ialottery blog

5-5-5-5 Hits In Pick 4 Drawing, With Multiple Top-Prize Winners

We’re gearing up to pay lots of prizes after today’s Pick 4 midday drawing!

The winning numbers in the drawing were 5-5-5-5, and because duplicate combinations are always popular in the game, there were a lot of big winners.

If you’re familiar with the Pick 3 and Pick 4 games, you know that players in them like to play combinations of the same numbers such as 7-7-7-7, 2-2-2, or, as with today’s results, 5-5-5-5. The stars aligned and duplicates hit today!

The same thing has happened a handful of times through the years, including with a 1-1-1-1 combination in 2018.

Six tickets each won $6,000 in today’s drawing, the top prize possible with a $1 play in Pick 4. All of the plays were for a straight bet, meaning that they would win if they matched all numbers in the EXACT ORDER drawn. Plays in Pick 4 start at 50 cents and go up to $5.

The stores where the $6,000-winning tickets were purchased are:

• Casey’s, 1201 First Ave. SE in Cedar Rapids
• Hy-Vee, 901 S. Fourth St. in Clinton
• Express Lane Gas & Food, 3622 N. Brady St. in Davenport
• Hy-Vee, 3221 SE 14th St. in Des Moines
• Kwik Star, 102 David St. in Maquoketa
• Casey’s, 602 S. Highland St. in Williamsburg

Players have up to 90 days from the date of the drawing to claim Pick 4 prizes in Iowa.

Player Question: How Long Do Your Promotion Drawings Take?

Here’s background we shared with a woman who asked about our promotion drawings and whether we could make video of them available. She likely thought – and maybe you have, too – that a drawing in one of our promotions takes just a minute or two, like those for the winning numbers in Powerball® or Mega Millions®.

But in reality, our Play It Again® promotion drawings take at least a few hours to complete, sometimes longer if we’re giving away a lot of prizes at once. And some of that work involves confidential security procedures that can’t be shown to the public. For those reasons, we don’t have video available of our promotion drawings.

I can share that in general, the drawing process starts around 10 a.m. on the date of the promotion drawing, with an outside auditor and our security staff present to review the work being conducted. Entries and alternates are initially selected, and Lottery Security staffers then conduct multiple reviews to ensure among other things that the entries are from eligible games, and that the players involved aren't on the lottery's prohibited players lists.

All of the steps in a promotion drawing sometimes take more than a day to complete, although we do our best to have results available on the date of the drawing.

We know folks want the results as soon as possible, and you count on us to ensure the process is completed with security and integrity to give everyone who entered the same fair chance of winning. Those sometimes feel like competing interests, in that the careful, thorough work involved is not speedy. We WILL announce the results as soon as we can!

If someone is interested in seeing the public portion of our drawings, you of course are welcome to do that. There is an Attendance Request Form on our website that you will need to complete and return to Iowa Lottery Security.

Player Question: Where Can I Cash This Ticket?

Here are the details we shared with a player about where winning tickets can be cashed, as the same information applies to anyone who’s won an Iowa Lottery prize. A woman who reached out to us said she’d tried to cash a $150-winning ticket at a local store and was told that the location didn’t have the money on hand to pay the prize.

She said the clerk told her she’d need to claim her winnings at the lottery. The woman wondered if that was right. Luckily, there are other options for her, and they’ll also work for you.

Only prizes of more than $600 have to be claimed directly from the lottery. Our offices can provide greater security when you’re claiming a larger amount of money, and there are tax forms you’ll need to fill out when you’re claiming a prize of that size.

The lottery requires that its retailers pay prizes of up to $100. We ask that they pay prizes up to $600, but not all stores keep that amount of cash on hand. Safety is a top priority at retail locations for their staff and customers, and available cash routinely is kept at a minimum, especially during business hours after dark.

If the retail location you've visited isn't able to pay your prize, you have a couple options: You can try to claim the prize at a larger store that sells lottery tickets, such as a supermarket. Or, you can visit one of our offices or send the ticket to us so we can validate it. (Our very biggest prizes, meaning those of more than $250,000, as well as some merchandise prizes, have to be claimed in person at Iowa Lottery headquarters in Clive.)

We keep all the details about the claims process, including the documentation you'll need to provide, on our website’s How To Claim A Prize page. Good luck on your lottery tickets and we hope to meet you as a winner soon!

Central Iowa Ticket Wins $25,000 A Year for Life

 

Someone who bought a lottery ticket at a central Iowa convenience store won a prize of $25,000 a year for life last night in the Lucky for Life game. 

The lucky ticket was purchased at Kum & Go, 409 Nile Kinnick Dr. S. in Adel. It matched the first five numbers but missed the Lucky Ball in Wednesday's drawing to win Lucky for Life's second prize of $25,000 a year for life.

