Boise – What are the odds a fortune cookie will foretell you getting a large sum of money and be true? What are the odds of the exact same store selling a $200,000 winning Powerball ticket one week and a $600,000 winner the next? And what are the odds of both being true – together?
In the case of John Garcia, Eddie Dietrich, and Maverik Store #273 at 2516 W. Karcher Road in Nampa, all of the above is true and it happened late last week. Garcia and Dietrich claimed last Wednesday’s $600,000 winning Powerball ticket they bought at the exact same store that Pam Schoppe bought her winning $200,000 ticket for the February 26, 2008 draw – the week before.
Long-time Idaho residents Garcia and Dietrich ordered Chinese food a few days before last Wednesday’s Powerball draw. The fortune cookie was still in Garcia’s wallet when they claimed their winnings and it said, “You will inherit a large sum of money.” On Wednesday, Dietrich knew he wanted a Powerball ticket and just happened to pull into the Maverik on Karcher Road – unaware of Schoppe’s good fortune the week before.
“That kind of thing is just completely random, but I’m glad the fortune cookie was right,” said a happy Garcia as they became the eleventh $200,000 or higher Powerball winner in Idaho since October 2007.
Their winning ticket matched all five numbers of last Wednesday’s Powerball drawing, but not the Powerball itself. It also had the PowerPlay multiplier which players can select for an extra $1 per play. The PowerPlay, chosen at the time of the draw, multiplies all non-jackpot winning tickets by the number chosen for the draw, in this case it was 3, turning the $200,000 winner into a $600,000 winning ticket.
Garica and Dietrich have no immediate plans for their winnings other than taking care of some debt. After taxes they will take home $403,200. For their part in selling the two winning six-figure tickets, Maverik will earn a bonus of $70,000 from the Lottery.
So what are the odds of all this happening at once? Incalculable. What is calculable is the jackpot amount for Wednesday night’s Powerball drawing estimated at $230 million.
