BOISE, Idaho ÔÇô Brandon Wirz received a very special birthday card from his wife Dawn last Tuesday to celebrate his birthday. Inside the birthday card were two Idaho Lottery tickets, one Mega Millions ticket for the draw that night and one Powerball ticket for the October 7, 2015 draw.
"I checked the tickets on Wednesday during the day and the Mega Millions ticket had won $1. But Powerball hadn't happened yet, so I left them on my desk for a few days," explained Wirz on how he found he had the winning ticket. "I thought to check them again over the weekend. When I did, I couldn't believe it."
Wirz's Powerball ticket was Idaho's first ticket to match four numbers and the Powerball under the new prize structure offered on the game. On Sunday, October 4, 2015, Powerball increased the prize amount from $10,000 to $50,000 for matching four of the first five numbers and the Powerball.
"At first he thought he'd only won $50,000 on his ticket, but then I reminded him I got the PowerPlay multiplier, too," said Dawn, who purchased the tickets at the Albertsons on State Street at Veterans Parkway in Boise. The PowerPlay multiplier that night was 3.
"Yeah, it was $150,000. It was an unbelievable birthday!" exclaimed Wirz.
The Wirz's plan to pay a few bills, invest in a college fund for their son, and save the rest.
The Powerball jackpot for Wednesday night is an estimated $70 million. Also, the Idaho Lottery has not received any word from the ticket holder of a $1,000,000 Powerball ticket sold in Kootenai County for the September 23, 2015 draw.
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The Idaho Lottery responsibly provides a variety of entertaining games featuring Powerball, Mega Millions, Scratch GamesTM, 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.
CONTACT: David Workman
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