BATON ROUGE – Eddie Jelks of Shreveport received a welcomed surprise when he checked his Louisiana Lottery Lotto ticket the morning after the March 16 drawing and saw that he won the $550,000 jackpot prize. 
 
“I checked my ticket and just couldn’t believe my eyes,” said Jelks. “I looked at it a few times myself then had my wife take a look to make sure what I was seeing was true.” 
 
The 72-year-old’s winning ticket matched all six numbers to win the $550,000 Lotto jackpot prize, which he claimed Monday at Louisiana Lottery headquarters. The winning numbers were 01-10-16-22-23-40. 
 
Jelks received $390,500 after state and federal tax withholdings. He plans to put his winnings in the bank. 
 
The winning ticket was sold at Circle K #2740386 on Kings Highway in Shreveport. The store received a one-time selling bonus of $5,500, which is 1 percent of the prize.
 
Lottery ticket purchasers must be at least 21 years of age. Draw-style game tickets must be claimed within 180 days of the drawing. Anyone who may have a gambling problem or friends and family of anyone with a gambling problem should call toll free 1-877-770-7867 for help. 
 
For security purposes, the Lottery strongly encourages players to sign the back of their tickets immediately after purchasing. More information about Lotto and other jackpot winners can be found on the Lottery’s website, www.louisianalottery.com/lotto.