Man ‘was waiting on the punch line’ after big lottery win in Arkansas. It was no joke

Michael Koontz bought an instant scratch ticket from the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery, but it wasn’t a winner.

Then he turned that unlucky ticket into a winning one, according to an Oct. 27 news release.

After realizing that ticket wasn’t a winner, the Winslow man entered it into Play It Again — a second chance drawing, lottery officials said.

That decision paid off big.

During the Oct. 26 Play It Again drawing, his ticket was randomly selected as the winner of a $500,000 prize, according to the release.

But Koontz didn’t believe it.

“I received a phone call from the lottery saying that I had won in one of those second-chance drawings,” he told lottery officials. “I didn’t get too excited because I thought it was a scam and was waiting on the punch line.”

Fortunately, Koontz told his wife about the call and soon learned it was no joke.

“She checked The Club website to see if my name was listed and called the lottery to confirm the win,” he said.

The Club is a free membership program through the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery that allows players to enter their non-winning tickets into the Play It Again drawings.

Koontz plans to use his winnings to pay bills and go on a vacation, officials said.

Winslow is about 20 miles south of Fayetteville.

This story was originally published October 30, 2023 at 12:06 PM with the headline "Man ‘was waiting on the punch line’ after big lottery win in Arkansas. It was no joke."