Idaho lottery winner "brain blown" after $1m scratch-off jackpot

A young man from Idaho was completely shocked after scoring a million-dollar win from a single scratch-off ticket.

Earlier this week, the Idaho Lottery released details regarding the winner, a Mackay resident named Alexander Higbee, who became the first winner of a top prize from the popular scratch-off game, Millionaire Maker.

The winner will use the lottery prize to help his family, buy a car

Higbee was recently interviewed by Lottery officials.

He confirmed that he purchased his winning ticket at Jack’s Travel Plaza in Arco.

To Higbee's surprise, one of the scratch-off tickets he bought brought him a sweet $1m prize.

Considering that Jack's Travel Plaza sold the million-dollar ticket, the business will receive a $20,000 bonus from the Lottery, a statement reveals.

Asked about his plans for the unexpected windfall, Higbee said that he would buy a new car.

Moreover, the lucky winner confirmed that he plans to use some of the money to pay off loans and also help his family.

Despite the million-dollar win, Higbee said that he plans to continue working. He also admitted that he would keep playing the Lottery.

The fortunate player stopped to buy lottery tickets out of the blue

The lucky young man purchased the winning ticket along with other lottery tickets just after work.

The man bought several tickets, including Mega Millions and Powerball tickets, the Millionaire Maker scratch-off ticket and several other lotto tickets.

"I stopped into Jack’s to buy a few lotto tickets, Powerball, Mega Millions, and thought, I’ve got some extra cash, so I picked up a couple of tickets," said Higbee when interviewed by Lottery officials.

"I don’t play those big tickets that often, but I thought, why not, let's go for it," he added.

Higbee remembers that one of the tickets wasn't a winner, while a $30 ticket brought him a $300 win.

He initially thought that the $50 Millionaire Maker scratch-off wasn't a winner.

"Then I saw I matched the number 49 to a winning number - 49. THEN I saw the prize amount was $1,000,000," the man recalled.

Higbee then stopped for a moment, remembering the incredible excitement he felt and said: "Brain. Blown! Pwooff! Surreal moment."

Prizes that vary in size remain up for grabs from Millionaire Maker

Idaho Lottery's $50 Millionaire Maker lottery ticket grants players a chance to win prizes between $50 and $1m.

After launch, there were a total of two top prizes of $1m each, but since the latest win, only one remains in play.

The odds of winning a $1m prize from the $50 scratch-off ticket are 1 in 271,913.

The popular scratch-off game also offers a tier-two prize of $5,000 with the odds of winning such a prize being 1 in 108,765.

While there were five prizes of $5,000 each upon launch of the scratch-off game, now only three remain in play.

The game's overall odds of winning any prize are 1 in 2.86.

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