Powerball sales likely topped $400K in Mower

Published 10:24 am Thursday, January 14, 2016

Mower County caught lottery fever ahead of Wednesday night’s Powerball drawing, which saw three people split a $1.6 billion jackpot.

Spoiler alert: No one in Minnesota won.

But that didn’t stop Mower County from likely topping $400,000 in Powerball ticket sales. The winning tickets were bought in Florida, Tennessee and a Los Angeles suburb.

Email newsletter signup

However, the 1 in 292.2 million odds of winning didn’t stop residents in Mower County from jumping at the slim chance to land the world-record jackpot.powerball

From Nov. 7, 2015, through Saturday, $399,470 in Powerball tickets sold in Mower County — $325,532 of that in Austin, according to the Minnesota State Lottery.

“Players are having fun with it; beneficiaries are benefiting from the run,” Minnesota Lottery Communications Manager Debbie Hoffmann said.

From Nov. 9, 2015, to Jan. 9, sales hit $160,676 in Albert Lea and $30 million in Minnesota, which makes for $12.9 million has been raised for the state, including $6.7 million for the general fund and $5.4 million for environmental funds.

Hoffmann said about $13 million was raised in lottery sales in Minnesota for Saturday night’s drawing alone.

The winning numbers drawn Wednesday night, 4-8-19-27-34 and Powerball 10. Winners can take the winnings in annual payments spread over decades or a smaller amount in a lump sum.