It is Iowa's 12th big winner in the game since it debuted in January 16 in our state.

The winning numbers in last night's drawing were 13-16-18-23-33 and Lucky Ball 17. Kum & Go will receive a $500 bonus from the lottery for selling the winning ticket.

Players in Lucky for Life choose five numbers from a pool of 48 for the white balls and 1 out of 18 numbers for the Lucky Ball. Players can win the game’s top prize of $1,000 a day for life by matching all six numbers selected in one of its drawings. The game’s second prize – for matching the first five numbers but missing the Lucky Ball – is $25,000 a year for life. Other prize levels in the game range from $3 up to $5,000.

Prizes at the top two levels in Lucky for Life must be claimed at Iowa Lottery headquarters in Clive. The lottery currently offers prize claims by appointment at its offices. Full details are available on the lottery’s website here.

You Asked For It, So We Brought It Back: The Warehouse Dash!

Ever since we offered it the first time, players have talked about it. So we’re bringing it back: the Warehouse Dash®!

Starting today, you can enter eligible tickets from our holiday scratch games for a chance to win a Warehouse Dash shopping spree or cash – you choose! The promotion will give away four 90-second, all-you-can-grab Warehouse Dash shopping sprees, 20 prizes of $5,000, and a grand prize of $100,000.

Entries started at 10 a.m. today and the promotion runs through early January, with its final drawing date on Jan. 6.

Players can enter the promotion using nonwinning tickets in the 13 holiday-themed scratch games we’ll have available this year. Tickets in 11 of those games are already on sale, with two more holiday games hitting the market on Nov. 1.

In each of the promotion’s four initial drawings, a Warehouse Dash shopping spree will be awarded along with five prizes of $5,000. As you’re making your entries, you’ll choose the prize category you want. Each ticket entered counts as one entry in the promotion, regardless of the purchase price of the ticket.

All entries not selected in one of the initial drawings will remain eligible for the grand-prize drawing for $100,000. Entries will not carry over from one drawing to the next, except for the grand-prize drawing. You can win only one Warehouse Dash prize in the promotion, but you can win a $5,000 prize in each of the initial drawings and the $100,000 grand prize if you enter them all.

The initial drawings will be on Nov. 4, Nov. 18, Dec. 2 and Dec. 16, with the $100,000 grand-prize drawing on Jan. 6.

So, what’s it like to do the Warehouse Dash? Check out videos of our 2012 winners here and here. There was so much strategy and list-making – followed by running and yelling and cheering! I think it’s safe to say that their heart rates really got up there!

Thank you for playing, good luck in the promotion, and remember to limber up for the dash!

Warehouse Dash is a registered trademark of Hinda, Inc.

Why Are There More Winners In (Insert Place Here)?

A player contacted us this week with a question we’ve seen in different versions through the years: Why are there more winners in this state-that state/big cities-small towns/East Coast-West Coast?

We think the root of the situation is that players won’t truly be satisfied unless THEY’RE the big winners. In reality, winners are determined by nothing other than pure, random chance. But population does factor in.

This particular player asked about Powerball, so I’ll concentrate here on details about lotto games. But the same general concept applies to any lottery game.

As background, 48 U.S. lotteries sell Powerball, 47 sell Mega Millions, and 13 sell Lotto America. The odds of winning in each game are the same for every ticket purchased, but there will be more winners in places where more tickets are being sold.

Another way of putting it is that if about 5 percent of lottery tickets are sold in a particular area, you expect to find about 5 percent of the overall winners there. That doesn't mean the players there are luckier, it just means that more tickets have been sold in that area, so there will be a larger corresponding number of winners there.

A state like New York (with a population of 20.4 million) or Florida (population 21.6 million) will see more winners than a smaller state like Iowa with a population of 3.2 million. Over time, lotteries will see a proportional number of winners comparative to their jurisdiction's population, and that has been the case in jackpot games.

Another obvious factor in the location of lottery winners is whether a state even has a lottery. Currently, there are five U.S. states that don't have one: Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada and Utah.

The Latest About The Powerball Jackpot

Update on Tuesday, Oct. 5: Last night's giant Powerball jackpot was won with a ticket purchased in California. And as I had referenced yesterday, strong sales across the country pushed the actual jackpot total past even the latest estimates made in advance. The final amount was $699.8 million annuity, $496 million lump-sum option. That's the 5th-largest prize in the Powerball game and the 7th-largest jackpot in U.S. lottery history.         

The giant Powerball® jackpot continues to climb, now at an estimated $685 million annuity, $485.5 million lump-sum amount, for tonight’s drawing. The official estimate was raised earlier today to its current amount, driven by strong sales during the weekend across the country.

