ialottery blog

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.

Latest Update Regarding Hot Lotto Jackpot Claim

We know it’s the topic generating all the buzz, and we know everyone (including us) wants answers, so we held a news conference today to give the latest updates about the on-going claim process for that jackpot-winning Hot Lotto ticket presented just before it would have expired in late December.

Here’s the latest:

•    The winning ticket has been validated, but the prize-claim process as a whole continues.
•    Lottery Security reviewed the ticket at the time it was presented on Dec. 29 and confirmed that it is the valid jackpot-winning ticket that someone bought in Des Moines back in December 2010.    
•    The jackpot winner has 60 days to decide whether to claim the prize as cash or annuity. But, if that decision isn’t made by 4 p.m. Feb. 27, the prize will automatically become an annuity and will be paid out in 25 equal installments.
•    Only one person signed the back of the winning ticket: Crawford Shaw as the trustee for Hexam Investments Trust.
•    Hexam Investments Trust owns the ticket. But the members of the trust haven’t been identified yet and we don’t know what information we will learn about them. Crawford Shaw has stated that he is the trustee, but is not a prize winner.
•    We’re continuing to look into the reports we’ve received from people who each allege that the jackpot-winning ticket was stolen from them. This case serves as an important reminder to sign your lottery tickets so they are identified as belonging to you. Here’s our suggestion for a new catch phrase: Buy the ticket, sign the ticket!
•    Crawford Shaw has been quoted in the media as saying he’d provide further details this week here in Iowa, but as of today, we don’t have a specific meeting time set with him. He has said he will come to Iowa soon.
•    The prize hasn’t been paid yet, but we do anticipate we will be able to pay it once the determination has been made that the ticket was legally purchased, legally possessed and legally presented.
•    We’ve never had a situation like this in our lottery’s 26-year history, so we don’t know how long it’s going to take to resolve it. We’re just as curious as everyone else to learn the details so the prize can be paid!
      

Update About That Last-Minute Jackpot Claim

It’s been a week now since that jackpot-winning ticket was turned in just in the nick of time here at the Lottery. We’re still sorting through all the details, but here’s the latest on this end:

Our security investigators have had an initial conversation with Crawford Shaw, the trustee for Hexam Investments Trust, the group that claimed the winning ticket. We’re in the process of arranging an in-person meeting with him so we can begin to follow the trail of the ticket, from the time it was presented here at the lottery last Thursday back to the person who bought it at the Quik Trip on Des Moines’ north side.

With each passing day, we’re hearing from more people who claim the winning ticket was stolen from them. We’re looking into all of that. We don’t yet know the credibility of any of those claims, but we’re checking.

A lot of folks have asked how long it will take for us to complete the investigation. I wish I had a quick answer, but I don’t. The fact is that we’ve never seen this situation before in the 26-year history of the Iowa Lottery, so we don’t have any previous example to use.

Bottomline, we will make sure that the ticket was legally purchased, legally possessed and legally presented to the lottery.

That’s what we know, here at prize-claim central! And now, back to your regular programming…

Appropriate Gifts This Season

With the holiday season in full swing, we know that Iowa Lottery tickets are among the items shoppers are buying to give as gifts and stuff in stockings.

We here at the Iowa Lottery offer this gentle reminder that our tickets -- while colorful, entertaining and affordable -- may not be something you want to give to those who are underage. In Iowa, you must be 21 or older to purchase lottery products and we have always considered lottery tickets to be an adult product. Remember, you are gambling when you play the lottery.

The lottery offers these reminders to minimize the risks associated with youth gambling:

• Don't involve underage children in lottery activities
• Be sure to give youngsters age-appropriate gifts
• When you give Lottery tickets as presents, be sure to keep the person's age in mind.

And as always, if you or someone you know is being impacted by problem gambling, help is available. The toll-free hotline at the Iowa Gambling Treatment Program is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-BETSOFF.

Missing Millionaire: Only A Month To Go

Today has started the one-month countdown for that multi-million-dollar Hot Lotto® jackpot that’s still unclaimed 11 months after it was won with a ticket purchased in Des Moines. We’ve blogged about it here before, but here’s another reminder that the winning ticket will expire Dec. 29 if it isn’t claimed by then!

With each passing day, those of us who work here at the lottery get more and more inquiries from folks who wonder if they might have been the one who bought the jackpot-winning ticket nearly a year ago at a Des Moines convenience store. But so far, all the people who have contacted the lottery have had one thing in common: No one has presented the winning ticket to the lottery.

