While someone next door in Wisconsin hit one of the largest Powerball jackpots in history, someone else a stone's throw away in Minnesota bought a ticket good for $2 million in the same drawing.
$2M Powerball ticket sold in Minnesota, but where?
The numbers were chosen in Stillwater and came up just short of the massive jackpot; no word yet on the lucky player's identity.
The $2 Minnesota ticket matched all five white balls drawn Wednesday night but missed the Powerball number.
That ticket was sold in Stillwater at the Holiday gas station at 2500 Orleans St., a Minnesota Lottery spokeswoman said Thursday, and that retailer will be given $5,000 for selling the ticket.
Coming that close normally would mean winnings of $1 million. But that player, along with another fortune hunter in Kansas, doubled the prize to $2 million because the tickets included the Power Play option for an additional $1.
The winner has a year to check in with Minnesota Lottery headquarters in Roseville and claim the prize.
The net amount pocketed will be adjusted downward for tax purposes and should the winner choose to take the loot in a lump sum, rather than spread it out over a number of years.
The $768.4 million ticket for the jackpot was sold in New Berlin, near Milwaukee, and is the third-largest behind the world record $1.59 billion Powerball jackpot shared by winners in California, Florida and Tennessee in January 2016, and the $1.54 billion Mega Millions jackpot won in South Carolina last October.
The winning numbers are 16, 20, 37, 44 and 62. The Powerball number is 12. Powerball lists the odds for winning the grand prize as 1 in 292,201,338.
The win marked Wisconsin's 17th Powerball jackpot since 1988. The state is now tied for sixth on the all-time list of most frequent winning states. Minnesota stands third with 22 jackpot winners.
Powerball is played in 44 states, plus Washington, D.C., the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482
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