ialottery blog

Greatness Returns Basketball Ticket Winners Announced

Nearly 12,000 of our VIP Club members entered the Greatness Returns contest, and the two lucky winners have now been announced!

Congratulations to Sandra Hudson of Delta and Tori Perry of Cedar Rapids, who both won two tickets to the Indiana Fever vs. Brazilian National Team preseason basketball game on May 4 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena™ in Iowa City along with $222 in spending money.

As we celebrate 40 years of winning moments in Iowa, we’re just getting started. Thanks to everyone who entered, and stay tuned, because more exciting opportunities are on the way!

I Think I Won That Game’s Top Prize, But The Ticket Results Say I'm Wrong

I blogged last week about player questions for one of our new scratch games, and now we’re hearing from players about another one.

This time, the questions are about the “Lucky Stars” scratch game that hit the market this month. Multiple players have contacted us who all thought they won the game’s top prize of $30,000. But as it turns out, they hadn’t uncovered all of the stars required to win that amount.

Here’s the background:

As its name implies, the $3 Lucky Stars game has a solar-system theme, with artwork on the tickets showing planets and constellations in outer space. There are star symbols in the play area on each ticket, and if you match the number shown in a particular star, you can scratch it off. If you scratch off all of the star numbers in the same path, you win the prize shown for that path.

Lucky Stars is designed so the star paths on the ticket follow bending lines, like the constellations in the night sky. And, the number of stars you need to match increases with the prize amount involved.

For example, to win the game’s $5 prize, you only have to match two stars. But to win $200, you have to match six stars. And to win the game’s top prize of $30,000, you have to match seven stars.

And remember, the star paths are not straight lines! The paths are highlighted on the ticket with double purple lines that you can follow from star to star.

The players who contacted us all thought they won $30,000. But they’d only matched the first five numbers in that path. They didn’t match the final two stars in the line.

So if you play Lucky Stars, remember to look for ALL the stars in the path to win a particular prize.

Player Comment: I Should Be Able To Win With A Different Symbol

One of our newest scratch games has prompted comments from some players who thought they should be able to win with a different symbol on their tickets than the actual winning symbols.

The bottom-line answer is that only the winning symbols will bring you a prize in the game. But here’s the full background involved:

The players’ comments have been about the “Joker’s Wild” scratch game that just hit the market this month. There are 15 prize spots in the play area on each Joker’s Wild ticket, and you scratch them off to see if you’ve won.

As its name indicates, Joker’s Wild has a card-game theme. If you uncover the joker card in one of the prize spots on your ticket, you’ll win the prize shown for that spot.

If you uncover the cherry card, you’ll win 10X the prize shown. And if you uncover the money bag card, you’ll win all 15 prizes on your ticket.

The amount you can win on a ticket ranges from $5 up to $50,000.

What Some Players Are Saying

Each of the symbols in the play area on a Joker’s Wild ticket is identified with both an image and letters underneath it. For example, the queen card shows both the Q symbol and the identifying letters of QUN. The three card has the numeral 3 with the letters THR, and so on.

The players’ questions have been about the seven card (7-SVN) and the cherry card (cherry symbol + 10X). Those are highlighted in the image of a Joker’s Wild ticket you can see here.

The players have said they think the cherry symbol looks a bit like a numeral 7 and therefore, they should be able to win a prize with the 7 card their ticket.

But even if you think that the cherry symbol looks like the number 7, the cherry card also has the 10X identifier on it. The 7-SVN card does not.

The 7-SVN card is not a winning symbol in the game. So no, you won’t win a prize with that card on your ticket.

Seeing the Return of a Legend in Iowa for Free! What Could be Better?

This is a big one! We just announced our Greatness Returns contest that will give lucky winners the chance to see an Iowa legend return as the Indiana Fever play the Brazilian National Team in a WNBA exhibition game in Iowa City.

We’ll have two winners in this contest. Both will win a pair of tickets to see the game on May 4 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena™. And the very best part – there’s no purchase necessary to enter for a chance to win the tickets to this sold-out game! It’s entirely free.

Here’s How to Enter

To enter, you must be at least 21 years old and a member of the Iowa Lottery VIP Club. If you’re already a VIP Club member, you’ll receive details through your account about how to enter. New VIP Club members will get those instructions after completing their account registration. If you’re not yet a member of the VIP Club, sign up online at ialottery.com.

Entries are limited to one per person. And it’s only a 10-day entry period, so don’t sleep on this! You can enter now through 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, April 24. We’ll announce the two winners on April 25.

Witness the Return

This game marks the return of an Iowa legend to Carver-Hawkeye Arena, and that’s why the Iowa Lottery is offering this opportunity to our players. We love providing Iowans a chance to experience our state’s top events, and it doesn’t get any bigger than the return of an Iowa legend.

So make sure you’re entered in the Greatness Returns contest and start thinking about who you’d take with you for a truly unforgettable experience!

INDIANA FEVER is a trademark owned by WNBA Enterprises, LLC.

Truth or Myth: Does The Lottery Control Where Winning Scratch Tickets Are Sold?

It’s time for another entry in our Truth vs. Myth series to test your lottery know-how! Here goes: Does the lottery control where winning scratch tickets are sold?

The answer to that is a big ol’ NOPE. That particular belief is definitely a myth. And the mistaken idea unfortunately extends out into other myth-based thoughts like: All the winners are from big cities/small towns/other states/no one from my area ever wins, etc.

The fact is that the odds of winning in lottery games are based solely on random chance.

The outcome of one particular ticket has no impact at all on the outcome of an upcoming ticket. And no one -- not even those of us who work at the lottery or the retailers that sell our tickets -- can predict when or where the next big winner will hit. That’s an important part of our security procedures.

