Man Was Told He Won $100,000 Lottery Prize, Until Clerk Realized Zeros Were Missing: ‘There Was a Lot of High-Fiving’

Man Was Told He Won $100,000 Lottery Prize, Until Clerk Realized Zeros Were Missing: ‘There Was a Lot of High-Fiving’

“I’ve been playing the Lottery for a long time. You dream about winning, and when it finally comes true, it’s weird,” Sean Klingler said

Erin Clack

Sun, January 4, 2026 at 11:30 PM UTC

3 min read

Courtesy of Idaho Lottery Sean Klingler — Courtesy of Idaho Lottery
Sean Klingler

NEED TO KNOW

An Idaho man was checking his lottery tickets at a local store, and the clerk told him he had won $100,000
Then, the clerk said, "No, I got it wrong!" after realizing his prize total was missing some zeros
"There was a lot of high-fiving," the man said of his reaction to his big lottery prize

An Idaho man — and longtime lottery player — was thrilled to learn he had won a sizable prize. Then, he got an even bigger surprise.

Sean Klingler of Rigby was recently at a local gas station "hangout" having coffee when he decided to check some of the lottery tickets he had stashed in his truck, per a press release and Instagram video from the Idaho Lottery. He quickly found out he had a winner on his hands.

"I had eight Raffle tickets, and when the clerk checked them, she told me I had won $100,000,” Klingler recalled of his Idaho $1,000,000 Raffle tickets.

“I didn’t believe her. I thought maybe it was $100," Klingler recalled of his initial reaction.

Then, the news got even sweeter when the clerk realized that there were some zeros missing.

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"She said to me, 'No, I got it wrong — you won $1,000,000!' " Klingler told the Lottery in the release. "There was a lot of high-fiving in the store after that."

"It was kind of like a craps table when you're on hot dice," he added with a laugh in the Instagram video.

After signing his winning ticket, Klingler called his wife and daughter to tell them the exciting news. He said he had to put the call on speaker because they didn't believe him and he needed everyone in the store to confirm the win for him.

"Yeah, we called [some more] family. Nobody believes you right out of the get-go. They always think you're fooling them. This will help," he added in the video, motioning toward his winnings check.

Klingler, his wife and daughter drove to the Lottery's office in Boise on Tuesday, Dec. 30, to claim his prize.

The man told the Lottery he plans to take "a responsible approach" with his winnings. He will pay off a few debts, buy his wife a new car and then put the rest toward his retirement.

“I’ve been playing the Lottery for a long time,” Klingler shared. “You dream about winning, and when it finally comes true, it’s weird.”

Other prizes from this year's Raffle game remain unclaimed, including a second $1,000,0000 ticket sold in Kootenai County and a $100,000 ticket sold in Payette County. Another man, Kurt Blaisdell of Pocatello, won $50,000 in the Raffle and told the Idaho Lottery he planned to use the money to buy his fiancée an engagement ring.

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