Zane Powell of Rexburg is Idaho’s big $200,000 Powerball winner.
Powell purchased his ticket from the Valley Country Store in Jerome for last Wednesday’s $758.7 million Powerball jackpot.
It was a prize, though, that almost went unclaimed, according to Idaho Lottery officials. “Like many players who do not check their tickets, Powell nearly tossed out his tickets without checking them when he heard the jackpot was won in another state,” said Lottery spokesman Dave Workman.
“I don’t play very often,” Powell admitted when he claimed his prize at the Idaho Lottery offices in Boise this week. “I had all these tickets laying in a pile and was going to throw them away, but then thought ‘Maybe I ought to check them.’ The winning one said to claim at the Lottery, so I hurried here.”
“Powell did not know how much he had won until arriving at Lottery Offices. He didn’t believe it when he saw his ticket had won $200,000,” Workman said.
Powell says he will use some of his winnings for “a nice vacation next winter.”
Powell also had another winning ticket worth $16.
With this win, Powell becomes the 199th player to win at least $200,000 from the Idaho Lottery -- and the sixty-eighth winner of this amount or higher on Powerball in Idaho, Workman stated.
Lottery officials say last week’s $50,000 winner on Powerball has not yet claimed their ticket.
