ialottery blog

Oskaloosa Ticket Wins $2 Million Powerball Prize!

The results are in from Saturday's monster $338.3 million Powerball drawing, and Iowa had some big winners! The jackpot-winning ticket in Saturday's drawing was sold in New Jersey. Iowa had the only ticket in the country to win a $2 million prize, and another four Iowa tickets won $10,000 prizes.

The $2 million-winning ticket came close to having a share of the jackpot, matching the first five numbers but missing the Powerball. Whoever bought the ticket also added the Power Play to the purchase, which multiplied the prize to $2 million.
  
The $2 million-winning ticket was purchased at Kum & Go, 1201 N. Market St. in Oskaloosa.

The winning numbers in Saturday's Powerball drawing were 17-29-31-52-53 and Powerball 31. A total of 34,714 tickets purchased by Iowa Lottery players won prizes in the drawing ranging from $4 up to $2 million!

Four tickets sold in Iowa each won a $10,000 prize Saturday by matching four of the first five numbers and the Powerball. They were purchased at:
• Bucky's Express, 15 N. 16th St in Council Bluffs.
• Casey's, 201 Madison Ave. in Donnellson.
• Slagle Foods, 6723 Northwest Blvd in Davenport.
• Quik Trip, 2300 E. 14th St. in Des Moines.
 
The $2 million-winning ticket will need to be claimed at Iowa Lottery headquarters in Des Moines, while the $10,000 prizes can be claimed at any of our offices.

We're excited to meet all our winners! Congratulations, everyone!

Powerball Jackpot: Est. $320 Million For Tomorrow!

If you haven't heard about it yet, consider this your official notification: The Powerball jackpot has reached an estimated $320 million for tomorrow night's drawing after rolling for nearly two months without a winner. It's now the sixth-largest jackpot in the history of the game.  And, Powerball now has created more than 500 millionaires since its redesign last year that established new prize levels of $1 million and $2 million in the game.

You know, when the jackpot gets going like it is now, we see the pool of players in the game expand, with regular players and first-timers all buying tickets for a chance to become the next big winner. The jackpot just seems to hit what we call the "watercooler level" when it becomes that thing that everybody is talking about.

You win the jackpot in Powerball by matching all six numbers in a drawing. But there are eight other prize levels in the game as well, ranging from $4 up to $1 million. In addition, the Power Play option gives players the chance to multiply any prize they win except the jackpot.
 
There have been 459 prizes of $1 million awarded in Powerball since the game's redesign last year. Players can double that prize to $2 million with the Power Play option, which costs an extra $1 per play. To date, 82 Powerball tickets have won $2 million. The jackpot also has been won 17 times since the game's redesign took effect. It was last won on Feb. 6 with a ticket purchased in Virginia.

The rest of the 411: The Powerball jackpot starts at a guaranteed $40 million and grows from there until it's won. If you win the jackpot, you can choose to receive the prize as a one-time, lump-sum payment or in 30 annuitized payments over 30 years, with the annual payment increasing over time to accommodate for inflation. The cash option is a one-time, lump-sum payment equal to the cash in the Powerball jackpot prize pool from the sale of tickets across the country. The cash option for tomorrow night's jackpot is an estimated $198.3 million.
 
Here in Iowa, jackpot winners pay 25 percent federal withholding and 5 percent state withholding on their prize.

You can buy tickets in Iowa for the big drawing up until 8:59 p.m. tomorrow. If you buy a ticket after that, it will be for a subsequent drawing.
 
Eight lottery tickets sold in Iowa have won Powerball jackpots so far, including two in 2012. The largest Powerball jackpot won in our state so far hit in June of last year. The Shipping 20, a group of co-workers from the Quaker Oats plant in Cedar Rapids, claimed that $241 million prize.

We’re Ready To Celebrate With YOU!

