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For Immediate Release: May 11, 2010
Contact: Kelly Thompson, 773-5770 or kelly.thompson@state.sd.us
Mega Millions Tickets Available This Weekend
(Pierre) – Tickets go on sale this Sunday, May 16, 2010, for Mega Millions, the South Dakota Lottery’s newest big jackpot, multi-state lotto game. The first Mega Millions drawing in the state will be Tuesday, May 18, 2010.
Mega Millions allows players to choose five numbers from 1 to 56 and one Mega Ball number from 1 to 46. The game also features a Megaplier option by which a player can increase their winning non-jackpot prizes by up to four times for an extra dollar per play.
Like South Dakota’s current lotto games, individuals can ask their lottery retailer for a Mega Millions play slip to choose their own numbers or purchase a Quick Pick ticket where numbers are randomly chosen for them.
Lottery executive director Norm Lingle says with the addition of the new game, South Dakota players now have more opportunities to win multi-million dollar jackpots.
“The starting jackpot for Mega Millions is $12 million while Powerball has a starting jackpot of $20 million. Mega Millions drawings are Tuesday and Friday nights and Powerball drawings are Wednesday and Saturday nights. So our players now have four chances a week to win a big jackpot game,” Lingle said.
Mega Millions offers a larger second prize than Powerball, $250,000 to Powerball’s $200,000. Other prizes range from $2 to $10,000 for a single play, or up to $8 to $1 million for a single play with the Megaplier option.
In addition to South Dakota, 39 other jurisdictions currently have Mega Millions. It is the first new lotto game offered in South Dakota since April of 2002. Other lotto games available from the South Dakota Lottery include Powerball, Hot Lotto and Wild Card 2 – all multi-state games – and Dakota Cash, which is played only in South Dakota.
Of the revenue raised from the sale of lotto tickets, the first $1.4 million goes to the state General Fund with the remaining balance transferred to the Capital Construction Fund. The Capital Construction Fund provides assistance to water and environment projects, state highway construction and maintenance projects, and ethanol production payments.
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