BOISE, Idaho ÔÇô Last Friday night, Merissa Grotjohn of Sandpoint, stopped in the Sand Creek Schweitzer Conoco in Ponderay with a friend, looking for something fun to do. Self-admittedly, she never plays Idaho Lottery scratch tickets, but after some encouragement and advice on which games to try from her friend, she purchased two different games for $8.

"I started scratching my Honey Badger Bucks ticket and didn't see that I'd matched a winning number at first. Then I saw that I had matched a winning number, 16," explained Merissa on her winning experience. "Then I saw how much I had won. And then I said a swear word!"

Once she double checked with the clerk that she needed to go to Boise to claim her prize, the reality of claiming the game's last top prize of $30,000 began to set in.

"I felt like I was going to win something that night, but not this much!" she added. "I can't believe I won $30,000 from one $3 ticket."

Merissa has plans to open her own baked goods shop in Sandpoint with her winnings. For their part in selling the winning ticket, Sand Creek Schweitzer Conoco receives a $3,000 bonus from the Idaho Lottery.

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