Garland County Man Wins $290,000 Natural State Jackpot; Draw Game Jackpots Rise for the Weekend

An Arkansas couple raced to check the winning numbers for the Oct. 2 Natural State Jackpot (NSJ) drawing, only to discover they had won $290,000.

A Garland County man ordered his jackpot-winning NSJ ticket via the Jackpocket mobile app and claimed his prize at the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery (ASL) Claim Center on Oct. 5. The winning numbers were 5, 17, 19, 26 and 36.

The lucky winner plays lottery games whenever he has extra spending money. He prefers draw games like NSJ, and his only “strategy” is choosing different numbers for each play. For fun, his wife often rushes to check his notification emails from Jackpocket, hoping to announce his winnings. This time, however, the Garland County man saw the email first.

“Haha, I saw it before you did,” he joked. Then, he made his grand announcement: “I won the jackpot!”

No stranger to winning big, the player previously won $50,000 playing another lottery game; however, the $290,000 jackpot marked his biggest prize yet. For the rest of the weekend, the couple asked themselves, “Is this real?”

In addition to telling his wife, the lucky winner first shared the good news with his dad. The couple plans to finish renovating their home with the prize.

“We also really want to help others,” he told lottery officials. “I guarantee you.”

Tonight’s NSJ jackpot is $200,000.

Also drawing tonight, the Mega Millions® jackpot is $433 million. Saturday night, the Powerball® jackpot is $674 million, and the LOTTO jackpot is $2.892 million.

For more information about draw games, visit MyArkansasLottery.com 

About the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery
The Arkansas Scholarship Lottery (ASL) creates winning people, winning futures, and winning moments. Since 2009, the ASL has sold over $8.7 billion and returned more than $1.6 billion for scholarships to benefit Arkansas students. More than 873,000 college scholarships distributed by the Arkansas Department of Higher Education have been awarded to Arkansans. As of September 30, 2026, the lottery has awarded more than $5.9 billion in prizes to players, more than $494 million in retailer commissions, and provided more than $462 million in state and federal tax revenue.

Follow the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery on Facebook, X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram. Visit MyArkansasLottery.com for more information on scholarships, winners, games, odds, promotions – and to join The Club for free. To get help with problem gambling, contact the National Problem Gambling Helpline at 1-800-522-4700. 

About Jackpocket
Jackpocket is on a mission to create a more convenient, fun, and responsible way to take part in the lottery. The first licensed third-party lottery courier app in the United States, Jackpocket provides an easy, secure way to order official state lottery tickets. Jackpocket is currently available in Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Maine Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Washington D.C., and West Virginia, and is planning to expand to new jurisdictions. Digital scratch-off tickets are available for customers to order using the app in Arizona, Colorado, Massachusetts, Ohio, Montana, and Oregon. Jackpocket is a subsidiary of DraftKings Inc. (Nasdaq: DKNG). Download the app on iOS and Android or participate via desktop. Follow along on Facebook, Twitter, andInstagram.

A Garland County resident won $290,000 in the Oct. 2 Natural State Jackpot drawing.

The Mega Millions® jackpot is $433 million for the Oct. 23 drawing.

On Oct. 24, the Powerball® jackpot is $674 million, and the LOTTO jackpot is $2.892 million.