Two lottery players are feeling like a million bucks, as New Year's Day luck would have it.

The Minnesota Lottery's annual Millionaire Raffle drawing on Monday yielded two $1 million winners; it's just a matter of them claiming their prizes, which will net a nice post-tax-bill bounty.

One ticket was bought at a Casey's General Store on 20th Street S. in New Ulm, and the other was purchased at a Moto Mart on S. Lake Street in Forest Lake. There also were five $100,000 winners.

Raffle tickets went on sale Oct. 24 and sold out on Dec. 12, the earliest sellout date since the game began in 2006.

Lottery officials credited the game's popularity to the fact that there are guaranteed winners and the best odds among the Minnesota Lottery's games for winning at least $1 million. There were 4,175 winning raffle numbers drawn Monday.

Each ticket costs $10. Numbers are then drawn to determine who wins cash or other prizes, such as new vehicles, vacation packages, free groceries and other payouts.

To win, the full six-digit number on the ticket must match one of the six-digit winning numbers drawn.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482