RAPID CITY, SD - South Dakota will become the 40th state to offer Mega Millions when the super-charged lottery game kicks off its first offerings for South Dakotans this Sunday, the Rapid City Journal reports.
South Dakota Lottery executive director Norm Lingle said that the new game would offer South Dakota players more opportunities than ever 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.
South Dakota lottery retailers will offer consumers a slip to play their own numbers or a Quik Pick ticket where numbers are randomly chosen for them.
Of the revenue that South Dakota generates from lotto tickets, the first $1.4 million is allocated to the state??s General Fund, with the remaining balance is transferred to the Capital Construction Fund, which provides assistance to water and environmental projects, state highway construction and maintenance projects and ethanol production projects.
Other lotto games current available in South Dakota include: Powerball, Hot Lotto, Wild Card 2 (multi-state games) and Dakota Cash (state game).