Lottery winner turns luck around with $250,000 win - days after losing his job of two DECADES

An Arkansas man saw his luck turn around dramatically when he found out he had won $250,000 in the lottery - just days after being let go from his job of over 20 years. 

Eric Abbott, from Lonoke, less than 30 miles from Little Rock, previously bought a non-winning ticket in the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery's (ASL) Play It Again drawing. 

However his $5 ticket was randomly re-selected in a second-chance drawing - and he found out he was a winner on August 18. 

Just a few days earlier, on August 15, he had been let go of his job of two decades. 'I woke up around 5am and decided to check my emails,' said Abbott. 

'I was shocked when I came across a lottery email saying I had won in one of those second-chance drawings! I immediately thought it was a scam, so I checked The Club website to see if my name was listed and called the lottery to confirm my win,' he added. 

Eric Abbott won $250,000 in the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery's (ASL) Play It Again drawing

Arkansas Scholarship Lottery's The Club is the exclusive location for entering non-winning instant scratch-off tickets for Play it Again cash drawings and other second-chance promotions. 

Once a player has joined The Club, every non-winning ticket is automatically entered into a future drawing. 

The Club is free to join, and has more than 321,000 registered members. 

The first thing Abbott did after winning was tell his parents, and he said he plans to use his newfound wealth to purchase a new car and help his family and friends. 

'This is truly a blessing, and I'm thankful for the opportunity to help alleviate their financial stress,' he said.

Arkansas Scholarship Lottery's The Club automatically re-enters non-winning instant scratch-off tickets for Play it Again cash drawings 

Arkansas Scholarship Lottery said the next Play It Again lottery will be on October 26 - with a $500,000 prize. 

More than 92 cents of every dollar of revenue from the lottery goes to prizes, scholarships, retailer commissions, and other expenses in Arkansas. 

Since 2009, the lottery has given away more than $4.6 billion in prizes to players, raised more than $1.3 billion in proceeds for scholarships and awarded more than 720,000 college scholarships to Arkansans.