Man buys lottery ticket for wife’s birthday. It gave her another reason to celebrate

A lottery ticket given as a birthday gift revealed a big prize, but it took days for the winner to realize their new fortunes.

As he and his wife drove home from dinner Feb. 29, a man from Conway, Arkansas, stopped at a convenience store to buy an Arkansas Lottery LOTTO ticket for his wife’s birthday.

“It was my birthday, and I wanted a ticket. A winning ticket!” his wife told lottery officials in a March 6 news release.

The couple allowed the computer to choose their numbers, then they waited until March 2 to see if they won.

But there was one problem — a faulty internet connection meant they could not check the winning numbers.

It wasn’t until March 4, two days after the drawing and the wife’s birthday, when they realized they won.

“I looked at (the ticket) about three times,” the woman said. “I kept saying, ‘Where’s the fourteen? I need the fourteen!”

The ticket matched five of the six winning numbers and the bonus number, giving the couple a $25,000 win. Had they matched all of the numbers, they would have won the game’s jackpot that starts at $250,000.

Odds of winning the $25,000 prize are 1-in-639,730.

With their winnings, the couple plans to install a fence in preparation for puppy-sitting for their grandchildren this summer.

“Can’t let that little new grand-fur-baby get out!” the winner said.

Conway is about a 35-mile drive northwest of Little Rock.

This story was originally published March 6, 2024 at 3:28 PM with the headline "Man buys lottery ticket for wife’s birthday. It gave her another reason to celebrate."