Lottery news from http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/
PIERRE — Beating 1-in-146 million odds to become South Dakota’s latest multimillionaires, Pierre couple Lan “Bill” Nguyen and his wife, Tina, stepped forward Tuesday with the winning ticket for a nearly $117 million Powerball lottery jackpot.
The couple declined to participate in the usual news conference that large jackpot winners attend to answer reporters’ questions and be photographed with a blown-up replica of their check.
Norm Lingle, executive director of the South Dakota Lottery, said the Nguyens came to the lottery office Tuesday morning with their attorney and spent about an hour chatting and getting the lucky ticket validated.
The jumbo jackpot was $116.8 million if taken in 29 annual payments or $51.6 million if chosen as a lump sum payment. The Nguyens chose the lump sum, which comes to $38,688,566 after withholding taxes for the Internal Revenue Service.
Lingle said the Multistate Lottery Association was asked to wire the money, which first goes to the state treasurer and then the Nguyens.
The couple operated Colorful Nails salon in Pierre, which they have since sold to an employee. They had moved to Pierre six years ago after operating a similar business in Watertown for about a year.
Bill Nguyen told lottery officials that he bought the lucky ticket May 17 with his son, Alexander, 6, while stopping for gas on their way to a fishing trip at Hayes Lake, west of Pierre. He learned the next morning that the winning ticket was sold in Pierre but he was busy at the salon and didn’t have time to check his ticket until later in the day.
Nguyen went to a convenience store to get the winning numbers, checked them against his ticket and learned they were a match.
“I didn’t know what to do,” he said. “I put the ticket in the car and locked the door.”
When his wife got home from work, he took her fishing to break the news.
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