That’s the point we can’t stress enough: You must present the winning ticket to the lottery to claim the prize. In some of the media interviews I’ve done today, I’ve put it this way: Respectfully, it doesn’t matter how good of a story you come up with. If you don’t have the winning ticket, we can’t pay you the prize.

It is sad to see this huge prize continue to sit there without being claimed. Someone won this money and we want them to take it home. It could make a huge difference in someone’s life – or several someones’ lives.

The Hot Lotto jackpot-winning ticket was purchased at Quik Trip, 4801 N.E. 14th St. in Des Moines. The lucky ticket matched all six numbers selected in the Hot Lotto drawing on Dec. 29, 2010, to win the grand prize. The winning numbers that night were: 3-12-16-26-33 and Hot Ball 11.

Hot Lotto tickets in Iowa expire a year from the date of the drawing in which a prize is won, so this particular prize will expire at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011, if it isn’t claimed by then. The Validations Office here at lottery headquarters in Des Moines closes at 4 p.m. and the equipment needed to process winning tickets is shut down at that time.

If the Hot Lotto prize expires without being claimed, the money from the jackpot will go back to the 15 lotteries that offer Hot Lotto in proportion to the percentage of sales that came from each state. (For example, if Iowa contributed 20 percent of the sales for that particular jackpot, Iowa would get 20 percent of the money back.) Here in Iowa, the money from unclaimed prizes goes into the lottery’s prize pools for future games. We’ll get about $1.3 million back if the jackpot were to go unclaimed.

We’re discussing the idea of having a special promotion in the spring to give the money away, something with the theme that “everyone deserves a second chance.” That’s something for further discussion if the expiration date comes and goes. But for right now, we’re concentrating on trying to find whoever the lucky person is who has this jackpot-winning ticket!

Quad-Cities Couple Become Iowa’s Latest Powerball Millionaires

A Quad-Cities man says the shock of winning a $1 million Powerball® prize brought him to tears, but his wife had a reaction that was even bigger than that! Check out the video above to hear from Esteban and Linda Ramos.A Quad-Cities man says the shock of winning a $1 million Powerball® prize brought him to tears, but his wife had a reaction that was even bigger than that! Check out the video above to hear from Esteban and Linda Ramos.

w00t! Another $1 million lottery prize in Iowa!

A lottery player who bought a Powerball® ticket at a Bettendorf convenience store has won a $1 million prize!

It was one of only two tickets nationwide to win a $1 million prize in Saturday’s drawing. The other $1 million-winning ticket was sold in New Jersey. And in addition to those two big prizes, someone who bought a Powerball ticket in Pennsylvania took home Saturday’s $59.9 million jackpot.

Iowa’s latest $1 million-winning ticket was sold at QC Mart, 1402 State St. in Bettendorf. The ticket originally matched the first five numbers but missed the Powerball to win a $200,000 prize in Saturday’s drawing. But the player who purchased the ticket also added the Power Play® option to the winning play, which multiplied the prize to $1 million.

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

The winning numbers in Saturday’s $59.9 million Powerball jackpot drawing were: 9-16-17-28-30 and Powerball 11. The Power Play® number was 3. Players can multiply their prizes (except the jackpot) with the Power Play. The cost is $1 per play.

It’s the ninth lottery prize of at least $1 million won in Iowa this year!

And here is our latest helpful reminder about other big prizes that are still unclaimed out there. We’re still waiting to hear from the person – or the group of people – who bought a $1 million-winning ticket at the Kum & Go at 1317 E. Mary St. in Ottumwa for the July 23 Powerball drawing.

And of course, the much-talked-about $16.5 million Hot Lotto jackpot-winning ticket sold at Quik Trip, 4801 N.E. 14th St. in Des Moines, also is still unclaimed. The deadline to claim that prize is 4 p.m. on Dec. 29 of this year.

Prizes of $1 million must 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 are invited to call the lottery at 515-725-7900.

Iowa Is No. 1 In Hot Lotto Jackpots!

Let’s hear it for jackpot winners in our state! Iowa is now officially No. 1 when it comes to jackpot winners in the Hot Lotto game. Iowa Lottery players have won nine jackpots in the game, the highest number among the 15 states that play Hot Lotto®.

The latest jackpot was won Saturday in Waterloo. The $7.54 million prize in the Hot Lotto drawing that night was won with a ticket purchased at the Kwik Stop convenience store at 4335 Texas St. in Waterloo. That follows a Hot Lotto jackpot of more than $9 million won in May in Webster City and a jackpot of more than $16.5 million won in December in Des Moines.     

