Buhl Woman Wins $20,000 on Powerball, Jackpot at $111 Million

BOISE, Idaho ÔÇô Yes, Mary Lou, dreams really do come true. Last night while Mary Lou Pierce of Buhl was sleeping, she had a dream that her Powerball PowerPlay ticket matched four numbers and the Powerball. In the dream she believed she'd won $50. As an early to bed, early to rise person most of her life, Mary Lou awoke around 1:30 a.m. Thursday, September 17 after her dream and decided to check her tickets to see if she had won.

"I go to bed around 6 p.m. in the evening and have always gotten up early in the morning. It's usually when I do my baking for the day so I can do other things when the sun comes up," explained the retired telephone worker of 25 years. "Last night I got on my computer to check my Powerball tickets. It was the last one I checked and I saw that I'd matched four numbers AND the Powerball! My dream was real!"

Mary Lou had to wait another three-and-a-half hours before Jacksons Korner in Buhl was open so she could double-check her winning ticket. "Five o'clock couldn't come fast enough," said an excited Mary Lou.

Once the store was open, the clerk checked Mary Lou's ticket, informed her she'd won $20,000 and that she needed to go to Boise to claim her winnings. "The Wonder Bread man was in the store at the time and when he heard I won on the Lottery, he asked me to marry him," said a giddy Mary Lou with a wide, friendly smile before she added with a wink, "I told him he was too old for me. He was maybe 40."

Mary Lou was one of two $20,000 Powerball PowerPlay winners in Idaho. She matched four of last night's 5 white balls, and the Powerball which is usually a $10,000 winner. Being a regular and savvy player, Mary Lou had the PowerPlay option on her ticket, which for one additional dollar multiplies all prizes of $10,000 or less by two to five times. Last night's PowerPlay number was 2, turning her $10,000 win into a $20,000 windfall.

The second Powerball PowerPlay $20,000 winning ticket was sold in Elmore County. It has not been claimed. In total, there were 8,760 Idaho Powerball winners who won $81,430 in prizes from last night's draw. The winning numbers were 17, 37, 40, 51, 56 and the Powerball was 25.

The estimated jackpot for Saturday night's draw is $111 million. The Wild Card jackpot is also over $1,000,000. Wild Card is played in only four states, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Players have until 7:55 p.m. Mountain Time Saturday, September 19, 2009 to purchase a ticket for the draws.

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