BOISE, Idaho ÔÇô Who will be Idaho┬┤s next millionaire? That┬┤s the question that thousands of ticket holders in the Idaho $1,000,000 Raffle are asking tonight. At 9:00 p.m. Mountain Time, the Idaho Lottery will announce the winning numbers for this year's edition of the Idaho $1,000,000 Raffle during the Idaho Steelheads ÔÇô Las Vegas Wranglers hockey game at CenturyLink Arena in downtown Boise. A total of 215,227 tickets are eligible to win prizes in tonight's draw. This year's winner will become the Idaho Lottery's 31st millionaire.

"Thank you to all of our players who participated in the fifth annual Idaho $1,000,000 Raffle this year. This year's game truly represents the best odds ever of winning $1,000,000 in Idaho," said Jeff Anderson, Idaho Lottery Director. "With your support, this game alone has generated over $500,000 in dividends to the real winners of the Idaho Lottery, our beneficiaries ÔÇô Idaho's public schools and the Permanent Building Fund."

In addition to the top prize of $1,000,000, the Lottery will also release the winning numbers for the four $25,000 prizes. The winning numbers for the two hundred and fifty $250 prizes, five hundred $100 prizes, and one-thousand seven hundred and fifty $50 prizes will be posted on the Idaho Lottery's website at idaholottery.com. In total, 2,505 prizes will be available to claim any time after 9 p.m. Mountain Time this evening.

Players can check their tickets for winners at idaholottery.com, by calling the Idaho Lottery Winning Numbers Hotline (208-334-4656), or by visiting an Idaho Lottery retail location.

When visiting the Idaho Lottery's website (idaholottery.com), players can click on the Raffle Results banner from the home page. The winning numbers for the $1,000,000 prize and the $25,000 prizes will be posted on the Raffle Results main page. Players will have several options for checking their tickets on the website for all the prizes. There is a check-a-ticket function where players enter their raffle ticket number to see if it has won a prize. All 2,505 winning numbers will be listed sequentially by prize category and available for download in pdf format.

"We are strongly encouraging all our players to sign the back of their raffle ticket prior to tonight's announcement," added Anderson. "These tickets are bearer instruments and we want to ensure each player protects their play. The $1,000,000 prize and the four $25,000 prizes must be claimed at the Lottery offices in Boise."

This year's Idaho $1,000,000 Raffle game sold 86.1% of all the tickets that were available, improving the odds for those players who participated. Over the past ten days, more than 94,000 of the game's tickets were sold representing 43.7% of the entire game, including 8% in the final twelve hours. As the game drew to a close, ticket sales were brisk reaching over 6,000 tickets per hour in the final hour of sales; more than 100 tickets per minute.

Players wishing to claim their prizes at Idaho Lottery Headquarters in Boise should note that Idaho Lottery offices will be closed on Monday, January 2, 2012 in honor of New Year's Day and will re-open on Tuesday, January 3, 2011 at 8 a.m.

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