The big prize is now the 6th-largest jackpot in the history of the Powerball game and the 8th-largest jackpot in U.S. lottery history. But in general, players buy the majority of tickets the day of a drawing, so it’s possible that tonight’s final jackpot amount will be higher than the advance estimates.

The Powerball jackpot has been growing for nearly four months. It was last won June 5 with a ticket purchased in Florida.

Drawing Details, And An Iowa Ticket That Came SO Close  

The winning numbers in Saturday’s Powerball drawing were: 28-38-42-47-52 and Powerball 1. The Power Play number was 2. An Iowa ticket was just one number away from that night’s big prize and won $100,000. 

The ticket initially matched four of the first five numbers and the Powerball to win a $50,000 prize. But whoever bought the ticket also added the Power Play® option to the purchase, which multiplied the prize to $100,000.

The $100,000-winning ticket was purchased at the Fareway supermarket at 1325 Albia Road in Ottumwa.

What Would $685 Million Look Like?

We calculated this for fun. Here is what $685 million in $1 bills would look like stacked up or stretched end to end:

A $1 bill is 0.0043 inches thick. That means $685 million in $1 bills would stretch 46.49 miles high. That’s way up there, but wouldn’t quite reach into space, which depending upon the definition used, begins at either 50 miles above sea level or 62 miles up. 

And if they were lined up end to end, $685 million in $1 bills (each 6.14 inches long) would stretch for more than 66,380 miles. That’s enough to circle earth’s equator (24,901 miles) more than 2.5 times.

But could you actually get 685 million in $1 bills? Maybe. According to estimates, there are about 11.7 billion $1 bills in circulation in the United States.

General Reminders About How To Play

• Giant jackpots bring a lot of first-timers and occasional players into the Powerball game. For those who want a refresher (or crash course), the Iowa Lottery keeps how-to-play videos on its website to provide the key points in just a couple minutes. Here is a direct link to that page: https://www.ialottery.com/Pages/Multimedia/HowToPlay.aspx
• The deadline in Iowa to buy tickets for a Powerball drawing is at 8:59 p.m. the night of the drawing. If you buy a ticket after that deadline, it will be for an upcoming drawing and you won’t be in the running for that night’s giant prize. 
• And, please remember to play responsibly. You only need one ticket to have a chance to win.

Powerball Is Still Going Up, Up, UP!

UPDATE 10/1/2021: The Powerball® jackpot for Saturday's drawing has just been raised to $635 million! 

Have you heard? The Powerball jackpot has rolled again, this time climbing to the 6th-largest prize in the history of the game.

The jackpot for Saturday’s drawing now stands at an estimated $620 million annuity, $446 million lump-sum option. The big prize has been growing for nearly four months. It was last won in early June by a ticket in Florida.

When the jackpot reaches this level, we see two common themes in the questions coming our way: easy picks vs. your own numbers, and office pools.

Easy Pick: Yes or No?

At times like this when the jackpot really gets up there, folks reach out to ask us which has a better shot at winning – easy picks or numbers you choose yourself? The answer: The odds are the same for both. So just make the play that works for you. Here’s the background:  

In lotto games like Powerball and Mega Millions®, you have the option of choosing your own numbers or letting the lottery terminal generate the numbers on your ticket. A play containing numbers selected by the lottery terminal is called an easy pick. A play containing numbers you choose is known as a manual play.

Through the years, more and more people have played easy picks because, well, they’re easy. You just ask for a ticket and it’s printed with the numbers in your play already selected. Today, more than 90 percent of the plays in Powerball and Mega Millions are easy picks.

And with easy picks making up more than 90 percent of the tickets purchased, they also make up more than 90 percent of winning tickets in the games. It doesn’t mean that easy picks are luckier, it’s simply that there are a lot more of them.

The odds of winning are the same for every ticket in our games, no matter the play type. So, if you want to choose your own numbers, go ahead and do that. Or, if you’d rather ask for an easy pick, feel free. It won’t impact your odds of winning a prize.

Reminders For Office Pools

This is the point where a lot of folks decide to pool their money to buy tickets with co-workers, neighbors, or friends and family. 

We keep reminders about group lottery play as a permanent feature on our website, so please check out those details.

For example, one of our quick tips is for the person buying tickets on behalf of a group to keep a careful list of everyone who pitches in, how much money they contributed, and when! That can help answer any questions later about who was “in.”

$50K Powerball Prize Still Unclaimed

Within the past week, two Iowa tickets were SO CLOSE to winning at least a share of the Powerball jackpot. They each were just one number off, matching four of the five white balls and the Powerball to win a $50,000 prize.

One of those $50,000 prizes is still unclaimed, so double-check your tickets! The $50K-winning ticket was purchased at Git-N-Go, 209 E. Oskaloosa St. in Pella, for the Powerball drawing last Saturday (Sept. 25).