Who knew we’d have such perfect timing? We’re debuting a new Celebration Zone in our lobby here at Lottery HQ just as the Powerball jackpot is getting really big -- it’s at an estimated $320 million for Saturday’s drawing! Maybe we’ll be celebrating with some big Iowa winners very soon!

We always try to think of ways that we can make the prize-claiming process more fun for our winners. After all, it isn’t something that happens every day in a person’s life! So, we want it to be a memorable day when you come here.

With that in mind, we’ve now got a new “You’re A Winner!” runner leading into the Validations area here at the Lottery where prizes are claimed. Feel free to dance your way across the footprints on the rug!  

And, as of this morning, there’s a new Celebration Zone in our lobby! Just about all our winners these days have their phones and cameras ready, and now there’s a spot where they can take their own celebration shots as they claim their prizes.

We’ll look forward to meeting YOU when you claim your big prize with us here at Lottery HQ in Des Moines!

January Facebook Contest Results

Now for the moment you’ve all been waiting for…THE WINNERS!

Congratulations to:

1) Stefanie Ellison
2) Carrie Meyer
3) Monte Riley

Each of these three winners will receive $10 in Powerball® coupons, a Powerball keychain, a Dream t-shirt and a pizza cutter!

We’ll notify the winners by email to claim their prize. We’ll need to verify each winner’s information so we can award their prize packs!

Winners will have until 4 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 5, to verify their information with us. If any of the winners don’t contact us within the specified amount of time, alternates will be contacted by email.

Thanks to everyone who entered the January Facebook contest.

Be sure to come back and enter February’s Facebook contest beginning at 11 a.m. Feb. 18 through 11 a.m. Feb. 19. We sure hope you can join us!

January Facebook Contest

We’re celebrating the New Year by continuing our extended Facebook contests. Once again, you’ll have a full 24 hours to enter! Woo Hoo!

This month, we’re giving you a chance to win free plays in Powerball and some great lottery swag!

You can enter January’s Facebook contest anytime from 11 a.m. Monday (Jan. 28) to 11 a.m. Tuesday (Jan. 29). We’ll be asking you a lottery-related question on the Iowa Lottery’s Facebook page under the “Lottery Contests” tab.

Enter for your chance to win one of three sets of $10 in Powerball coupons and some stellar lottery swag items. Now that’s the way to ring in the New Year!

Visit our Facebook page anytime from 11 a.m. Monday to 11 a.m. Tuesday where we’ll pose our question on the Lottery Contests tab located under our cover photo. When the man on the Lottery Contests tab turns green and says “Enter Now!” that’s your cue to enter. Click the tab, read the question, fill in the entry form and your answer and click “submit” during the 24-hour window and you’ll be entered. It’s just that easy!

Important Note: The question will NOT appear on our Facebook “Wall.” You’ll need to visit our Facebook page and click the Lottery Contests tab to see it! Also, if you’re viewing our Facebook page on a smart phone, you will need to use the Desktop view in order to see the Lottery Contests tab. It does not appear in the mobile application view.

We’ll select three winners from all of the correct answers submitted, so make sure to double-check your answer before you hit the submit button. Then we’ll blog about the winners, update the Lottery Contests tab on our Facebook page and link to the blog entry on Twitter.

We’ll notify the winners by phone and/or email to claim their prize. If you’re one of the winners, we’ll need to verify your information so we can send out your prize pack!

Winners will have until 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 5, to verify their information with us to claim their prize. We’ll also select alternate names in case any of the winners don’t contact us within the specified amount of time.

A few other details:
• You must live in Iowa to participate.
• You must be at least 21 years old to enter.
• There’s no purchase necessary to enter or win.
• The Powerball coupons are not redeemable for cash.
• You can only enter once and only the first entry from each person will be accepted. Duplicates will be removed, including those by the same player entering with multiple email accounts.


And now for the fine print: This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook. You understand that you are providing your information to the Iowa Lottery and not to Facebook. The information you provide will only be used for lottery purposes. 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.

