Change to increases will also mean bigger, faster-growing jackpots, Lottery says

By Kate Northrop

The Arkansas Lottery announced today that it will change the draw format of the Natural State Jackpot (NSJ) game to daily drawings, starting this month.

The Natural State Jackpot lottery game, which is local to the state of Arkansas, will change from having six drawings a week to seven in a new daily draw format.

Starting Sun., April 21, 2024 at 8:00 pm Central Time, the local draw game will have drawings every day. It will be the only in-state drawing that the Lottery conducts on a Sunday.

Players who purchase a multi-draw ticket for seven or more plays this Sun., April 14 will have the new Sun., April 21 drawing included on their ticket.

The Lottery is also modifying the increases between rollovers, and the change favors bigger, faster-growing jackpots. The progressive jackpot will still start at $50,000, but beginning Mon., April 15, it will increase by $5,000 with every rollover until it hits $100,000, after which it will increase by $10,000 every draw.

"Initially, the jackpot increased by $5,000 every draw until it hit $150,000 and then increased by $10,000 every draw," Lottery Gaming Director Mike Smith explained in a press release. "Adding the Sunday drawing will result in larger, faster-growing jackpots."

The prize structure and odds for the Natural State Jackpot game will not change, and ticket prices will stay the same at $1 per play. Players continue to choose five numbers from 1 to 39 or have the lottery terminal select the numbers for you with the Quick Pick option.

Players can pick up Natural State Jackpot tickets for daily drawings at any of the Lottery's 2,000 licensed retailers.

"Life-changing jackpots produce more than just lottery winners," Smith continued. "Proceeds from draw game sales drive more money for scholarships, and our retail partners receive a commission when a player cashes in a winning ticket sold at their store."

The Arkansas Lottery has raised over $1.3 billion in proceeds for scholarships and has awarded more than 720,000 scholarships since 2009, according to the Lottery.

The Natural State Jackpot progressive jackpot currently stands at $240,000 for the next drawing tonight at 8:00 pm Central Time. The odds of matching all five numbers to win the jackpot are 1 in 575,757.

All winning numbers, prizes and odds can be found on Lottery Post's Arkansas Lottery Results page right after each drawing.