We now have 2 lottery ticket buyers in Minnesota who hit this week for at least $1M

There are now two lottery ticket buyers in Minnesota who have won at least $1 million this week.

A Powerball ticket bought in Mankato came up a $1 million winner in Wednesday night's drawing, lottery officials said Thursday.

The 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. Kwik Trip earns a $5,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket.

If the buyer also had a Powerball number of 9, that would have meant a cool $160 million. Turns out, no one nationwide got all the right numbers, so the jackpot grows for Saturday's drawing to at least $171 million.

Powerball is offered 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 Monday's Gopher 5 drawing. That ticket sold in Hermantown and bore all correct five numbers drawn: 4-14-23-31-34. The payout is $1,606,134.

Hermantown General Store, 5105 Morris Thomas Road, also collects a $5,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket.

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 now has a year to claim the prize — and yes, there are tax implications.