Ticket Checking Is Working Again On The Lottery’s Mobile App!

Good news on the convenience front: The ticket-checking function is working again on the Iowa Lottery’s mobile app! So, you CAN now use the app to check the results of your lotto, scratch and InstaPlay tickets.

That particular app feature had been down for the last couple days after a system update over the weekend. On Sunday, the Iowa Lottery transitioned to a new central gaming system, which links lottery equipment statewide in real time. It’s a huge project that only happens about once every 10 years here in Iowa. And with any update like that, there will be tweaks and adjustments needed after go-live.

That was the case with ticket-checking on the lottery’s mobile app. We know our players love the convenience of being able to use the app to check the results of their tickets from wherever they are, whether they’re at home or on the go. And we’re glad the right adjustments have been made so that function is back up today!

So, what was the lottery system upgrade, and why was it made? Like any electronic device, the equipment used to sell and cash lottery tickets needs to be replaced over time. The central gaming system replaced on Sunday had been in use since 2011 and the lottery’s contract for it expired this year. We’ve been working on the new system for about 2½ years. 

At the store level, the update means that the previous red lottery terminals have been replaced with new black-and-white terminals. The ticket printers and self-checkers in stores also have been replaced.

And here’s another upgrade you’ll notice the next time the jackpot in Mega Millions® or Powerball® gets really big: The lighted jackpot signs in stores around the state now have the ability to display amounts of $1 billion or more. Our old signs “only” displayed amounts up to $999 million, so when the jackpots climbed higher than that, they couldn’t keep up. But now they can! 

Thanks for playing, and happy ticket-checking on the mobile app!

As Pball Continues To Climb, Iowa Sees Two Winners of $50K In A Week

Update on Tuesday, Sept. 28: The Powerball jackpot continues to climb, now at an estimated $570 million annuity, $410.1 million lump-sum option, for tomorrow night's drawing. It's the 8th largest jackpot in the history of the game.

The Powerball jackpot is still on its big climb, but two Iowa tickets were so, so close to winning the giant prize in the past week. They each won $50,000, and the details about the stores that sold those tickets are below. 

The Powerball jackpot stands at an estimated $545 million annuity, $392.1 million lump-sum option, for tonight’s drawing. It’s the 10th largest jackpot in the history of the game.

In the past week, two Iowa tickets were just one number away from winning the big prize. The tickets each matched four of the five white balls and the Powerball to win a $50,000 prize.

First came a ticket purchased at Casey’s, 2070 NW 100th St. in Clive, which won a $50,000 prize in last Wednesday’s Powerball drawing. Then in Saturday’s drawing, a ticket purchased at Git-N-Go, 209 E. Oskaloosa St. in Pella, won $50K.       

We’re excited to meet those winners -- and to see just how high the jackpot will go! Powerball’s grand prize hasn’t been this big since January, when dueling jackpot runs produced a $731.1 million Powerball jackpot won in Maryland and a $1.05 billion Mega Millions jackpot won in Michigan.

Good luck, and remember, you only need one ticket to win!

Lottery Equipment & Ticket Checking On Mobile App Will Be Offline For A Time This Weekend

Update on Sunday, Sept. 26: The Iowa Lottery's new statewide gaming system went live a little before 3 p.m. today. You can now buy and check tickets in all Iowa Lottery games, and all functions are working again on the lottery's mobile app. Thank you again for your patience during this once-a-decade project! It's a huge undertaking every time, and we do our best to keep interruptions at a minimum for our players and retailers.      

A head’s up as we head into the weekend: Lottery terminals, self-service kiosks, self-checkers and ticket-checking on our mobile app will be down from 11:59 p.m. Saturday through about noon on Sunday. During the outage, players won’t be able to purchase lotto or InstaPlay tickets, check any tickets, or claim any prizes. 

The downtime will occur as the Iowa Lottery transitions to a new central gaming system, which links lottery equipment in the state in real time. That kind of system upgrade only happens about once every 10 years here in Iowa.    

Like any other electronic system, the equipment used to sell and cash lottery tickets needs to be replaced over time. The central gaming system here in Iowa has been in use since 2011 and the lottery’s contract for it expired this year. We’ve been working on the new system for about 2½ years.

At the store level, the change-over means that the previous red lottery terminals have been replaced with new black-and-white terminals. This weekend, the communications backbone that links all the lottery terminals, self-service kiosks and self-checkers in Iowa will be updated.

Any major system project involves occasional outages – think of the updates to your Internet service or mobile phone. But the end result will be the latest technology with faster processing speeds to help your lottery transactions be completed as smoothly as possible.   

We apologize in advance for our construction dust! We’ll have our new system up and running as soon as we can.