ialottery blog

Now THAT’S A Lucky Streak

Here’s a story that definitely qualifies as a lucky streak!

Last Friday, a Cedar Rapids woman claimed a $50,000 prize in one of our scratch games. And yesterday, she followed that up with a $100,000 win in a different game! Her name is Jamie Meyers, and even she thinks there’s something special going on.

Jamie told us yesterday that she must have some guardian angels or someone else looking down on her, giving her some good luck.

Jamie, who’s 31 and works as a child care provider, won one of the $50,000 top prizes in the “Super Crossword” game with a ticket she bought at a Cedar Rapids Hy-Vee store. And she won one of the $100,000 top prizes in the “Cash Inferno” game with a ticket she bought at a Casey’s store in Cedar Rapids.   

She had the same plan for both her prizes: Jamie said she’d spend part of her winnings to buy special gifts for her family, then pay bills and put some money into savings.

Congratulations, Jamie! Thanks for lifting our spirits on a rainy day!

April Twitter Contest Results

Three lucky winners in today’s Twitter contest will each receive prize packs of $20 in our new CASH INFERNO instant-scratch game. The game offers nine top prizes of $100,000, one of which has been claimed! Meaning there are eight remaining top prize of $100,000 left in the game. So, we accepted the answers of eight or nine in today’s contest. It doesn’t get much hotter than that!

The three winners in today’s contest are:

@DSM_Kurt
@iowasaint09
@jwestergreen77

If you were a winner, you’ll need to contact us with your name, date of birth and mailing address so we can send out your tickets. Winners will have until 4 p.m. on Tuesday, April 23, to contact us with their information in order to claim their prize.

Thanks for participating! Our next Twitter contest is set for 2 p.m. on Tuesday, May 14. See you then!

Where Did You Come Up With That Game?

Some of the questions we see the most often are about our newest games and just where we get the ideas for them. You can probably imagine that some of the people doing the asking really like a particular game, and other times … they’re not such a fan.   

The short answer is that it’s often a team effort to find just the right game. There are times when just one of us comes up with something good, and other times we borrow from popular culture.

There actually is quite a science to the process of choosing lottery game names, themes and colors. Part of it is common sense: If every scratch game for sale was green, people wouldn’t have much to choose from, would they? So, we want to have a mix of game colors for sale at any one time.

The same goes for the themes of our games. It’s good to have a few seasonal games each year, some holiday games, some gaming themes and maybe the theme of a popular movie just for good measure. For example, our very newest scratch game -- debuting today -- is Iron Man 3™!

The Iowa Lottery works with a few different companies to print our scratch and pull-tab tickets. Those companies also print tickets for lotteries around the world, so they share their expertise and ideas with us.

And, nobody knows what lottery players like more than lottery players themselves, so we occasionally hold contests where our players can win prizes by submitting their own designs for games.

But when it’s all said and done, people just like what they like. That’s why we have lots of different games for sale at any one time so you have choices.

Over the years, a couple themes have always done well here in our state: Iowa and animals. The Iowa part is easy to understand. It’s Iowa, we like it here! As for the animal part, maybe it’s because pets are such a big part of our lives, or because Iowa has such as strong agricultural heritage.

In any case, we’ll keep coming up with different game ideas to try to satisfy the tastes of as many people as possible. You’re invited to keep letting us know how we’re doing!

Destination Iowa: Live and In-Person!

We’re heading to the “Bass Pro Shops®” stores in Altoona and Council Bluffs next weekend, so join us there to get in on some fun!   

It’s all tied to the “Destination Iowa” promotion we kicked off March 6, which offers $300 gift cards to each of these Iowa vacation spots: Honey Creek Resort State Park on Rathbun Lake in south-central Iowa; Café Dodici and Dodici Night Suite in Washington; the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Historic Park Inn Hotel in Mason City; King’s Pointe Waterpark Resort in Storm Lake; and Harrah’s Council Bluffs Casino and Hotel.

The game that will get you into the promotion is the new $5 “Bass Pro Shops®” instant-scratch game that also started sales March 6. And that’s where our special events next weekend come into play.

We’ll be at the Bass Pro Shops stores in Altoona and Council Bluffs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 23. We’ll have an awesome game you can play to win a merchandise prize, and can give you all the details about Destination Iowa!

Anyone 21 and older who buys $10 in Bass Pro Shops scratch tickets at our events will be able to play a “Bass Bucket” game. After purchasing your tickets, you’ll get a voucher to present to the person running the game and have three chances to cast a line into the buckets. Every fisher participant wins a merchandise prize, whether you make it in a bucket or not!

So come see us! We’ll be inside the main entrance at the Altoona store and in the boating area near the elevators at the Council Bluffs store. And if you want to check out the Destination Iowa promotion beforehand, visit our website for details.

 

Just How Many Top Prizes Are There?

The same question has come our way this week from a couple different people on Facebook, so we’re sharing our answer here with you as well, in case you’ve wondered about the same thing!
 
