ialottery blog

This Just In! We’ve Announced the Winners in ‘Super Tech’

Our holiday promotion has set records again this year, and we’ve got the “Super Tech” winners to announce today! 

You’ll likely remember that way back in September (when all of us were groaning about the upcoming cold weather), we launched our third technology-based holiday promotion. It was called “Super Tech” this time around and it came with a few new twists.

Your response just blew us away! Iowa Lottery players entered more than 2.1 million non-winning holiday tickets into the Super Tech promotion! That’s the most entries we’ve ever received in a web-based promotion, and it’s all thanks to you!

Yesterday we held the drawing to determine the 250 winners of the cool techie prizes that were offered in Super Tech and also selected the winners of the promotion’s six Super Prize packages.

Congrats to the Super Prize package winners:
•    Rob Dahlgaard, Waterloo
•    Chris Derrickson, Ruthven
•    Anne Erickson, Fort Dodge
•    Darell Failor, Marion
•    William James, Saint Charles
•    Brad Seward, Clinton

Each of them will receive a Sony® BRAVIA® 46-inch HDTV, Sony® NEX-C3 digital camera, Sony® Tablet™ S (16GB), Sony® PlayStation® 3 (160GB), Sony® 3D Blu-ray Disc™ home theater system and $2,000 cash. State taxes for the prize package also will be paid.

You can check out the complete list of all the Super Tech prize winners on our website.

We’d better get to work now to see what we can come up with for the 2012 holiday season. Two million entries will be hard to beat!

And Our BIG Twitter Contest Winners Are…

Thanks to everyone who entered our Twitter contest today! For our question this time we asked you to tell us if you won Wednesday night’s estimated $120 million Powerball jackpot, what’s the first thing you would buy?
We had a ton of great answers to, “I’d buy my mom a house,” to “A new car!” to “Build a new wrestling room for the team I coach.” They were all great answers and fun to read. Thanks for sharing your dreams with us.
This time around we played Powerball Pong. We drew semi-finalist names from all the entries and wrote their name and answer on the bottom of cups and partially filled them with red water and then tossed ping-pong balls into the cups. The first three cups we hit were our three winners.

Congratulations to:
Round 1 Winner: @CMcTweet23
Round 2 Winner: @Danadashoop
Round 3 Winner:  @katanyagdav

Our three winners today will each get $20 in Powerball coupons to play the new $2 Powerball game where there are MORE millionaires, BIGGER prizes and BETTER odds of winning. The winners have until 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 31, to contact us to claim their prizes. Thanks to everyone who entered!

Facebook Contests Are Back!

Fun news for our friends in the social media world! We’re bringing back our monthly Facebook contests! Can I get a “Woo Hoo”?

Very similar to our monthly Twitter contests, we’ll be asking you a lottery-related question on our “Lottery Contest” tab on our Facebook page.

What’s the prize? Glad you asked. We’ll be giving away three prize packs that will each contain $10 in Powerball coupons and some sweet lottery swag!





A while back, we polled our Facebook fans to see what day of the week and what time they would like to see the contests held. The majority picked Mondays at 11 a.m. So with that said, our January Facebook contest will start at (you guessed it) 11 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 30.

To be eligible to enter, just “Like” us on Facebook – it’s free to create an account. 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 prize packages.   

At 11 a.m. on Monday, we’ll pose our question on Facebook. Just click on the “Lottery Contest” tab, read the question, fill in the entry form and your answer and click “submit” during the 15-minute window and you’ll be entered. It’s just that easy!

We’ll print the list of eligible entries and use a random-number generator to select our winners and then post those winners under the “Lottery Contest” tab on our Facebook page. We’ll notify the winners by phone and/or email to claim their prize. We’ll also post a list of the winners’ names here on our blog.

If you win, you’ll need to contact us with your name, date of birth and mailing address so we can send out your prize pack. Winners will have until 4:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 6, to contact us with their information in order 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 be at least 21 years old to enter.
• You must live in Iowa.
• There’s no purchase necessary to enter or win!

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 the lottery’s Facebook 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.