Member of 'The Shipping 20' Gives To His Community

What great news out of Cedar Rapids!

Kelly Mulford, a member of The Shipping 20 group that split a Powerball jackpot back in June, has announced that he’s giving $75,000 to the United Way of East Central Iowa Endowment Fund at the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation.

The Shipping 20, in case you didn’t hear about them, won the largest lottery prize ever in our state. The 20 co-workers from the shipping department at the Quaker Oats plant in Cedar Rapids split the $241 million Powerball® jackpot from the drawing on June 13. They chose to receive the prize as the lump-sum option of about $160 million. Each member ended up with a little more than $5.6 million after taxes.

When The Shipping 20 claimed its prize, several group members talked about retiring from their jobs and perhaps making some big purchases, but they also immediately talked about wanting to make a positive difference in Cedar Rapids. They had first-hand accounts of how the floods there four years ago had impacted their lives, and they wanted to help their community.

During yesterday’s United Way announcement, Kelly said he decided to come forward and share his story because he hopes to inspire others to give to the community through United Way.

You know, we hear winners talk time after time about the help they’ll give to their communities, favorite charities and family and friends. Kelly’s announcement is a great example of that being put into action. And we’re sure his help is especially meaningful, coming during the holidays!

Iowa’s other Powerball jackpot winners from this year also are helping out in their community. Brian and Mary Lohse of Bondurant won the $202.1 million Powerball jackpot in the drawing on Sept. 26. They’ve paid off their church’s mortgage and are making a sizeable donation to the Bondurant-Farrar Community School District where their children are students.

You’ve heard us talk about the ways that the lottery helps the state, from the proceeds we raise for vital causes to the income that the lottery generates for the local businesses that sell our tickets. Well, those positives are just amplified by the good works of lottery winners like we’re seeing now!

We're Hearing From Wednesday's Iowa Winners!

Today, we've gotten to meet the first two of our big winners from Wednesday night's record Powerball drawing!

The first to come in was Marcia Byrd of Rock Island, Ill., who purchased her winning ticket at Lund's 66 in Bettendorf. She said it was only her second time playing Powerball - and her first time adding the Power Play® to her ticket!

Marcia said when her husband checked the numbers, he said, "Wow, you came so close!" He didn't realize that matching four white balls and the Powerball would mean a $10,000 prize.

Marcia said she jumped on the computer and when she realized that adding the Power Play boosted her prize to $40,000, she couldn't believe it! She claimed her prize today at our regional office in Cedar Rapids.

Marcia is turning 30 in February and hopes to celebrate with a little traveling.

Next up was another $40,000 winner from Wednesday's drawing, but this time from northern Iowa. Erika Ramirez of Alden claimed her prize today at our Mason City office. She bought her ticket at Casey's in Alden.

Erika said that while her husband regularly plays Powerball, she bought her first ticket ever this week - all because of Wedneday's huge $587.5 million jackpot. She said she's not disappointed at all with her purchase, but she's still trying to believe it's real!

Erika, who's 37 and works in Iowa Falls, said that while she's been joking with friends that she's planning for a lot of shoes and a big closet, in reality, she hasn't decided yet how she'll spend her winnings. She says it's going to be a bigger Christmas for her family.

Congrats, Marcia and Erika!

Seven Iowa Tickets Came So, So Close

We’ve got all the Powerball® details this morning: An updated jackpot amount for last night’s drawing, and the locations where the big-winning tickets in Iowa were sold. No jackpot winners here this time, but seven Iowa tickets were just one number away!

The official results show that 114,195 tickets sold in Iowa won prizes in last night’s record Powerball jackpot drawing. The monster $587.5 million jackpot was split by two tickets purchased in Arizona and Missouri that matched all six numbers drawn.

