BOISE, Idaho ÔÇô It takes a lot to get Louis Horvath excited. Evidently, winning $300,000 on the Idaho Lottery's Triple Platinum Scratch Game^TM was enough. Always quick with a joke, the colorful, retired worker from a potato manufacturing and processing plant in the Magic Valley claimed the game's first top prize this morning in Boise on a winning ticket he purchased at Ridley's in Jerome.

"I thought I'd get it all in cash bills. Instead I got a piece of paper," joked Horvath, referring to his oversized souvenir check and the actual winning check. "I guess I'll have to go to a bank now."

Horvath plans to pay down some medical expenses with his winnings and save the rest.

This is the third consecutive big win on the Lottery in the Magic Valley in the past seven weeks. Previously a Wild Card jackpot winning ticket for $275,000 was claimed from a ticket sold in Twin Falls and a $1,000,000 winning Powerball ticket was claimed from a ticket sold in Shoshone.

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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 $2.95 billion in products, awarded over $1.77 billion in prizes to players, returned more than $172.6 million in retail commissions, and distributed $694.5 million in Lottery dividends to Idaho public schools and the Permanent Building Fund. To learn more, please visit www.idaholottery.com.