpot has reached $258M for Wednesday’s drawing.