Lottery fever strikes region

Eugene Stanton has lottery fever, and that feels like $700 million.

The Coeur d'Alene man picked up a Powerball ticket at an Exxon gas station on Tuesday for his "golden opportunity" at tonight's $700 million Powerball jackpot, the second-largest amount in the 25-year history of the game.

"I'm on it," Stanton said with a smile after buying the ticket. "Now it's the waiting game."

Stanton and other Powerball players won't have to wait much longer.

Tickets for tonight's draw must be purchased by 6:55 p.m. Tickets cost $2 per line of play.

Stanton said he could think of 700 million ways to spend the money if he overcame the 1 in 292,201,338 jackpot odds and won, but skyrocketing out of debt and purchasing a truck "that actually runs" would be immediate.

"There are also a lot of needs out there and I'm sure I'd have plenty of people reminding me what those are," he said.

Tonight's Powerball jackpot is only topped by a $1.6 billion prize shared by three ticket holders in January 2016.

Levi Kuznicki, a cashier at a Mobil station in Coeur d'Alene, described the lottery craze in recent days as "insane."

"Hundreds a people a day," he said, referring to the estimated number of folks buying tickets. "It seems like with every other person I'm selling them. The higher the amount, the crazier it gets."

Mitch Bailey, manager at the station, said the business sold 1,144 total lottery tickets (not including scratch games) on Saturday. He expects the number will be higher today with the increased jackpot.

Kuznicki said customers' spirits are high — if not downright giddy — and the fever has caused widespread comments.

"The one I like is, if they win, they'll come in to give me a tip afterward," he said.

Kuznicki hasn't worked at the gas station long so the lottery hype has been a unique experience for him.

"It's fun watching their eyes get all crazy when you tell them that it's up to $700 million," he said.

The jackpot is listed as $700 million, but that refers to the annuity option, doled out in 30 payments over 29 years. Nearly all winners favor the one-time cash option, which is at $443 million for tonight's draw.

The Idaho Lottery encourages players to not wait until the last minute to buy a ticket as lines are expected, especially this afternoon. Players are also encouraged to sign their tickets at the time of purchase.

"Tickets are bearer instruments and the Idaho Lottery pays the person who signs and presents their ticket for payment," and Idaho Lottery press release states.

The last Powerball jackpot win was on June 10. That jackpot was $447.8 million and the winning ticket was sold in California.

The largest Powerball winner in Idaho was Star's Brad Duke. He won $220.3 million on May 28, 2005.

The Idaho Lottery has recorded five jackpot winners on Powerball and three winners on the game’s predecessor, Super Lotto America.

Since 1995, 67 Idaho players have matched five numbers but not the Powerball and won $200,000 or more. Of those, 27 tickets have been worth $1 million or higher, and of those 25 were claimed.

"Idaho has had two $1 million-winning Powerball tickets go unclaimed," said David Workman, Idaho Lottery spokesman. "We remind players to always check their tickets carefully for winners after the draw."