A Lucky Minnesota Powerball Player Is Now $2 Million Richer

Few things get people lining up at the gas station counter quite like a growing Powerball jackpot. The game is sold in 45 states, plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and it holds the record for the largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history at $2.04 billion.

Minnesota players have a pretty good track record, too. The Gopher State ranks fourth in the nation for total Powerball winners, trailing only Pennsylvania, Missouri, and Indiana.

If you have never played, it is simple. You pick five numbers from 1 to 69 and one red Powerball from 1 to 26. You can also skip the decision-making entirely and ask for a quick pick.

Each play costs $2, and you can buy a single ticket good for up to 14 drawings if you'd rather set it and forget it. There are nine ways to win, starting with $4 just for matching the Powerball. Match all five white balls plus the Powerball, and the jackpot is yours.

Jackpots start at $20 million and keep growing until somebody wins. Winners can take the cash in one lump sum or as an annuity, paid out in 30 graduated payments over 29 years.

For one extra dollar, the Power Play option can multiply non-jackpot prizes by 2, 3, 4, 5, or even 10 times. The 10x multiplier only comes into play when the advertised jackpot is $150 million or less.

Get our free mobile app

There's one prize the multiplier doesn't touch, though: matching all five white balls with the added Power Play purchase is always worth exactly $2 million. Keep that number in mind.

The odds of hitting the jackpot are roughly 1 in 292.2 million, which is why most of us treat our tickets like a $2 daydream. However, every so often, that daydream turns into a life-changing reality, and that is exactly what just happened to someone in Minnesota.

$2 Million Powerball Winner Reported in Minnesota

The jackpot for Wednesday's drawing on October 14 had climbed to more than half a billion dollars. Nobody has hit the grand prize since August 12, when a $1.04 billion jackpot was won.

The winning numbers were 3, 34, 37, 42, and 46, with a Powerball of 20 and a 3x Power Play. Nobody matched all six.

However, a player from Montgomery matched all five white balls, which is normally worth $1 million. That player also added the Power Play, which bumped the prize to $2 million.

Where The Winning Ticket Was Sold

The lucky ticket was sold at OAM Food and Fuel on 4th Street Southwest, at the south end of town. The Minnesota Lottery lists the store as Oam Shiv, and the store earns a $5,000 bonus for selling it.

Montgomery is a small Le Sueur County city of about 3,200 people, located about 45 miles south of Minneapolis. It proudly calls itself the "Kolacky Capital of the World," a nod to the Czech and German immigrants who settled the area in the late 1850s.

As of Friday afternoon, the prize was still showing on the Minnesota Lottery's unclaimed prizes page. Winners have one year from the drawing date to cash in.

Prizes of $50,000 or more must be claimed in person at Lottery headquarters in Roseville. Don't expect a name anytime soon, either. In Minnesota, winners of more than $10,000 stay private by default unless they choose to go public.

SEE NOW: The 10 Richest Cities Right Now In The State Of Minnesota

Next Powerball Drawing And Minnesota's Deadline to Get Tickets

With no jackpot winner Wednesday, the prize keeps growing. Saturday's drawing on October 17 carries an estimated $600 million jackpot, with a cash option of $246 million.

Drawings are held every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday at 9:59 p.m. Central. In Minnesota, tickets must be purchased by 9:00 p.m. on drawing day, so don't wait until the last commercial break to make your run.

Win or lose, Minnesotans get something back. Voters chose to keep sending 40% of Lottery proceeds to the state's Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund, which helps protect the lakes, trails, and woods we all love.