Murtaugh man claims $150,000 Powerball winnings

Sep. 7—BOISE — After seeing a news article in the Times-News in late July, James Graff of Murtaugh knew there was a big Powerball winning ticket that had been sold in Twin Falls County. Graff carefully checked his ticket for the July 28 Powerball draw and sure enough, he had matched four of the first five numbers and the Powerball. His ticket also had PowerPlay, which was 3 for that draw, and turned his $50,000 winning ticket into a $150,000 winner.

"That turned out to be a great $1 investment," said Graff on his decision to include PowerPlay when he claimed his winning ticket at Lottery offices in Boise a month later. "I got an extra $100,000 for my extra $1."

Graff said he has been adding PowerPlay to his Powerball tickets for a long time just in case something like this were to occur. The PowerPlay number is selected before the winning Powerball numbers on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday draw nights. PowerPlay multiplies all non-jackpot winning prizes by 2X, 3X, 4X, 5X or 10X depending on the number selected for a particular draw. In Graff's case, the PowerPlay for the July 28 draw was 3X.

The winner said he took a while to claim his winning ticket because he wanted to make sure he was taking care of all business surrounding the win. While setting aside most of his winnings, he's also planning some home improvement projects.

Graff's winning ticket was sold at one of the luckiest stores in Idaho. This is the fourth six-figure winning ticket sold at the Oasis Stop 'N Go on Addison in Twin Falls and the first large Powerball winner. Oasis Stop 'N Go will receive a bonus of $15,000 from the Idaho Lottery.

The estimated jackpot for Wednesday night's Powerball draw is $388 million.

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