Just about every day, someone takes home the top prize in one of our scratch games or pull-tab games. And that’s where some confusion has apparently come in. Some people have thought that if someone wins the top prize in one of those games, there aren’t any other top prizes left!

But when we release scratch games and pull-tab games they always have multiple top prizes. It could be five, 15 or even more than 90, as is the case with our popular “Crossword” game.

Let’s take our Game Book as an example. We had our first top prize winner of $100,000 in that game in January. A couple different people have commented on Facebook that if she’s already won the top prize, then why play the game? Well, in fact, that game has a total of six top prizes of $100,000, so five are still up for grabs!

When the last top prize IS claimed in one of our scratch or pull-tab games, we pull that game from the market. An automatic notification goes out and the pick-ups begin right away. We try to err on the side of our players as much as possible! 

If you’re ever curious about how many remaining prizes there are in our games, that list is always available on our website. The remaining prizes list is updated Monday-Friday, first thing in the morning. So check it out and maybe that will help you to determine which game you play next!

Lucky Twitter Contest Winners Get to Try New Ticket!

Three lucky winners in today’s Twitter contest get their chance to try a brand new $20 scratch game!

We asked an easy question today and it showed, because almost everyone got the answer right! The question was: What should you do with your ticket to make it yours? And of course the answer was: sign it!

Signing your ticket is a very important part in the prize claim process. You can read more about that and other player security matters on our website.

The winners each will receive a “Game Book” tickets, worth $20.

The Game Book is a new concept for us. It’s a booklet containing several of your favorite scratch games and a few new ones, too (eight games in all)! That’s why it’s worth $20.

Just remember this very important point as you play your Game Book: Don’t tear the pages apart! You must keep the booklet as a whole to claim any prizes won on any of the games.

The winners in today’s contest are:

@@4Eva_Hood_Love
@iowaneck
@LeslieKuhns

If you were a winner, you’ll need to contact us with your name, date of birth and mailing address so we can send out your tickets. Winners will have until 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 29, to contact us with their information in order to claim their prize.

Thanks for participating – we’ll see you next month!

Your Chance to Win A Brand-New Ticket!

We’re kicking off the New Year in style! For this month’s Twitter contest, we’re giving away  tickets in a brand-new game – with a brand-new play style.

Those who enter our Twitter contest will have the chance to win one of three “Game Book” tickets, worth $20 each.

The Game Book is a new concept for us. It’s a booklet containing several of your favorite scratch games and a few new ones, too (eight games in all)! That’s why it’s worth $20.

Just remember this very important point as you play your Game Book: Don’t tear the pages apart! You must keep the booklet as a whole to claim any prizes won on any of the games.

In our Twitter contest this month, you’ll have 15 minutes to submit your answers to be entered, with the contest beginning at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 22.

To be eligible to enter, just follow us on Twitter – it’s free to create an account if you don’t already have one. Then give us the correct answer to our super-easy contest question and you’ll be entered for a chance to win one of the three ticket prize packages.   

At 2 p.m. next Tuesday, we’ll pose our question on Twitter. Reply with your answer within the 15-minute time limit and you’ll be entered in the contest! Reply to @ialottery on Twitter. (Don’t direct message us on Twitter, as direct messages aren’t eligible for entry.)

We’ll select the three winners in our contest, then blog about the results and link to that blog entry on Twitter and Facebook.

If you win, you’ll need to contact us with your name, date of birth and mailing address so we can send out your tickets. Winners will have until 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 29, to contact us with their information in order to claim their prize.

A few other details:
• You must be at least 21 years old to enter.
• You must live in Iowa to participate.
• There’s no purchase necessary to enter or win!
• Only one entry per person. The first entry from each person will be accepted. Duplicates will be removed.

And now for the fine print: This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Twitter. You understand that you are providing your information to the Iowa Lottery and not to Twitter. The information you provide will only be used for the lottery’s Twitter Contest. The risk of loss for electronic misdelivery, late delivery or failure of receipt for information entered electronically remains with entrant regardless of the cause of the transmission failure.

Your Last Chance to Get in on the Fun!

You had asked for more chances to win in our promotions, so we extended this year's campaign to three drawings from October to January for everything from gift cards to trips to Las Vegas!
 
"Winter of Winners" kicked off in October with the debut of 10 holiday-themed scratch games you can enter for a chance to win great prizes.
 
Here's the background about this early start: Player entries in our holiday campaigns have hit record numbers for the past three years straight. But even with that, folks have been asking us for even more second chances to win the very hottest prizes.
 
To enter Winter of Winners, you'll need to join or already be a member of our free VIP Club. Complete rules for the promotion are on our website, and we'll also post the drawing results there.
 
