(AUSTIN) – After her recent heart surgery, Sherry Wallis of Pottsboro felt pretty unlucky, but everything changed on Friday the 13th.

“I had to pick up a neighbor’s son,” she explained. “I bought three $3 tickets on the way over and scratched them while I waited.”

At first, she thought she’d won $30, but then the 3 Times Lucky ticket from the Texas Lottery® revealed a $3,000 prize. However, Wallis was still at a bit of a loss.

“I didn’t have my cell phone so I couldn’t call my husband or anybody,” she said laughing. “I had to tell a 12-year old.”

Today’s win beats every other prize she’s claimed so far, but the biggest surprise may be that she won the money.

According to Wallis, “My husband plays more than I do.”

Just introduced this month, the newest version of the 3 Times Lucky game has already paid out three top prizes of $30,000 and four second-tier prizes of $3,000 each. Overall odds of winning any prize, including break-even prizes, are one in 4.70.

The odds worked out for Wallis, but not without frightening some of her family members.

“As soon as I got home I was screaming and shaking,” she said. “And my daughter-in-law thought I was having another heart attack!”

Her family soon discovered the truth, and Wallis says the win couldn’t have come at a better time.

“Although many of our players look to more traditional lucky numbers to help them win, Mrs. Wallis has shown that sometimes it pays to reject superstition, even on Friday the 13th,” said Texas Lottery Commission Executive Director Anthony J. Sadberry.

Wallis purchased her winning ticket at the Paradise Grill and Grocery located at 23 Paradise Cove Road in Pottsboro.

Tonight’s Texas Two Step® drawing is worth $1.1 million. Tuesday’s Mega Millions® jackpot is worth an estimated $12 million, and Wednesday’s Lotto Texas® jackpot is worth an estimated $8 million.