Boise man wins Powerball jackpot

BOISE – A 22-year-old restaurant manager is the winner of Wednesday’s $18.7 million Powerball jackpot.

Eric Kyle bought the $1 Powerball ticket on a whim at a Big Smoke store last Tuesday, and didn’t realize he held the winner until he saw news reports on Thursday.

“I was instantly shaking,” Kyle said during a press conference at Idaho Lottery headquarters Thursday afternoon. “It’s something I dreamed about for a long time.”

After waking his roommate to check the numbers, Kyle called lottery officials. Then he called his boss at Copper Kitchen.

“I told him, ‘I’m not coming in today. I’ll explain later,’ ” Kyle said.

So far, Kyle said, he has not made any major decisions about what to do with the money – including whether he would take one lump sum or have the cash distributed over time. He has 60 days to choose.

“I haven’t thought about that, other than I want to take a trip and buy a new car,” he said.

He also said that his parents and three younger siblings would benefit from the money. They may be surprised by the news. At the time of the press conference, he hadn’t told them he was the winner.

“I’ll probably give them a call after this,” he said.

Kyle said he didn’t plan on buying any more lottery tickets, since he has already beaten the one in 120 million odds by winning the jackpot.

He let the ticket machine pick his numbers – 4, 10, 15, 48, 51 and Powerball 13 – and all matched the official drawing.

The owners of Big Smoke, Al and Bruce Baird, were awarded $50,000 for selling the winning ticket.

If Kyle selects the lump sum option worth more than $10.3 million, the state of Idaho will get $800,000 in taxes.

Powerball is operated by the Multi-State Lottery Association, an Urbandale, Iowa-based nonprofit organization owned and operated by 27 member lotteries, including Idaho. The drawings are held every Wednesday and Saturday.

The jackpot for Saturday’s drawing will be $10 million.