Here's the drawing schedule:
 
• On Nov. 14, we selected 100 winners of Bass Pro Shops® gift cards for $250 each.
• On Dec. 14, we selected 40 winners of home-entertainment systems worth $2,019 each. Each electronics package included a premium-brand, 42-inch LED HDTV with five-piece mounting kit; 1,000-watt home theater system with mobile digital device dock; and Blu-ray Disc™ player.
• In the third and final drawing on Jan. 14, 10 trip packages to THE PALMS™ Casino and Resort in Las Vegas will be given away. Each trip package, valued at $4,315, will include airfare for two to Las Vegas; a three-day, two-night stay for two in a deluxe room at THE PALMS™; roundtrip ground transportation from the destination airport to THE PALMS™; ticket allowance for two tickets to a Las Vegas show; and $1,000 spending cash.
 
You'll use nonwinning tickets in this year's holiday-themed scratch games as your entries. (Remember, winning tickets are not eligible.) The number of entries you’ll get corresponds to the purchase price of the tickets you enter. For example, a $2 ticket will get two entries in the promotion, while a $10 ticket is good for 10 entries.

Here are the tickets you can enter:
 
• $1 Holiday Gold or Happy Howlidays = one entry per nonwinning ticket entered.
• $2 North Pole Bingo, Merry MONOPOLY™ or Best Wishes For A Swell Season = two entries per nonwinning ticket entered.
• $3 Holiday Crossword or Jingle Bell Jackpot = three entries per nonwinning ticket entered.
• $5 Holiday Black or Peppermint Super Crossword = five entries per nonwinning ticket entered.
• $10 Holiday Treasures = 10 entries per nonwinning ticket entered.
 
Click on the "Enter Here" button on the Winter of Winners page to enter the 10-digit entry number from the front of a nonwinning holiday scratch ticket, along with the ticket number from the back.
 
A few other requirements to keep in mind:
 
• You can only enter the promotion on our VIP Club website. Hand-delivered or mailed entries won't be accepted.
• You can enter each ticket only once.
• And, while you can enter multiple times, you can win only one prize per drawing. Entries that aren't selected as winners in one of the first two drawings will still be eligible for the following drawing(s).
 
And, of course, all the holiday-themed tickets you enter in Winter of Winners will also earn you points that you can use in our VIP Club store.
 
You’ve got until noon on Jan. 12 to get those entries in for the last drawing. Good luck!

Twitter Contest Winners Take Home the Gold

Thanks to everyone who entered our Twitter contest today! Our three winners will be enjoying some free tickets in another one of our holiday games!

Today’s question was: How many winners will get to go to Last Vegas as part of the Winter of Winners promotion?

The correct answer: 10! Ten trip packages to THE PALMS™ in Las Vegas will be awarded on Jan. 14. Don’t forget to continue entering your nonwinning holiday tickets for a chance to get in on that! Any entries you had from the first two drawings also will carry over.

Here are the three Twitter followers who gave correct answers to today’s question and were selected as winners in our contest!

Congratulations to:

@Aubrizzlynn
@tomstiles4
@MzR0se

They each have won $20 in tickets in the Holiday Gold scratch game! It’s a $1 holiday game with a top prize of $1,500. And remember, if you don’t win a cash prize instantly on your holiday tickets, you can also enter them into your free VIP Club account to earn Points For PrizesTM AND entries into the Winter of Winners promotion.

Our Twitter contest winners need to contact us by 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 18, to claim their prizes.

Thanks to everyone who participated in this month’s contest. Our next Twitter contest is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Jan. 22.

©2012 FP Holdings, L.P. dba Palms Casino Resort. All Rights Reserved.

'Happy Howlidays' to Our Twitter Contest Winners!

Thanks to everyone who entered our Twitter contest today! Our three winners will be enjoying some free tickets in one of our holiday games!

Today's question was: What is one of the prizes in the Winter of Winners promotion?

With three drawings in this year’s holiday promotion, there were three possible answers. The first was a $250 Bass Pro Shops® gift card. We drew for 100 winners of those awesome cards last Wednesday (Nov. 14). You can find a list of those winners on our website. The second eligible answer was a premium HDTV Home Entertainment System! Forty lucky players will win these prizes on Dec. 14. And the third answer we accepted was a trip package to THE PALMS™ in Las Vegas! The 10 trip packages will be awarded on Jan. 14.

Here are the three Twitter followers who gave correct answers to today’s question and were selected as winners in our contest! Congratulations to:

@cowboyradar
@DustyBerning
@TinaMartsching

They each have won $20 in tickets in the Happy Howlidays scratch game! It’s a $1 holiday game with a top prize of $2,000. And remember, if you don’t win a cash prize instantly on your holiday tickets, you can also enter them into your free VIP Club account to earn Points For Prizes™ AND entries into the Winter of Winners promotion.

Our Twitter contest winners need to contact us by 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 27, to claim their prizes.

Thanks to everyone who participated in this month’s contest. Our next Twitter contest is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Dec.11. We’ll have a surprise holiday bonus starting next month, so be on the look-out for that!

Bass Pro Shops®, Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World® and  are registered trademarks of Bass Pro Intellectual Property, LLC and used under license. All Rights Reserved.

©2012 FP Holdings, L.P. dba Palms Casino Resort. All Rights Reserved.