BOISE, Idaho ÔÇô With no jackpot winner for last evening's draw, the Powerball jackpot for Saturday night is now an estimated $415 million. The Idaho Lottery is preparing for another Powerball record jackpot similar to the world record jackpot in January that eventually reached $1.586 billion. As part of this preparation, the Idaho Lottery is encouraging everyone who participates for this Saturday night's draw to play responsibly.

"As is usually the case when jackpots get huge, player interest grows," said Jeff Anderson, Idaho Lottery Director. "We're taking measures to prepare our retailers, but we also want to remind our players to only play what they can afford, not go overboard. It does only take one ticket to win."

The Idaho Lottery has notified retailers they may see an increase in foot traffic over the weekend as more players begin to frequent their stores to buy tickets for Saturday night's big jackpot. In addition, the Mega Millions jackpot for this Friday night's draw is an estimated $138 million. Both jackpots were in similar places in early January and helped fuel the historic Powerball jackpot.

"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 Powerball's next big winner," added Anderson. "A couple of dollars for the chance to win certainly brings enjoyment for the players and this means there is an increase in the number of office pools, as well as the number of friends and family members going in together on tickets."

Last night's draw produced 8,759 winning tickets in Idaho for a total of $54,711 in prizes. The Powerball jackpot is now the seventh largest in this game's history. This Powerball jackpot has been steadily growing since it was last won on March 2, 2016.

As the draw gets 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.

Players have until 7:55 p.m. MT on Saturday evening to purchase a ticket to participate in this Powerball draw.

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 $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.