ialottery blog

Yep, We've Got A New App For That!

Add the Iowa Lottery to the list of entities that can say, "Yep, we've got an app for that!"

The lottery has added a free app on iTunes that you can install on your mobile device to keep up with all the latest.

To add the app, just visit the App Store in iTunes and install the Iowa Lottery's LotteryPlus Mobile app. The app can run on iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 and iPad devices running IOS 3.2 and above.

You can use the app's barcode scanner to check your lotto tickets, or you can key in the serial number from your lotto ticket to see if it’s won a prize. The app also supplies the current jackpot amounts and the latest winning numbers in games like Powerball®, Mega Millions® and Hot Lotto®.

You also can use the app to find the closest lottery retailers to your current location by using your device's location services. And maybe the coolest feature of the app allows you to shake your device using the app's plays feature to generate a lotto play. You then can take your device to a local lottery retailer and have the barcode on your screen scanned to purchase that ticket. We do want to clarify, however, that the app doesn't allow you to actually play the lottery online.

You know, we all want our information on the go these days and this is one more way the lottery can get you the details you want when - and where - you want them. And plus, we just really like saying, "Yep, we've got an app for that!"

The lottery is offering the app in conjunction with Georgia-based Scientific Games International, the company that the lottery has a contract with for its statewide gaming network that’s used to sell and cash tickets. We are looking into the possibility of adding apps for other mobile platforms, but this one will get us started.

Iowa is known for being a tech-savvy state and we're proud to continue that tradition of innovation with this new app!

Linn County Man Is Iowa's Newest Lottery Millionaire

Iowa's latest big lottery winner faced a long-distance challenge this week when it came time to tell his wife that he'd just won a $1 million Mega Millions® prize. Check out the video above to see how Ken Booth of Palo managed to get the word to her!

Another Iowa $1 Million Mega Millions Winner!

Chalk up another $1 million winner in Mega Millions® for Iowa!

Someone who bought a Mega Millions ticket at a Cedar Rapids convenience store won a $1 million prize in last night’s drawing. And here’s another cool detail: It was the only ticket nationwide to win a $1 million prize.

This is the sixth lottery prize of at least $1 million won in Iowa this year and the third recent $1 million prize won by lottery players in the Cedar Rapids area. I’d say we’re definitely seeing a run of lottery millionaires in Iowa these days!

The $1 million-winning ticket was sold at Casey’s, 3625 Edgewood Road S.W. in Cedar Rapids. The ticket originally matched the first five numbers but missed the Mega Ball to win a $250,000 prize in last night’s drawing. But the player who purchased the ticket also added the Megaplier® option to the winning play, which multiplied the prize to $1 million.

If your ticket matches the first five numbers in a Mega Millions drawing and you’ve added the Megaplier, the prize you’ll win is always $1 million, no matter what the Megaplier number is for that drawing.

The winning numbers in last night’s $24 million Mega Millions jackpot drawing were: 3-9-11-44-49 and Mega Ball 9. The Megaplier® number was 4. Nobody won the jackpot, so it climbs to an estimated $33 million for Friday’s drawing.

The Cedar Rapids area’s other recent $1 million prize winners were Eric Shaffer of Marion, who won a $1 million prize in March with a Powerball® ticket he purchased while stopping for a soda and newspaper at a Cedar Rapids convenience store; and Susan and Clyde Hendricks of Marion, who won a $1 million Powerball prize in December 2008 with a ticket they purchased in Swisher while out looking at holiday lights with friends.
 
Prizes of $1 million have to be claimed at Iowa Lottery headquarters in Des Moines. Players can claim prizes from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday. If the winner or winners need information before coming forward to claim the prize, they’re welcome to call us here at the lottery at 515-725-7900.

Holy Cash Cow, That’s ‘A Lotto’ Money

Remember our blog about our new “Code Green” messages? Well, the time has come for another Code Green alert!

After 13 straight rollovers starting back on Feb. 1, the Mega Millions jackpot has now grown to an estimated $312 million for Friday’s drawing.

And the Powerball jackpot is on a roll, too! That game also went without a jackpot winner last night, sending the amount of the big prize to an estimated $125 million for Saturday’s drawing. The Powerball jackpot was last won in the drawing on Feb. 26.

The two big prizes together total an estimated $437 million! That’s the biggest combined jackpot total that’s ever been offered in the two games. So what do you think – could one player take home both jackpots?   

And since we’re talking about mega jackpots, here are some fun facts about these two games since most lotteries in the country started selling them both in January 2010:

• The sale of tickets in the games has raised $2.43 billion for the good causes benefitted by lotteries.
• Powerball has had 15 jackpot hits since that time and Mega Millions has had 13, for a total of 28 tickets that produced multimillionaires!
• Powerball has had five jackpots climb to more than $200 million since that time and Mega Millions has had three get that high.
• Between the two games, $4.52 billion in prizes have been awarded.

Mega Millions is played in 42 states and Washington, D.C. Powerball also is played in 42 States, the nation's capital and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

We’re hoping for Iowa’s first Mega Millions jackpot winner from Friday’s drawing, so get your tickets if you want in on the fun! And $125 million wouldn’t be too shabby, either. And remember, you can get all the latest jackpot amounts on the home page of our website. 

CODE GREEN!

Weeee-ooooo, weeee-ooooo! Code Green!

You may have heard our Code Green siren on TV or the radio lately, but you may not know exactly what it means yet.

Well, no need to worry! The siren isn’t going off because of some emergency. When you hear the Iowa Lottery’s Code Green siren, it’s to let you know that there’s a big jackpot out there!

