Despite the odds against him, a man from Arkansas won a $500,000 prize using a scratch-off ticket that he had originally lost $20 on.

Michael Koontz from Winslow won $500,000 with a lottery ticket that previously lost through the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery's Play It Again drawing on October 26th.

The winning entry came from the '$1,000,000 Riches' instant game ticket and was randomly selected from eligible entries submitted by players from non-winning instant scratch-off tickets.

Koontz found out about his win on the same day. "I received a phone call from the lottery saying that I had won in one of those second-chance drawings," Koontz told the Arkansas Lottery.

"I didn't get too excited because I thought it was a scam and was waiting on the punch line."

The first person he called was his wife, who was wary about the phone call.

So she checked The Club website to see if Koontz's name was listed, and then she called the Arkansas Lottery to confirm the win.

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