Winning tickets are distributed randomly in our scratch games. Maybe a quick way to visualize that is to think about a deck of shuffled cards. Once the deck has been shuffled, there could be three hearts or clubs in a row and then several cards after that in the other two suits. The order becomes random once the cards are shuffled.

It’s the same thing in our games. There could be three winning tickets in a row, and then several nonwinning tickets in a row after that. Now, the size of a scratch game is much, much bigger than a deck of cards, but the same concept applies. (There are hundreds of thousands if not millions of tickets in a scratch game.)

The bottom line is: People all across Iowa – and all across the country – can and do win lottery prizes every day.

Whether you play the lottery or not, we want everyone to have an accurate understanding of how the lottery works. This Truth or Myth series is part of that effort.

Revamp In Mega Millions® Game Arrives

Something big happened while you were sleeping. The switch was flipped, the update went through, and you can now buy tickets of the new version of Mega Millions!

We’ve been telling you for months that the redesigned game would have better odds of winning, bigger jackpots more often, and built-in multipliers in all plays. The day has arrived!

Here’s what’s next in the Mega Millions reboot:

With no jackpot winner last night in the final drawing of the previous version of the game, the jackpot rolled into the new game and continues to climb. The current jackpot for Tuesday’s Mega Millions drawing, the first in the revamped game, is an estimated $54 million annuity, $25.7 million lump-sum option.

That’s actually higher than the $50 million starting jackpot amount in the redesigned game. The current jackpot will continue to grow with each drawing until it’s won, then it still reset to the $50 million starting amount and begin to grow again. The larger starting amount will help the game’s jackpots grow faster, meaning we’ll see more of them over $1 billion!

You’ll also see some changes on your next Mega Millions ticket. Each play now costs $5, but you get some real bang for your buck. Along with the better odds, there are bigger prizes at all levels, no break-even prizes, and we’ve added a 10X multiplier!

The beginning of the revamped Mega Millions means you can once again buy up to 10 advance plays. We had to temporarily limit how many plays could be purchased in advance until the changes kicked in, but we’re now back to full speed.

While there are a lot of changes to the game, the drawing days and time will remain the same: Tuesdays and Fridays at 10 p.m.

Game redesigns like these are rare, and we’re excited for you to have a brand-new shot at winning the next Mega Millions jackpot!

Denison Man Claims Latest Prize In Iowa’s “Lucky for Life®” Winning Streak

For the 4th time in 6 months, an Iowan has won big in the Lucky for Life multi-state lotto game.

Al Weltz of Denison won at the game’s second prize level and will receive $25,000 a year for life. He said he bought his winning ticket yesterday at the Ampride Truck Plaza on on U.S. Highway 59 N. in Denison after taking his mother to church.

How He Figured Out He Won

Al said he was getting ready for work this morning when he decided to check his ticket from last night’s Lucky for Life drawing. The winning numbers were 19-20-27-36-39 and Lucky Ball 6.

“First of all I thought I had four numbers and thought, ‘Hey great, I won $200!” he said.

But Al gave his ticket another look and noticed he had actually matched five numbers. Instead of $200, he really won $25,000 a year for life! But Al said he didn’t quite believe it, so he went back to Ampride where a store employee scanned his ticket on the lottery terminal and verified his win.

Word Got Out

Al has lived in Denison his whole life and told us he knows just about everyone around town. That includes one of his former teachers who was also in Ampride, and asked him how much he’d won.

“Then the radio station called an hour later, and heck, my uncle called from Florida and he heard about it somehow on Facebook!” he said.

By the time he claimed his prize today at the lottery’s main office in Clive, Al’s big win was anything but a secret!

He's Just The Latest Big Winner

Al joins three other Iowans who have won big prizes playing Lucky for Life in the past 6 months.

In December, Shelby Willis of Des Moines became Iowa’s first top prize winner in the game of $1,000 a day for life. He chose the cash option for his prize, receiving a lump-sum payment of $5.75 million.

Two other Iowans recently won at Lucky for Life’s second prize level, just like Al. Richard Hoversten of Des Moines claimed his prize in October, and Brandon Richey of Dallas Center claimed his in January.

Al is the 24th Iowa player to win a prize at Lucky for Life’s top two prize levels since the game debuted here in January 2016!

We’re On A Roll! Iowa Has Another Big Win In Lucky For Life

For the 4th time in 6 months, someone who bought a Lucky for Life® ticket in Iowa has won big in that multi-state game.

The latest big win hit during the weekend in Denison. Someone bought a ticket there that matched the first five numbers but missed the Lucky Ball in last night’s Lucky for Life drawing to win at the game’s second prize level of $25,000 a year for life.

The winning ticket was purchased at Ampride Truck Plaza, 506 U.S. Highway 59 N. in Denison. Last night’s winning Lucky for Life numbers were: 19-20-27-36-39 and Lucky Ball 6.

The Ampride Truck Plaza will receive a $500 bonus from the lottery for selling the winning ticket.

Iowa’s current winning streak in Lucky for Life began in October, when a Des Moines man won at the game’s second prize level of $25,000 a year for life. Then in November, a Des Moines man won the game’s top prize of $1,000 a day for life. And in December, a Dallas Center man won a prize of $25,000 for life.

Prize Claim Details

Lucky for Life prizes won in Iowa must be claimed within 180 days of the drawing. The Lucky for Life prize won in Denison has to be claimed at the lottery’s main office in Clive.

If you think you're the big winner and have questions before coming forward to claim the prize, please give us a shout at the lottery at 515-725-7900 or email [email protected].