For immediate release:
Monday, May 12, 2008
Contact: Mike Mueller, 773-5770
Valley Springs Woman Claims $350,652 Dakota Cash Jackpot
(Pierre) – Kay Ames of Valley Springs today claimed the second largest
Dakota Cash jackpot ever won. Ames won the $350,652 jackpot by matching all
five numbers in the Saturday, May 10 drawing.
While she doesn’t usually buy lottery tickets, Ames said she knew she’d
be home over the weekend and bought herself Dakota Cash tickets as a
Mother’s Day treat.
Ames and her husband Ronald were washing their cars Sunday afternoon when
the chore quickly came to a halt. Kay had gone into the house to check her
tickets and found out she had hit the jackpot. She ran outside to tell her
husband, who went in and checked the numbers for himself. “He even took
pictures of the TV screen,” Ames said. “We hugged and called the kids.”
Ames bought her ticket at the Casey’s General Store on East Benson Road
in Sioux Falls. The store will receive a $5,000 bonus for selling the
winning “quick pick” ticket.
The Dakota Cash jackpot was last won on November 14, 2007. After building
for six months, Ames’ jackpot win is the second largest since the game began
fifteen years ago in April 1993. The biggest Dakota Cash jackpot of $460,469
was won November 23, 1994 by Carla Paulson of Ft. Pierre.
Dakota Cash is played only in South Dakota. The odds of winning the
jackpot are 1:324,632. The jackpot for Wednesday night’s drawing is $20,000.
