Idaho Lotto Winner Takes Million Dollar Payday

What a way to start off the new year! A huge Congratulations to Jerome man named Charles Zettner who claimed the winning ticket for Idaho Lottery's million-dollar raffle. He said that he saw on TV first that the winning number was in Jerome County, figuring he couldn't be THAT lucky, he went to work before checking his tickets. Then when he got to work he said "I went to work and there was an article in the paper, on the front page. When I looked at the number, I thought, I’ve got a ticket that’s close to that number.”

Doing the responsible thing, (I would have probably bailed to check at that point.) He worked all day before heading home to check his tickets. That is when he found out he was the winner. He as expected, had a few sleepless nights before he was able to finally head up to the Lottery offices here in Boise to claim his prize.

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It turns out he went through a bit of an ordeal to buy the tickets in the first place. He said, “I had gotten back from deer hunting but had hurt my knee. I knew the game was on sale and that I needed to buy a couple of tickets, so I borrowed my buddy’s crutches and went to the store for beverages and Raffle tickets.”

Now the big question, what will the lucky man do with his winnings? Zettner plans to take a trip, although he didn't specify where, and then he plans to invest his remaining winnings. Certainly the smart thing to do since so many lotto winners find themselves bankrupt down the line.

Idaho News Channel 2 reported on this also adding that, Tobacco Connection the sotre that sold the winning ticket, receives a bonus from the Idaho Lottery of $20,000. This year, the game sold out on Dec. 4 and generated over $800,000 to benefit Idaho public schools and buildings.