First Day Lottery Sales Total $1.2M
By: KARK 4 News
Updated: September 30, 2009
Officials report opening day sales of 1.2-million-dollars on Monday, and sales today already totaled $410,000 at 12:15 p.m.
Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter released the following statement on the lottery’s first day:
“Arkansas made history yesterday by generating an estimated $300,000 in scholarship funding in 24 hours … a terrific start. Congratulations to the Arkansas Lottery Commission and the Scholarship Lottery staff for executing a smooth lottery startup in record time.”
Instant (scratch-off) tickets priced at $1, $2 and $5 went on sale at one minute after midnight on Monday.
One of the first winners bought a ticket with a $1,000 prize at the Big Red Stop-N-Go in Rison. Deborah Conner's photo (see below) is the first one on "Winner's Row" on the lottery website.
Lottery officials say 140 tickets worth $1,000 were sold on Monday. One ticket holder was 20-times as lucky, and won a $20,000 prize.
All validated prizes totaled $726,471 on Monday and sales commissions to retailers for the first day totaled $60,000, not counting prize-cashing commissions.
Click here for information on how to claim winnings of more than $500.
On October 20th, more new instant tickets will be added to the first four now on sale.
On October 31st, Powerball tickets will be added to the list, and then state draw game tickets will go on sale on December 14th.
Click here to search for the Arkansas lottery retailer nearest you.
Click here to visit the Arkansas Lottery website.
Click here to visit our Arkansas Lottery section for much more information.



