BOISE, Idaho ÔÇô The Idaho Lottery is celebrating its own version of Halloween with a treat for its players by kicking off the sixth annual edition of the Idaho $1,000,000 Raffle. The $10 tickets went on sale this morning at 4 a.m. Mountain Time.

"The Idaho $1,000,000 Raffle continues to be one of the most anticipated games of the year by our players and holiday shoppers," said Jeff Anderson, Idaho Lottery Director. "This game has become a gift-giving tradition and with more chances to win, we look forward to selling this game out before Christmas."

Ticket prices for the game are $10 each and limited to only 250,000. The Idaho Lottery anticipates tickets will sell quickly, and once they're gone, they're gone. No additional tickets will be issued once the last ticket is sold. Tickets will remain on sale until 11:59 p.m. on December 31, 2012 or until the last ticket is sold, whichever occurs first. The Idaho $1,000,000 Raffle has sold out three times before Christmas.

There are more than 4,450 prizes in this year's game, the most ever offered by the Idaho $1,000,000 Raffle with the best odds of winning any of the prizes. In addition to the top prize of $1,000,000, there are four prizes of $10,000 and 4,450 other prizes ranging from $25 to $1000:

Idaho $1,000,000 Raffle Prize Table

• One (1) $1,000,000
• Four (4) $10,000
• Fifty (50) $1,000
• One thousand (1,000) $100
• One thousand (1,000) $50
• Two thousand four hundred (2,400) $25

The $1,000,000 top prize, the four $10,000 prizes, and the fifty $1,000 prizes must be claimed at Lottery Headquarters in Boise. All other prizes in the game may be claimed at any Idaho Lottery retail location.

"Over the years, many of our big winners have had Raffle tickets purchased throughout the entire run of the game, beginning as early as buying them on the first few days," added Anderson.

Each day, for the first 20 days Raffle tickets are on sale in 2012, one player will have the chance to win $100 extra. Players who purchase a raffle ticket during the first 20 days of sales will receive a voucher they can enter online at idaholottery.com for their chance to win $100. Entries are only valid for the day entered. New entries must be submitted to be eligible to win on subsequent days. And, the regular Raffle ticket will still be good for all the prizes including the $1,000,000 top prize.

For the first time, tickets will be available for sale on the Idaho Lottery's big red vending machines found at most grocery stores and busier retail locations. To use the vending machine, players need to put at least $10 into the machine, then take the Idaho $1,000,000 Raffle scannable playslip from the side of the machine and scan the bar code twice. The ticket will automatically produce.

"As with all of our games, we encourage everyone to sign their tickets as soon as possible," said Anderson. "Tickets are bearer instruments and we pay whoever presents them. If you are giving the ticket as a gift, we suggest you print that person's name on the back of the ticket."

Players will need to keep their tickets in a safe place until just after the holidays. The winning numbers announcement for this year's Idaho $1,000,000 Raffle will take place on January 2, 2013 at 6 p.m. Mountain Time.

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