There are now three lottery tickets worth $1 million or more sold in Minnesota in less than a week, and officials are waiting for the winners to step up and claim their respective windfalls.
The latest in the lucky streak came during Saturday's Powerball drawing, when a ticket bought in Big Lake at the Market Place Express off Hwy. 10 at NW. 168th Street matched the first five numbers drawn and earned its owner $1 million before taxes, the Minnesota Lottery announced Monday.
The ticket had the numbers 19-31-35-50-67, but it missed the Powerball of 14, which would have meant a $171 million pretax payout. The jackpot now stands at $183 million for Wednesday's drawing.
A Powerball ticket bought in Mankato also came up a $1 million winner in last Wednesday night's drawing. That ticket was sold at the Kwik Trip convenience store at 1549 E. Madison Av. and matched the first five numbers drawn: 14-18-26-39-68.
Powerball is offered twice a week in 44 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Players select five numbers from 1 to 69 and a Powerball number from 1 to 26.
A lottery ticket sold in the Duluth area hit the jackpot in the Gopher 5 drawing on Dec. 16. That ticket was sold at the Hermantown General Store at 5105 Morris Thomas Road and bore the five numbers drawn: 4-14-23-31-34. The payout is $1.6 million.
Gopher 5 players choose five numbers from 1 to 47. The jackpot starts at $100,000 and increases as each drawing fails to yield a winner. Drawings are every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Odds of hitting all five numbers are 1 in 1,533,939, according to lottery officials.
Whoever holds these tickets has a year to claim the prize — and, yes, there are tax implications.
The retailers who sold the tickets each receive a $5,000 bonus.
Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482