Deadline is Set for Hot Lotto® Jackpot Claim

Here’s the latest update on the Hot Lotto® jackpot claim. After Iowa Lottery officials met with representatives of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and the Iowa Attorney General’s Office Monday, Iowa Lottery CEO Terry Rich set a deadline by which the necessary information must be presented to lottery officials.

The deadline Rich set is for 3 p.m. CST Friday (Jan. 27). If the information the lottery’s security team requires is not shared by that time, the Iowa Lottery will deny the prize payment.

This is the first time the lottery has experienced a situation like this in its 26-year history, and we will continue our work, understanding that the security and integrity of the Iowa Lottery and its games cannot be compromised.

We’re extremely glad that the winning ticket has been turned in. We look forward to learning more details about the situation. However, the jackpot prize has not been paid – and will not be paid – until the lottery has been able to complete the security process for this jackpot win.

Help! I Didn't Get My VIP Club Coupon!

We've been getting some questions lately about the monthly coupons available in our VIP club, so I'll try to clear things up here.

As you likely already know, one of the perks of being a VIP Club member is that you get a coupon every month from us here at the lottery.

When you sign up for your free VIP Club account, you can opt to check the box to receive electronic communication from the Iowa Lottery. Coupons are part of those electronic communications, so check the box to get yours!

Our coupons are emailed to VIP Club members in photo-form. It’s a good idea to add the email address WMaster@ialottery.com to your contacts list so it doesn't get caught in your spam filter. When your coupon arrives, you may need to right-click and click on "Show Pictures" to get the bar code to show. Then all you need to do is print it off and take it to your favorite retailer!

Coupons are sent at the beginning of every month. They're good until the end of that month and then you get a new one the next month. So if you know someone who's new to club and says they haven't gotten their coupon yet, tell them just to hang tight! If they signed up after the beginning of the month, they'll get their first coupon at the beginning of the following month. So if you sign up today, you'll get your first coupon Feb. 1 since January's coupon has already gone out.

Don’t Worry, Power Play Is Here To Stay!

We’ve now had the first drawing in the new $2 Powerball game, and with it came some confusion about the Power Play option and whether it even exists anymore.   

Let me clear that up here: Yes, Power Play is definitely still part of the Powerball game! And yes, you can still multiply your prize by adding the Power Play option to your ticket.

A few news outlets had reported this week that Power Play had gone away. No need to worry: Power Play is here to stay! But it has changed a bit.

Now, Power Play stays at a set amount rather than changing from drawing to drawing. Let me explain that in a little more detail: I’m sure you remember that under the old system, a Power Play number was selected during each Powerball drawing. So, the prizes you could win with the Power Play option changed from drawing to drawing. In one particular drawing, the Power Play number might have been “2,” meaning that if you won a prize and had added the Power Play to your ticket, your prize would have been doubled. During the next drawing, the Power Play number might have been “4,” meaning that any prize you won would be quadrupled.   

Today’s Power Play gives you a fixed amount rather than a variable number. It’s a lot like Hot Lotto, where the Sizzler option always triples your prize.

Here’s the new prize payout table so you can see how Power Play will multiply your prize:

We think the most exciting change is that now, when you match all five white balls and add the Power Play to your ticket, you’ll win a $2 million prize! That prize was previously $1 million. We think this will help create more millionaires here in Iowa.

You can read about all the changes to Powerball in our previous blog here.

New Twist In Jackpot Claim Story

The situation involving the Hot Lotto jackpot that was claimed just before it expired last month took another turn this week with court documentation from New York and Delaware about a person named Crawford Shaw. As you likely know, a man named Crawford Shaw is the trustee for Hexam Investments Trust, the owner of the jackpot-winning ticket that was purchased here in Des Moines in December 2010.  

A person named Crawford Shaw is associated with criminal proceedings and bankruptcy filings in New York and Delaware. What does that have to do with the jackpot-winning ticket? We don’t know. It could be nothing. But the fact that the information exists means it is something that the Iowa Lottery will look into as the situation progresses.

We’ve said from the beginning that there are three thresholds that must be met: We need information to ensure that the jackpot-winning ticket was legally presented, legally possessed and legally purchased. That information has not been shared with us here at the lottery and we therefore have not paid the prize and do not plan to do so until we have that information.
               

