Watertown Woman Claims Dakota Cash Prize

by KDLT News
March 06, 2013 2:43 PM


Charlotte Troska was catching up on Facebook this weekend when a post announcing that someone in Watertown won the Dakota Cash jackpot in Monday's drawing caught her attention. She clicked “like” and commented to her husband, “Maybe it was me.” Minutes later, she found out it was.

Troska claimed her $64,510 prize March 6, 2013 at the Sioux Falls Lottery office. The Watertown woman purchased her winning ticket at Freedom Valu Center on SE 9th Avenue in Watertown. The store will receive a $3,225 bonus for the sale. It was another winning ticket that prompted her to buy the one that hit the jackpot.

“I usually get my lotto tickets at Freedom Valu when I buy gas or milk. I was checking my tickets Thursday from the draw the night before and found out I had a $1 winner. So I told the clerk to give me another Dakota Cash ticket,” Troska said.

While getting the ticket was easy enough, convincing her husband, Richard, that she’d won the jackpot was a little tougher.

“I checked my numbers on the website and when I saw they matched, I told him ‘my God, I think I just won $64,000’! He just laughed. So I told my son and he agreed with me and we all started getting excited,” she said.

The good news was quickly relayed to Troska’s two married daughters (Heather and Lindsay) and their families. Troska says she already has some plans for putting the $64,510 she won to good use.

“I’d like to pay off our mortgage, maybe upgrade my vehicle, and I’ve been wanting an embroidery sewing machine,” she said. “I never thought I’d ever win a jackpot. You just need to keep buying and keep hoping; good things come when you least expect it.”

Dakota Cash is played and won only in South Dakota. The odds of winning the Dakota Cash jackpot are 1:324,632. The jackpot currently sits at $20,000 for the next drawing tonight.

Courtesy: Kelly Thompson