Arkansas Powerball Rules
The basic rules of the game in Arkansas are consistent with every other participating jurisdiction, but there are a few aspects of playing Powerball which are specific to the state:
- You must be at least 18 years of age to play.
- Sales close at 8:59pm Central Time (9:59pm Eastern Time), one hour before the draw takes place.
- You can play up to 20 consecutive draws in advance by selecting the appropriate number in the Multi-draw section of the playslip.
- The state tax rate is 4.9 percent.
You can watch the drawings live on the following TV stations, depending on where you are in Arkansas.
| City | Station | Affiliate | Channel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Smith | KFSM | CBS | 5 |
| Jonesboro | KAIT | ABC/NBC | 8 |
| Little Rock | KATV | ABC | 7 |
How to Claim Prizes
If you win a prize of up to $500, you can claim your money from any licensed lottery retailer in Arkansas or submit a claim by mail. For any award larger than $500, you must visit the state lottery’s headquarters if you want to redeem your winnings in person. You will need to fill out a claim form and provide photographic identification before being paid a prize over $500. You can also claim prizes between $500.01 and $1 million through the mail, but you will need to make a copy of your photo ID (such as your driver’s license or passport) and mail it with your winning ticket.
The Arkansas Lottery’s headquarters is open from 8:00am to 4:30pm CT Mondays through Fridays, although no claims are processed after 4:15pm. The address is shown below:
Arkansas Scholarship Lottery Claim Center
1st Floor – Union Plaza Building
124 West Capitol Ave.
Little Rock, AR 72201
Telephone No: 501-683-2060
The address where you should send in claims by mail is as follows:
Arkansas Scholarship Lottery Claim Center
P.O. Box 3838
Little Rock, AR 72203
Claiming With a Lottery Pool
If you play in a Powerball pool and wish for the prize money to be shared between all members, you need to fill out a ‘request and release’ form from the Arkansas Lottery. Each member of your group must sign the form and specify their share of the prize. The Arkansas Lottery will then issue each individual a check with their share, providing that there are no more than 100 people in your group.
For pools of more than 100 people, the Arkansas Lottery has the right to issue the entire prize amount to whoever has signed the ticket. It would then be the responsibility of that person to distribute the money to the rest of the group. Group claims can only be processed at the lottery’s headquarters in Little Rock.
Claim Period
You have 180 days from the date of the drawing to claim any prizes. Go to the Powerball Checker to see if you have won a prize in the last 180 days.
Lost and Damaged Tickets
Lost Powerball tickets cannot be replaced, so you will not be able to claim a prize unless you have a winning entry in your possession. You should sign the back of your ticket so that it cannot be claimed by someone else. If you receive a damaged or illegible ticket from a retailer, you should be given a new ticket and the damaged entry will be retained by the cashier. You will not be able to claim a prize with a ticket that is not intact or has been modified in any way.
Going Public
You can now stay anonymous in Arkansas, if you win a prize worth more than $500,000, after a change to the law in 2021. Lottery wins were previously deemed a matter of public record, so the Arkansas Lottery would have been compelled to release certain information if anyone had filed a Freedom of Information request. This law caused complications for the state’s first jackpot winner, Harold Bailey, who wanted to remain anonymous but was legally unable to. See the Winners section below.
Wins of up to $500,000 are still regarded as an open record, so your name, home town and prize amount may still be disclosed in this situation.
Where Does the Money Go?
When you buy a Powerball ticket in Arkansas, it goes towards prize winners, students and lottery retailers. The prize pot gets the biggest portion, 68.1 percent, while 9.8 percent goes towards retailer commissions and contract costs. Only 3.4 percent is required for the general operational and administrative expenses of running the lottery, leaving the remaining 18.7 percent as income, which is all put towards scholarships.
The Arkansas Lottery has provided over $1.2 billion for more than 675,000 scholarships since 2009, helping students to receive a better education than might otherwise have been possible. Scholarships can be awarded to residents enrolled in non-profit, public, and private colleges and universities throughout the state.
The lottery has paid out more than $4 billion in prizes since 2009 and more than $220 million in retailer commissions in the same period.
Arkansas Powerball Winners
Powerball tickets only went on sale in Arkansas in October 2009, but the state had its first jackpot winner within three months when Harold Bailey from Conway landed $25 million on January 2, 2010. Bailey purchased his winning ticket from the Crackerbox Food Store No.25, located in a Valero gas station on Arkansas 365, just north of Mayflower. He opted for the cash option of $12 million but declined to comment to the media. His identity was released due to a freedom of information request.