Strong sales across the country pushed the record jackpot higher and higher as the week went on. After last night’s drawing was completed, officials found an issue with the automatic calculation report for the jackpot and adjusted it up once more. The final jackpot amount was $587.5 million annuity, or $384.7 million cash option. That blew away the previous jackpot record in Powerball, a $365 million prize split by eight co-workers at a Nebraska meat-packing plant in February 2006. 

Iowa Lottery players won prizes ranging from $4 up to $40,000 last night. Four tickets purchased in Iowa matched four of the first five numbers and the Powerball to win prizes of $10,000 each. Three more also matched those same numbers, but had the Power Play option added to them, so they each won a prize of $40,000. Here’s where those winning tickets were sold across the state:

$10,000 winning tickets       
No Frills Supermarket
1817 W. Broadway
Council Bluffs

Casey’s
2007 N. 15th St.
Fort Dodge

Graettinger Country Store
102 S. Iowa Highway 4
Graettinger

Fairbank Food Center
102 Fourth St. N.
Fairbank

$40,000 winning tickets
Lund’s 66
975 Spruce Hills Dr.
Bettendorf

Casey’s
1008 Grand Ave.
Alden

Casey’s
206 S. First St.
Grimes

The winning numbers in last night’s drawing were: 5-16-22-23-29 and Powerball 6. The Powerball jackpot returns to an estimated $40 million annuity ($26.2 million cash) for Saturday’s drawing.  

Iowa's Early Powerball® Results

The early details are in tonight, and they show that 114,195 tickets sold here in Iowa have won prizes in tonight’s record Powerball drawing. Iowa had no jackpot winner this time, but seven tickets sold in our state came within one number of having at least a share of the jackpot. Strong sales nationwide had pushed tonight’s jackpot to $579.9 million annuity, or $379.8 million cash option. We’ll have full details, including the locations where the big winning tickets were sold, tomorrow morning. For now, here’s what we know: 

• A total of 114,195  tickets purchased by Iowa Lottery players won prizes tonight ranging from $4 up to $40,000. Four tickets purchased in Iowa matched four of the first five numbers and the Powerball to each win a prize of $10,000. Three more also matched those same numbers, but had the Power Play option added to them, so they each won a prize of $40,000.
• The winning numbers in tonight’s $579.9 million Powerball jackpot drawing were: 5-16-22-23-29 and Powerball 6. Complete results from all the lotteries in the game aren’t available yet – they’ll come in the overnight hours after all the records are processed.
• Iowa Lottery players bought more than $7.7 million in Powerball tickets for tonight’s drawing, including nearly $4.9 million in tickets today alone. During today’s busiest stretch from about 6-7 p.m., Powerball tickets were selling at more than $11,000 per minute across the state. But the average Powerball purchase in Iowa today stayed at just $6, or three plays per ticket. It’s nice to see that Iowans got in on the fun of tonight’s drawing, but didn’t go overboard.
• The odds of winning the jackpot in Powerball are about 1 in 175.2 million because there are about 175.2 million ways you can combine the numbers in the game to make a play. By tracking sales, we can estimate how many of the possible combinations have been purchased for a particular drawing. About 80 percent of all the possible combinations were purchased for tonight’s drawing.

Powerball Jackpot - Still Climbing!

The huge jackpot for tonight's Powerball drawing, already a record for the game, has been pushed even higher by strong sales nationwide. Lottery officials announced this morning that the jackpot was being raised another $50 million to an estimated $550 million annuity ($360.2 million cash) for the drawing at 9:59 p.m. tonight. Those are conservative figures, so the actual amount announced during tonight's drawing may be even higher.

Strong sales across the country is the reason the prize has been taking big jumps – tonight's jackpot is $223 million higher than the $327 million prize that was up for grabs in this past Saturday’s drawing.

As a reminder, you can buy tickets here in Iowa until 8:59 p.m. to get in on Wednesday's drawing. Tickets purchased after that cut-off time will be for Saturday's drawing.

We're keeping an eye on all the coverage - and will keep you posted on anymore updates!