BAXTER, Minn. — Someone is $2 million richer after winning a record Gopher 5 jackpot on Wednesday.
The Minnesota Lottery says the ticket, valued at $2,045,590, was sold in Baxter during Orton’s Baxter Holiday.
That jackpot beats the previous Gopher 5 record by just over $13,000. According to the Minnesota Lottery, that prize was claimed in St. James in 2005 by 22 Watonwan County employees.
Orton’s also a big winner: he gets a $5,000 bonus for selling the lucky ticket.
This is at least the third largest lottery win in Minnesota this year. In May, a local mother won a $3.1 million Lotto America jackpot by playing numbers consisting of the dates of birth of her relatives. And in March, another local Lotto America player scored $3.7 million.
We may never know who Wednesday’s winner is because of the state law that took effect three years ago allowing people to opt out of public identification if they win more than $10,000.
As you can guess, Gopher 5 is only available to play in the Gopher State. The odds of winning are 1 in 1,533,939.
