One in a million

POST FALLS - And the $1 million winner from Tuesday's Mega Millions lottery draw who bought a ticket in Post Falls is ...

No one - yet.

David Workman, spokesman for the Idaho Lottery, said the winning ticket matched the first five numbers, but not the Mega Ball, and has the Megaplier option.

Workman couldn't say what outlet in Post Falls the ticket was purchased at for security reasons. The winning numbers were 2, 9, 14, 37, 42, and the Mega Ball was 41.

Matching the first five numbers wins $250,000. However, Tuesday's winning ticket had the Megaplier which makes matching the first five numbers an automatic $1 million winner.

The Megaplier is similar to the "Power Play" in the Powerball lottery. For $1 at the time the ticket is purchased, players can choose to have the Megaplier, which multiplies the non-jackpot winnings up to $1 million.

"And that's what happened," Workman said. "We were the only state in the country to have a $1 million winner."

The winner has 178 days to come forward. The take-home money from the ticket, after taxes, is $672,000.

This is the third "Match 5" winner on Mega Millions for Kootenai County in the past six months, and the first $1 million winner.

Mega Millions is played in 41 states. Some states, including Washington, do not have the Megaplier option.

Lottery officials encourage players to check their tickets carefully for winners and to sign their tickets before presenting them for payment.

"A common mistake is that if people don't get the Mega Ball, they assume they didn't win," Workman said. "We saw that happen with Powerball last month when a $1 million ticket expired that sold in Irwin (eastern Idaho)."

The Mega Millions jackpot for Friday night's draw is an estimated $101 million.