Now, we know that you can’t predict when another big winner will hit, but Iowa is definitely on a roll in Hot Lotto! And hey, there’s nothing wrong with us being known as the lucky state!

The winning numbers in Saturday’s $7.54 million Hot Lotto jackpot drawing were: 5-12-16-23-24 and Hot Ball 8. The Waterloo ticket matched all six numbers drawn to win the grand prize. The Kwik Stop location will receive a $5,000 bonus from the lottery for selling the jackpot-winning ticket.

As always, we encourage the winner (or winners) to get financial or legal advice before coming in to claim the prize. And be sure to sign the winning ticket and keep it in a secure place until you come see us!

Here’s an interesting twist that’s also underway right now in Iowa: The Waterloo ticket is the third big-winning lottery ticket that’s still unclaimed here. Two other big prizes from Des Moines and Ottumwa also are waiting to be claimed.
 
The Hot Lotto jackpot won in December in Des Moines is still unclaimed, even after 11 months. That winning ticket will expire on Dec. 29 of this year if the prize isn’t claimed by then. The ticket was purchased at Quik Trip, 4801 NE 14th St. in Des Moines. It matched all six numbers drawn to win the grand prize of $16.5 million in the Hot Lotto drawing on Dec. 29, 2010, the third-largest jackpot ever offered in the game. The winning numbers that night were: 3-12-16-26-33 and Hot Ball 11.

And in addition to that big prize, a ticket sold in Ottumwa that won a $1 million Powerball® prize in July also hasn’t be claimed. That ticket originally matched the first five numbers but missed the Powerball to win a $200,000 prize in the July 23 drawing. But the player who purchased the ticket also added the Power Play® option to the winning play, which multiplied the prize to $1 million. If your ticket matches the first five numbers in a Powerball drawing and you've added the Power Play, the prize you'll win is always $1 million, no matter what the Power Play number is for that drawing.

The $1 million-winning ticket was sold at Kum & Go, 1317 E. Mary St. in Ottumwa. The winning numbers in the July 23 Powerball drawing were: 1-7-27-38-48 and Powerball 30.

We can’t say it enough: Check your tickets! Someone has legitimately won these prizes and we want them to take home their winnings.

All three of the big prizes have to be claimed at lottery headquarters at 2323 Grand Ave. in Des Moines. If the winners have any questions before coming in to claim their prizes, they are welcome to call the lottery at 515-725-7900.

Is It That Time of the Year Already?

Ready or not, the holidays are coming! We kicked off the holiday season with our third tech-themed holiday promotion. This year, we’re calling it Super Tech; and we’re giving away some super prizes.

Since we changed things up a bit, we have a lot of information to dole out to our players about Super Tech, and we’re doing our best to make things as simple as we can. You can brush up on all the information on our website.

Last week, we got our first really great question about the promotion. One of you reached out to us via email and asked, “I entered ten holiday tickets into the Super Tech promotion using my VIP Club account, but I don’t have any entries into the Super Prize. Why?”

That IS a great question. And here’s the answer: You need to enter one of each of the 10 holiday tickets available this holiday season to receive one eligible entry for the Super Prize. Remember, our holiday tickets are hitting retailers in waves this season, but all 10 tickets will be available by the end of October.

If you’ve got questions about the Super Tech promotion, or anything for that matter, send them our way! You can submit questions here on the blog, via Twitter or Facebook, or through our email address, wmaster@ialottery.com.

Have fun ‘Super Teching’ the halls this season!

Why Are There Different Points For The Same Game?

We just got a great VIP Club question that I want to share with you here because it’s something a lot of folks may be wondering about.

The issue has to do with the points you receive when you enter nonwinning scratch tickets in our VIP Club. One of our Club members sent us this question: “Why are the points given on the same type of scratch ticket different?”

The player is right: You don’t get the same number of points from ticket to ticket in our VIP Club, and that’s exactly how it’s supposed to work. Let’s take our “Crossword” game as an example, since it’s always one of the top tickets entered in our club. 

When you enter your Crossword ticket in the Club, the points you get will vary from entry to entry. One time you might get 20 points for your ticket and the next time you might get 35 points. We designed the process to work that way to keep things interesting. That way, it’s a surprise every time you enter a ticket!

Another question we’ve gotten has to do with those games where you get an entry into a promotion AND points in our club. “Great State Tailgate” is the current game where that applies. When you enter a Great State Tailgate ticket in our VIP Club, you get an entry into our promotion drawing for the tailgate trailer we’re giving away and you get the points for that ticket. You don’t have to do anything to get both options – it’s an automatic process built into our system.

Great questions, keep ‘em coming!