Sermon Prompts Arkansas Woman to Buy Lottery Ticket, Wins $100K

Posted on: February 14, 2024, 10:21h. 

Last updated on: February 14, 2024, 12:26h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

A church sermon telling the congregation to expect good “things on the way” was interpreted by one person that luck was on the horizon. That inspired her to purchase a Powerball ticket that turned out to be a big winner.

church sermon lottery Arkansas Powerball
An Arkansas woman who won $100K playing Powerball says she was enticed to the game by a church sermon. The $100K prize is before federal and state taxes. (Image: Arkansas Scholarship Lottery)

K. Anthony of Harrell told the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery that after attending church on Sunday, January 28, she decided to purchase a Powerball ticket through the Jackpocket app. Jackpocket is a third-party courier app that allows players to purchase lottery tickets without visiting a brick-and-mortar retailer.

Anthony’s Powerball ticket matched four of the five white balls and the red Powerball for a $50K prize. Because she opted for the optional $1 add-on Power Play, her prize was doubled to $100K after the Power Play landed on 2x.

Jackpocket called to notify Anthony of her life-changing prize. She initially dismissed the call as spam.

I didn’t even know I’d won,” she told lottery officials. “I couldn’t even sleep a wink.”

Anthony’s Powerball ticket overcame the odds of one in 913,129. She says she’ll use the cash to remodel her home, take her family on a vacation, and invest the rest.

Anthony said she utilized the “quick pick” option, allowing the computer to automatically select her six numbers.

The Powerball jackpot for Wednesday night’s drawing is an estimated $285 million, with a lump cash option of $137.7 million. Mega Millions stands at $457 million, or $216.8 million cash.

Jackpocket Reach

Founded in 2013 to give lottery players more convenient ways to purchase tickets, Jackpocket has had a meteoric rise in recent years.

Jackpocket is available in states where online lottery tickets aren’t sold. The app is live in Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Texas, Washington, DC, and West Virginia.

Jackpocket charges a fee on deposits to cover the company’s operational costs. The fee is about 7%. There is no charge for withdrawals.

When a Jackpocket user purchases a ticket, they receive an email confirmation of the order. A second email shows a scanned paper ticket of the game to assure the player that the ticket was purchased.

Jackpocket accounts are immediately funded after a ticket wins. If the winning play is a major win, the ticket is securely mailed to the customer so they can redeem the prize at their lottery headquarters. Most states require winning tickets above $600 to be redeemed in person. Other states have lower thresholds, including Arkansas, where prizes of $500 must be redeemed in person.

Jackpocket said last summer that its five million users had won more than $300 million.

iGaming Expansion

Jackpocket last month expanded its business into online casino gaming by way of New Jersey. The Jackpocket Casino went live in the Garden State on January 31 with interactive slots, digital table games, and live dealer table games.

The company says it’s the “first lottery platform in U.S. history to enter the online casino space.”