Lottery player thought $50 win was ‘end’ of his luck in Arkansas. He was dead wrong

An Arkansas man thought his luck had surely run out after buying two winning lottery tickets with small prizes, but much bigger things were coming his way.

James White, of Harrison, was on his way to do laundry when he decided to stop at a gas station in town, lottery officials said in a Feb. 18 news release.

He had already bought two winning tickets, the first worth $500 and the second worth $50, he told officials, and he doubted he could do much better than that.

“I thought that would be the end of my luck,” White said.

White like to play the lottery responsibly, and only buys tickets with winnings from other tickets or loose cash laying around, he said. And with $550 burning a hole in his pocket, he saw no reason not to try his luck one more time.

White spent $20 on a third ticket, playing the $50,000 Frenzy game, officials said. He took it home with him, started scratching it off and by the time he got to the last row, he couldn’t believe what he saw.

“I stared at it for a couple of minutes,” he said, then called up his best friend and told her the news: he’d just won the top prize of $50,000.

He’s only told a small handful of people in his life about the win, White told lottery officials. He said he plans to invest the money into his house.

Harrison is a roughly 140-mile drive northwest from Little Rock.

This story was originally published February 19, 2025 at 1:37 PM with the headline "Lottery player thought $50 win was ‘end’ of his luck in Arkansas. He was dead wrong."