In a first for the Minnesota State Lottery, tickets matching all the winning numbers and none of the winning numbers were sold in the same drawing of the "All or Nothing" game.

A father and son from Halstad in northwestern Minnesota hit the jackpot, each winning $100,000 in last weekend's drawing. They went to lottery headquarters in Roseville Tuesday for their cash.

"It's a miracle, a true gift from God," said Pedro Ruiz Sr., whose winning ticket did not match any of the numbers chosen in the Dec. 2 drawing.

To win $100,000, the game's top prize, players must match all 12 winning numbers or have none of the numbers be on the ticket. There are 24 possible numbers, lottery officials said.

Ruiz Sr. called his son, Pedro Jr., and asked him to buy "All or Nothing" tickets for the Dec. 2 drawing. The son bought his father's tickets in Gary, Minn. Later that night, Pedro Jr. decided to buy his own tickets, stopping in Mahnomen. He played numbers that were not on his father's ticket, he said Tuesday. A few hours after the drawing, the elder Ruiz discovered his ticket did not match any of the 12 numbers. Later that night, his son realized he also had won because all of the numbers were on his ticket.

Ruiz Jr. said he had prayed to his late mother for the means to visit her grave in Texas. "The first thing we are going to do is visit her and erect a nice memorial stone to her," said Ruiz Jr., the oldest of eight siblings. "This is a wonderful gift that will allow us to reinvest in the family."

Tim Harlow • 612-673-7768