Somebody in South Dakota scored a million-dollar prize by buying a Powerball ticket in a grocery store.
This soon-to-be-wealthy shopper matched five white balls, but not the red Powerball, in the Powerball drawing for Wednesday, March 29, 2023.
Since the “Power Play” option was not chosen, the prize was $1 million. An extra $1, bringing the ticket price to $3 with the Power Play option included, would have doubled the prize to $2 million. For more information about prizes see the Powerball Prize Chart.
What were the winning numbers?
The winning numbers are shown in this video of the Powerball drawing on March 29, 2023.
Who won the $1 million Powerball prize?
As this was a very recent drawing, no information has been released about the prize winner.
Where was the $1 million winning ticket sold?
According to the South Dakota Lottery, the winning Powerball ticket was sold at Kessler’s, a South Dakota grocery store. The location is shown on the map below.
South Dakota has video lotteries too
This is probably not news to residents of the state, but I was surprised to learn that video lottery games are popular in South Dakota. After a bit of web searching, a couple of things struck me as interesting.
First, revenue from these games is enormous. Here is a quote from the video (below):
"According to the South Dakota Lottery, revenue from video lottery has been the second-largest source of income to the state general fund since 1992. The only thing that brings in more money is the state sales and use tax."
Also, I noticed on the South Dakota Lottery video licensing fact sheet that:
“A Video Lottery Establishment must be a bar or lounge where alcohol is dispensed and consumed in the ordinary course of business.”
Perhaps this restriction is in place to prevent minors from playing the games. The licensing fact sheet also mentions “camera monitorization of the 21 and over restricted area.”
Still, my cynical side notes the remarkable financial success of these games. After all, what could be better than “a bar or lounge where alcohol is dispensed and consumed” to encourage sound financial decisions?
Video by CBS affiliate Keloland News discusses video lottery revenue
Tom Hansen of Keloland News provides some statistics about the games.
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