BOISE, Idaho ÔÇô With $657 million in combined jackpots between Mega Millions and Powerball tonight and tomorrow night, the Idaho Lottery is encouraging everyone who is participating to play responsibly.

For the first time in Lottery history, both the Mega Millions and the Powerball jackpots are each over $300 million simultaneously. The Mega Millions jackpot for tonight has been raised to an estimated $350 million while the Powerball jackpot for tomorrow night is an estimated $307 million.

"When there is this much excitement for our big draw games, we want to remind everyone to only play what they can afford, not to go overboard," said Jeff Anderson, Idaho Lottery Director. "It only takes one ticket to win."

"A huge part of the entertainment value comes from imagining what you could do if you won one of these jackpots," said Anderson. "Playing a few dollars for the chance to win two big jackpots certainly brings a lot of enjoyment for players."

Between both games, last weekend's draws saw a combined 17,653 tickets win $73,832 in prizes in Idaho.

"When jackpots reach these levels, the number of players in the game expands, with many players joining together and buying tickets for their chance to become the next big winners," added Anderson.

As the draws get closer, some retail locations may experience higher than normal volumes of player traffic. Players are advised to plan ahead as there may be lines to purchase tickets.

To purchase tickets, players have until 7:55 p.m. MT tonight for Mega Millions and the same time Wednesday night for Powerball.

The Idaho Lottery also recommends players sign the back of their tickets and keep them in a safe place until claiming their prize.

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ABOUT THE IDAHO LOTTERY
The Idaho Lottery responsibly provides a variety of entertaining games featuring Powerball, Mega Millions, Scratch Games^TM, and PullTabs with a high degree of integrity to maximize the dividend for Idaho public schools and the permanent building fund. Since their inception in 1989, the Idaho Lottery has sold over $3.4 billion in products, awarded over $2 billion in prizes to players, returned $200 million in retail commissions, and distributed $792.5 million in Lottery dividends to Idaho public schools and the Permanent Building Fund. To learn more, please visit www.idaholottery.com.