Father in disbelief after scoring big lottery prize in Arkansas. ‘Am I awake?’

A father couldn’t believe his eyes when he learned of his big lottery win in Arkansas, officials said.

The Bauxite man credits the $10,000 Dec. 6 win to a change in his lottery routine, according to a Jan. 3 news release from the Arkansas Lottery.

He bought the Quick Pick ticket at a food mart and decided to let the computer generate the numbers instead of picking them himself, officials said.

The winning numbers were 16, 21, 33, 39, and 45 with the Mega Ball number being 24 and the Megaplier multiplier being 2, officials said.

The lucky man matched four out of the five winning numbers and the Mega Ball number, officials said.

“I couldn’t tell you how many times I checked it,” he told lottery officials. “I thought, ‘Am I awake?’”

After learning of the win, he signed the back of the ticket and sent his son a photo, officials said.

At first his son thought the ticket wasn’t real but eventually congratulated his dad, the lottery said.

Although the winner might take his son’s advice and buy himself “something nice” he plans to put the winnings toward bills first, officials said.

The Jan. 3 Mega Millions jackpot has reached $42 million, lotto officials said.

Bauxite is about a 28-mile drive southwest of Little Rock.

This story was originally published January 3, 2025 at 5:35 PM with the headline "Father in disbelief after scoring big lottery prize in Arkansas. ‘Am I awake?’."