6 Luckiest Treasure Valley Stores to Buy Your Mega Millions Ticket
The Mega Millions jackpot has just crossed the $1 billion mark!
This is serious money people! As of 1:29 p.m. on Friday, October 19, the Mega Millions jackpot is now sitting at $1 BILLION! That's the second largest lottery prize of ALL time! (The cash pay out is $565 million. Gotta love taxes.) Because the game is played nationwide your odds of winning aren't as good as winning some money on an Idaho lottery scratch ticket...but I can guarantee you WON'T win if you don't even bother to pick-up a Mega Millions ticket! The question is where are you going to buy that ticket?
Idaho's got a pretty great record of producing big jackpot winners, but are some lotto retailers luckier than others? It sure appears that way! According to the Idaho Lottery's blog, these are the luckiest retailers in our area.
After our LITE-FM Office Pool won $4 on the huge Powerball jackpot on a ticket I bought at the #1 store on this list, I'm a firm believer that it really is a lucky location. Up until that point I hadn't won squat on the multi-state games!
- 6
Fred Meyer
10751 W Overland Rd, BoiseIn 2006, Sandy Libecki was on her way to a friend's house for dinner and on a whim decided to buy a Powerball ticket while picking up some last minute items. She didn't check her tickets the night of the drawing, but after a friend told her the Idaho Lottery had announced a $200,000 ticket had been sold in Ada County and they were looking for a winner she took a peak at her numbers. She matched 5, but not the Powerball, good enough for the runner-up prize! That was the second $200,000 Powerball ticket this retailer had sold.
- 5
KJ's 66
12150 W Fairview Ave, BoiseIn 2009, Gary Young nearly choked on his breakfast as he checked his Powerball ticket from the night before. He matched 5 numbers, but not the Powerball. That ticket was good for a $200,000 runner-up prize. Not picking the PowerPlay option cost him a guaranteed $1 million, but he and his wife still had enough money to pay some bills and pay-off their house. This lotto retailer also produced the grand prize winner on the $250,000 Riches game.
- 4
Stinker Station
317 South Washington Avenue, EmmettIn 2008, Connie Goins got a wake up call from her daughter telling her the Idaho Lottery was looking for a $200,000 Powerball winner in Gem County. After her husband past away, Connie kept the tradition of playing his numbers: their kid's birthdays and their anniversary. In that particular drawing, that produced 5 correct numbers, but not the Powerball...good for the runner-up prize! This lotto retailer also produced a $275,000 and $325,000 in the Tri-West game.
- 3
Albertsons #161
10700 W Ustick Rd, BoiseIn 2012, Susan Worthington's mom told her to grab a few Powerball tickets. She bought five, spread them out on the table and they took turns picking who got which ticket. Mom's tickets were losers, so she texted Susan the winning numbers. Confused by the text, Susan wondered how her mom knew the numbers on the tickets that she'd chosen. After the draw, Susan decided to go back to Albertsons to have the night clerk take a look at her ticket. She had matched 5 numbers, but not the Powerball and had picked the PowerPlay option...making that ticket worth $1,000,000! They've also sold a $191,100 Winner Take All Raffle ticket at this Albertsons Store.
- 2
Maverick #273
2516 W Karcher Rd, NampaHilda Floyd bought the winning Idaho Lottery $1,000,000 Raffle ticket at this store in 2011, but the store's also produced some big Powerball and Mega Millions winners. Other big prizes produced by this store include $200,000 and $600,000 Powerball winners in 2008, a $250,000 Mega Millions winner in 2012 and a $200,000 High Stakes Casino scratch ticket winner in 2017.
- 1
Jacksons #10
2728 S Orchard St, BoiseThis store produced the biggest Idaho Lottery Powerball winner in history. Brad Duke won the $220.3 million jackpot in 2005 and put some of it toward the Duke Family Foundation. The foundation hosts an annual golf tournament who's proceeds go toward non-profits supporting kids like Big Brothers, Big Sisters and Salvation Army. He said having the late Micron CEO, Steve Appleton, as a mentor helped him navigate his new found wealth in a positive manner that benefited the community.
In 1995, Pam Hiatt was expecting a baby and serving in the Idaho National Guard as an Apache helicopter mechanic. She happened to stop into this store to buy a Powerball ticket on her way into work. Like many, Pam played the ages of her family members. She had forgotten that her little brother had just turned 8 the week before and accidentally played the numbers 7-20-21-26-27 and Powerball 45 which were the correct numbers for the $87.6 Million jackpot. At the time, it was the fifth highest Powerball jackpot in history at the time. The mom-to-be appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman after her big win.
In 2016, a group of 43 Micron Employees bought the tickets for their office pool at this story and won $50,000 from the Powerball Jackpot!