A married couple who've been playing the lottery since their first date more than 30 years ago officially became the first to buy a jackpot-winning Mega Millions ticket in Minnesota.

The lucky couple quietly redeemed their ticket Tuesday afternoon at state lottery headquarters in Roseville and opted for the $66.9 million cash option before taxes. The prize winners declined to reveal their identity, which is allowed under a new state law that lets winners of prizes of $10,000 or more keep their names a secret.

Lottery officials could not say if the couple were from Minnesota, citing a winner's state of residency is not public data. But the ticket for the April 12 $110 million drawing was sold at a Holiday gas station off St. Francis and Nowthen boulevards in Ramsey.

The couple bought their first lottery ticket while on a date sharing a pizza on April 17, 1990, the day the state lottery sold its first scratch ticket. Ever since, they have been playing the same numbers fairly regularly and "faithfully since the end of 2021," said Erika Helvick Anderson, the state lottery's director of public affairs

The woman was drifting off to sleep about 10 p.m. when she checked her phone to see if the couple had won. She looked twice, and then a third time before texting her husband, who was in the basement watching sports on TV.

"Come up here right now, I'm not even kidding," the text message said.

Her husband went upstairs and asked if she had bought a ticket. She had. The winning ticket matched the five white balls drawn from the hopper — 2, 8, 14, 20 and 31 — plus the gold Mega Ball, 17.

The couple went to work the next day as if nothing had happened, Helvick Anderson said. Over the past two weeks, the couple told relatives and a few co-workers, but otherwise kept the news of their newfound fortune quiet, Helvick Anderson said Wednesday.

Mega Millions has been played in Minnesota since 2010.

The couple also met with financial advisers, lawyers and accountants before claiming their prize, which is the fifth largest in state lottery history. The biggest prize won in Minnesota was a $228.9 million Powerball jackpot in 2011.

The couple told lottery officials they have plans to retire in the summer and use the money to possibly buy a new house and cars and travel. They also told lottery officials it was OK to release a few details about them, but not their names.

"They always liked hearing stories about previous winners, so they wanted to share a little bit about them while still remaining anonymous," Helvick Anderson said. "They are still wrapping their head around this."