The Latest Update About That Hot Lotto Jackpot Claim

Here’s the latest about that Hot Lotto jackpot claim:

Iowa Lottery officials and representatives of the trust that claimed the Hot Lotto jackpot from December 2010 have met in person to discuss the claim. Crawford Shaw of Bedford, N.Y., the trustee for Hexam Investments Trust, attended the meeting late yesterday afternoon at lottery headquarters in Des Moines along with local attorneys who also represent the trust. They met with lottery security investigators and the lottery’s legal counsel for about 1½ hours, and the lottery’s investigation into the matter continues.

We think it was a good initial discussion. We’ve said it before and I’ll say it again here now: We’re glad that the winning ticket has been turned in and we look forward to learning more details about the situation. The jackpot prize hasn’t been paid out -- and it won’t be paid -- until the lottery has been able to complete the security process for the jackpot win.

The biggest question we’re hearing now is: How much longer? I don’t think anyone knows. This is the first time we’ve seen a situation like this here at the lottery and we’ll continue our work to ensure the security and integrity of the lottery and its games.

It all comes down to this: We know you want to know when you buy a ticket that you have the same fair chance of winning as everybody else. That’s what we concentrate on every day, in this situation and any other.

A BIG Twitter Contest

Something BIG is coming tomorrow, and to celebrate, we’re having a Twitter contest!

As you may already know, $2 Powerball® debuted Sunday. Powerball now offers MORE millionaires, BIGGER jackpots and BETTER odds of winning. Well, tomorrow night is the first drawing in the newly designed game, and it’s BIG! Tomorrow’s estimated jackpot is $80 million.

To celebrate the changes in Powerball, we’re giving away three prize packages of $20 in Powerball coupons – so you can have a chance to win BIG from our Twitter contest!

The contest is set for noon on Tuesday, Jan. 24. 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 ticket prize packages.

At noon 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 here at our office, and as always, we’ll record a video after the contest and post it on our website and YouTube. We’ll also blog about the winners here, 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. 31, 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.
• There’s no purchase necessary to enter or win!

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.

Reminder: $2 Powerball® Debuts Sunday

Here’s a reminder for this weekend: Sunday marks the debut of $2 Powerball, and the revamped game will sport several new features. As of that day, Powerball jackpots will start at $40 million and the jackpot will be easier to win. The overall odds of winning any prize also will be easier, and there will be more chances to win a prize of at least $1 million cash.

Powerball has been redesigned several times over the years so it will keep delivering the big jackpots that people expect, but also give players the chance to win other big prizes as well.
U.S. lottery directors approved the upcoming changes back in June. Before that vote was taken, the issue had been studied in two years of national research that involved 5,000 participants.   

Some of you may remember that back when Powerball started in 1992, it was played in just 15 states with jackpots that started at a guaranteed $2 million. Fast forward 20 years to today.  Powerball is one of the world’s biggest and most recognizable lottery games, played by 44 lotteries across the country, with players buying more than $3 billion annually in Powerball tickets. The biggest jackpot in the game so far was a $365 million prize split by eight co-workers at a Nebraska meat-packing plant in February 2006.

But with the game’s success has come demand for innovation to keep things fresh. The latest changes that take effect Sunday will help give players choices when it comes to lotto games and differentiate Powerball from other games. If you’re someone who thinks you’d rather keep playing a $1 lotto game, remember that you still have plenty of choices in that regard: Mega Millions, Hot Lotto and Iowa’s $100,000 Cash Game will continue to be available for $1 per ticket.

As of Sunday, you’ll still choose your first five numbers from a pool of 59. But the group of numbers in the Powerball pool will shrink from 39 down to 35, producing better overall odds of winning a prize.

The Powerball jackpots will start at $40 million – that’s double the current starting jackpot of $20 million. And the “second prize” in the game for matching the first five numbers but missing the Powerball will move to $1 million cash rather than the current $200,000.

Check out the changes on Sunday, and then we’ll all sit back and watch those jackpots climb!