How many of you are looking at the stack of 200 tickets you still need to go through saying "that should've been me?"

When the strangely addictive grocery store game returned to the Treasure Valley months ago, we were all in this together.  We weren't afraid to share the shameless things we've done to get bonus tickets for our game board.  Jolene bought over 100 cans of Spagettios to feed her family.  Brenda admitted to being a woman in her 30s that drank a ton of Kool-Aid one year because it was a cheap bonus ticket item.  I've introduced myself to complete strangers in the checkout line to ask for their Monopoly tickets when they turn down the tickets they've earned.

All of us were chasing the same grand prize, $1 million.  As of last week my game board was missing just one piece to win that grand prize. I'm a realist.  I realize that Albertson's owns a ton of other brands across the country like Safeway and Acme, so my odds of winning that grand prize are slim to none. (Actually they're 1 in 625,000,000.)  But if an American woman can win the Boston Marathon for the first time in 33 years, why couldn't someone from Idaho win the grand prize for the first time?

Well...it's happened! It wasn't me, but Mary D., a woman from the Idaho Falls area was going through her pieces while watching TV a few weeks ago when she realized that she'd just opened the final piece she needed for the $1 million prize! It took a while for the store to verify her as a winner, but she just received the over sized check at her local Albertson's store!

So what's she going to do with the money? Be more responsible than me! In an interview with East Idaho News, she says she's going to take Dave Ramsey's advice from his Total Money Makeover book to achieve financial freedom, independence and self reliance. (Dave is absolutely brilliant when it comes to paying off debt and becoming financially independent.  I highly recommend the book Mary mentions.  You can also hear his show on our sister station, KIDO Talk Radio.)

Michelle Heart, Townsquare Media
Michelle Heart, Townsquare Media
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So Now What?

Don't throw those unchecked Monopoly pieces away! Mary is the first of two million dollar winners, which means you still have a shot at the second prize! As far as we know, no one has won one of the four $1 million vacation homes either!

You have until May 29 to present your potential winning game board to the Customer Service Center at your neighborhood Albertson's.

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