It was only 4:30 a.m. when Jessie Butts of Glace Bay, N.S. got up to start her day and decided to check the winning lottery numbers online. When she saw that someone in Glace Bay had won the top prize on Atlantic Lottery’s Hit or Miss game, she didn’t really believe it could possibly be her.

“I jumped out of bed and scanned my ticket on the app and it said, “Major Winner,” Butts said. “It was unreal, total shock. I’ve never experienced anything in my life like that before.”

Hit or Miss is a daily draw game that offers players two chances to win: up to $25,000 instantly in-store at the time of purchase, and again with a nightly draw for $250,000. On both the instant win portion and the nightly draw, players can win the top prize by matching all or none of the 12 numbers drawn. Butts won her $250,000 prize by matching all the numbers on the nightly draw.

“My son was home and normally gets up at 7 a.m. for work but I couldn’t wait until 7 a.m. to tell him, so I woke him up at 5:30,” Butts said. “He couldn’t believe it, he thought I was carrying on but when he came up and looked at the ticket he was just floored.”

Butts only just recently began playing Hit or Miss, purchasing her very first ticket for the game only two weeks prior to her top-prize win.

“I saw someone had won the jackpot a while ago, so I thought I would try it,” Butts said. “I won $25 the first time I played it so I said, ‘OK, I’ll keep playing this game.’”

After 51 years as a registered nurse, Butts retired only to find she missed the work she loved and started as a casual worker at a local nursing home. Despite her big win, she intends to continue doing so as her return to work was never about the money.

Plans for her winnings include paying off bills, doing some home renovations and treating her son and four granddaughters.

Hit or Miss costs $2 to play and is available at all Atlantic Lottery retail locations.