Now every time we’ve got a jackpot that’s really climbing high in any of our big lotto games (Powerball, Mega Millions and Hot Lotto, that is) you’ll hear and see the Code Green message.

These messages are jackpot-specific, so you’ll know exactly how much moolah we’re talking about. So when you hear that siren going off, you’ll know to head to your favorite retailer and get your tickets!

And remember, you can always find the all latest jackpot details on our website.

The Day After The Big Jackpot

Today, we know that the jackpot-winning tickets in last night’s Mega Millions® drawing were purchased in Idaho and the state of Washington. But what you may not have heard is that the jackpot ended up being even higher than expected!

The jackpot estimate heading into last night’s drawing was for $355 million, but after all the sales were tallied and balanced, the final jackpot amount was moved even higher to $380 million ($240 million cash).

That’s the second-largest jackpot ever in a lottery game.

Here in Iowa, more than 24,000 tickets won prizes in last night’s Mega Millions drawing. So if you’ve got a ticket, be sure to check it!

Mega Millions Jackpot Now The 2nd-Highest Ever!

So, we thought things were getting exciting yesterday when the Mega Millions jackpot for tonight’s drawing was raised from an estimated $290 million to $330 million. Well, never mind that!

Tonight’s jackpot has been raised again, this time to an estimated $355 million, the second-highest ever in the history of the game. Strong sales nationwide are behind the increases.

Ticket records show that a majority of all possible number combinations in Mega Millions will be played tonight, making it likely that the jackpot will be won. But if there isn’t a grand-prize winner tonight, Friday’s jackpot will be into record territory.

And don’t forget: Thanks to a change made last year, you have an extra hour here in Iowa to buy your tickets. The cut-off time to buy a Mega Millions ticket for tonight’s drawing is 8:59 p.m.

Don’t be caught without a ticket ‘cause you’ve got to be in it to win it! Good luck. We’ll keep our fingers crossed for an Iowa Mega Millions jackpot winner.

Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are…

We’ve got more big news in the lotto world today. We’re anxiously awaiting to meet two big winners from last night’s Mega Millions® drawing.

The first is a $250,000 winner who purchased the winning ticket at Hy-Vee, 4500 Sergeant Road in Sioux City. This winner or winners could visit either our headquarters office in Des Moines or our regional office in Storm lake to claim the prize.

The second big winner from the last night’s drawing is a $1 million winner who purchased the ticket at Mill’s Fleet Farm, 3200 Fourth St. S.W. in Mason City. Any prize over $250,000 has to be claimed at our headquarters office in Des Moines.

The $1 million prize is the first one to come after a change was made to Mega Millions on Sept. 14. We blogged about that change a couple of weeks ago, but basically the change made it easier to become a millionaire when playing Mega Millions.

So if you’re hanging on to a Mega Millions ticket, check yournumbers! We can’t wait to meet the winners of these two huge prizes.

Meet Iowa’s First Mega Millions Millionaire

Meeting lottery winners and learning their stories is one of the nicest things about working at the lottery. Each person has their own excitement and life story to share. But Iowa’s latest $1 million winner had such a great detail to his tale that we just had to work it in to his announcement.

You see, Robert Boehm of Denison was worried that he would lose his $1 million-winning Mega Millions® ticket. So, to make sure he didn’t accidentally throw it away, he put it inside an envelope and then labeled that envelope “winning lottery ticket.”

And it worked! Robert and his ticket made it to lottery headquarters yesterday, where he claimed his $1 million prize.

Boehm, by the way, has kept Iowa’s string of millionaires going. Twelve Iowa Lottery players have won prizes of $1 million since 2008!

Iowa's Had 12 Millionaires Since 2008!

Forget about April showers bringing May flowers, it’s raining millionaires in Iowa right now! Since 2008, 12 Iowa Lottery players have won prizes of $1 million. And the total is now up to four just this year.

The latest happened Friday night in Denison. A $1 million-winning ticket was sold at Kum & Go, 1109 Fourth Ave. S. in Denison, for Friday’s Mega Millions drawing.

The ticket originally matched the first five numbers but missed the Mega Ball to win a $250,000 prize. But the player who purchased the ticket also added the Megaplier® option to the winning play, which multiplied the prize to $1 million. The winning numbers in Friday's $90 million Mega Millions jackpot drawing were: 15-18-39-48-53 and Mega Ball 3. The Megaplier® number was 4.

Players can multiply their prizes (except the jackpot) with the Megaplier up to four times. The cost is $1 per play. Nobody won the jackpot Friday, so Mega Million’s big prize climbs to an estimated $105 million for Tuesday's drawing.

This is the second ticket sold in Denison to win a major Iowa Lottery prize. Don Sporrer of Denison won a $2.7 million Hot Lotto jackpot in the drawing on Christmas Day 2002 with a ticket he purchased at a Denison supermarket.

The three Iowa Lottery players who have claimed $1 million prizes so far in 2010 are:

• Richard Bauder of Ankeny, who claimed a $1 million prize Jan. 14 in the "Set For Life" instant-scratch game.
• Sorin Ganea of Dubuque, who also won $1 million in Set For Life. He claimed his prize on Feb. 8.
• David Lyons of Des Moines, who won a $1 million Powerball prize in the March 31 drawing.

We’re still waiting to hear from the latest big winner. Prizes of $1 million must be claimed at Iowa Lottery headquarters in Des Moines. Our prize-claim office is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday.

If you’re the big winner and you need more information before coming in to claim the prize, give us a call at 515-725-7900. We can’t wait to meet you!