Don't bet on it
<p>Alex Brune, right, watches his friend, Travis Hale, purchase Double Blackjack lottery tickets at Fairway Grocery & Gas Wednesday in Coeur d'Alene. The Idaho Lottery is hosting an educational series across the state emphasizing the message "play what you can afford, don't go overboard."</p>
COEUR d'ALENE - When Travis Hale was done buying a few things at Fairway Gas and Grocery on Wednesday, he asked one question of the cashier.
"How much do I have left?"
Eight dollars, he was told.
Feeling lucky, the Coeur d'Alene resident didn't pocket his change. Instead, he bought four Double BlackJack tickets.
He doesn't spend much on the Idaho Lottery, maybe $20 a month, but sometimes, when he's feeling lucky, he plunks down his cash.
"There are occasions I like to buy," he said.
Buyers like Hale brought David Workman, spokesman for the Idaho Lottery, to Coeur d'Alene as part of a statewide tour on "How to Play Responsibly."
Billed as an education effort, it's an outgrowth from the Lottery's message of "Play what you can afford, don't go overboard."
Along with chatting with customers about the Lottery, Workman gave out coupons for Mega Millions with Megaplier and free Scratch tickets, along with brochures on playing and free T-shirts for the first 25 players.
"It's important to realize there are four nights with big jackpots," he said.
The Mega Millions drawing is Tuesday and Friday. The Powerball drawing is Wednesday and Saturday.
"That's four nights a week you have an opportunity to win an eight figure-plus jackpot," Workman said.
So he encouraged players to be conservative.
"It only takes one ticket to win. It only takes one ticket for you to imagine what you would do with all the money, should you be lucky enough to win," Workman said.
He also shared a few other bits of advice about playing the lottery, including being sure you get the tickets you want, understanding the rules of the game and signing the back of tickets before presenting them for payment.
About 50 percent of every adult in Idaho has played the lottery in the past year. The average transaction is a little more than $3. The bigger the jackpot, the more tickets are sold.
Powerball remains the state's most popular game, followed closely by newcomer, Mega Millions.
Marlene Watts of Coeur d'Alene bought 10 tickets for each game Wednesday.
"I always let the machine pick the numbers," she said.
She said she's played the Idaho Lottery "forever." She declined to say how much she spends in a month, but added it wasn't anything crazy and she wasn't going broke.
"I like the chance you might win," Watts said. "It gives you something to think about on an evening you're waiting for the numbers to come up."
Since 1989, the Idaho Lottery has awarded over $1.1 billion in prizes, returned more than $108 million in retail commissions, and distributed more than $437 million in Lottery dividends to state public schools and buildings.
Hale said he once won $150, but fortune wasn't with him Wednesday, as all four scratch tickets turned up losers.
"Don't waste your money on scratch tickets," he said with a laugh and grin as he left the store.