(UPI) An Arkansas woman has won a $10,000 prize from a $10 scratch-off game days before her 56th birthday.

Vallerie Ahart, of Malvern, claimed the prize at the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery Claim Center, a release said.

The prize came from the lottery's $10 scratch-off game, $10,000 Stacked.

Ahart had purchased the winning ticket Sunday from an Exxon in Hot Springs.

"I play the lottery a couple of times a week and purchased a ticket on my way home," Ahart said. I decided to buy a $10 ticket for the first time and noticed it was number 3 on the roll of tickets, which is my lucky number.

Ahart said she scratched the ticket off immediately and first thought "that was too easy."

After confirming the win with the retailer, she said she "started screaming with excitement."

Ahart plans to use the prize money to make a down payment on a new home and buy some new cowboy boots.

"I'm celebrating my birthday all week, and I am starting as soon as I leave this Claim Center," Ahart said.

The $10,000 Stacked game launched in December and more than $9 million in prizes remain on the $10 ticket, including 162 more top prizes of $10,000.

Since 2009, the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery has provided $914 million for more than 542,000 college scholarships, more than $3 billion in prizes to players, about $266 million in retailer commissions, and more than $130 million state and federal tax revenue, according to the release.

Copyright 2020 by United Press International