Since the launch of Mega Millions in Arkansas back in 2010, local lottery fans could just imagine how it feels like to win a great jackpot. It took some time, but Arkansas has its first top prize winner. The luckiest local lotto player title still remains to be claimed, as the winner who bought his Mega Millions ticket at a gas station came from Texas.
Coming from Lubbock in Texas, Eliberto Cantu had over 600 miles to travel to get home. This construction worker was doing business in Arkansas and decided to try his luck by getting a Mega Millions ticket on Thursday 30th March at a gas station in Stuttgart. This decision brought him a real fortune of $177 million.
17, 24, 27, 32, 58 and Mega Ball 10 – all those numbers appeared in the official Mega Millions draw results a day later and they were the exact same numbers as the 71-year old picked for his ticket. Eliberto contacted the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery headquarters in Little Rock to claim his prize. While collecting his enormous cheque along with his wife, Eliberto couldn’t hold back his emotions and simply said “All I can say is we’re blessed” to the reporters. Eliberto and his wife plan to take a great trip, but first they want to help in rebuilding a number of churches.
Eliberto is a real lotto fan and claims he buys Mega Millions tickets on a regular basis. The Texan winner decided to withdraw his winning as a lump sum of $72.9 million. That decision made him the 55th person to win a prize worth over $1 million in one of the Arkansas lotteries. All Stop Valero, the gas station where the lucky ticket was bought, received a $50k bonus for selling the winning ticket.
It was quite an Easter in Mega Millions for sure. Another player, coming from Illinois claimed a $5 million prize on 14th April. The lucky ticket once again was sold by a gas station (this time it was Mobil gas station in Chicago). The ticket owner correctly picked all five main numbers, but the entry included a Megaplier, which made the prize five times higher than the usual $1 million.
Don’t you think it’s time to join Eliberto in the millionaires club? Pick your numbers and get your Mega Millions ticket online now!
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