And The Big Winner Is …

Why can’t there be a town in Iowa called Winner and why can’t we have a Powerball jackpot winner from there?

To see some of the latest coverage about Neal Wanless, a young rancher from Winner, S.D., who hit it big playing Powerball, click here, here and here. What a great story! It’s getting headlines around the world because of the name of the location involved!

That is not to say that any of Iowa’s Powerball jackpot winners are any less special because they’re not from a place called Winner! The Iowa Lottery’s Powerball jackpot winners, and the cities where they lived when they won their big prizes are:

1.  Ed Brown of Washington, who split a $10.4 million jackpot with a woman from Missouri in December 1992.
2. Tim Schultz of Des Moines, who won a $28 million jackpot in February 1999.
3. The Larry Hasken family of Sabula, which claimed a $31.8 million jackpot in January 2000.
4. Jacquelyn Moore of Omaha, Neb., who won a $14.4 million jackpot in October 2004.  (She bought her ticket at a convenience store in Carter Lake in western Iowa.)
5. Hugh Hawkins of Des Moines, who claimed a $113.2 million jackpot in December 2005.
6. Tim & Kellie Guderian of Fort Dodge, who claimed a $200.8 million jackpot in October 2006.