With Powerball Jackpot at $600M, Eagan Winner Shares His Story

Powerball results were watched closely Wednesday when the jackpot was $363 million. After no one picked all six winning numbers, the new Powerball prize for the Saturday, May 18 drawing is now $600 million.

That's a couple quarters more than the $100,000 won by an Eagan resident on March 23.

When Mark Dohmen of Eagan stopped at Yocum’s Holiday station, he only planned on buying two $2 Jumbo Bucks scratch tickets with a maximum prize of $20,000. But the sales clerk suggested he $100,000 game.

“He said he’s had better payback with the $5 tickets so I said, ‘Give me two,’” Dohmen said, according to the Minnesota lottery.

After he scratched the tickets, he couldn't tell if they were winners so he handed them to the clerk.

The clerk cracked a smile and said, “I think you’re going to like this.”

When Dohmen saw the $100,000 ticket, he couldn't stop shaking and smiling.

“This is just unbelievable,” he said.

Saturday's drawing

The one-time cash payout of Saturday's drawing is estimated at $376.9 million. Tickets are $2 and the game is played in Wisconsin and 42 other states, including Florida, Texas, California and New York. You can buy tickets until 9 p.m. CST for the 9:59 p.m. drawing. Buy tickets online here, or search for a local retailer.

The largest Powerball Jackpot cash payout to date was $384 million and was won on Nov. 28, 2012, in Arizona and Missouri.

Wonder what happens to other folks who hit it big? Browse the Huffington Post’s collection of lottery winners’ stories.