ialottery blog

Nearly 8 Months Later, Cedar Rapids Couple Claims Prize Of $25K A Year For Life

For nearly eight months, we've wondered if we’d ever get to meet the winners of a Cedar Rapids prize of $25,000 a year for life. Well, now it’s happened!

Chuck and Sherry Thomas of Cedar Rapids claimed the prize they won in the Nov. 4 drawing of the Lucky for Life® game. The couple said they'd known the good news since shortly after the drawing, but they purposefully waited until yesterday to claim the prize so they had a plan in place for their winnings.

Chuck Thomas, who is 60, bought their winning easy-pick ticket at Casey’s, 641 Edgewood Road NW in Cedar Rapids. He said he initially bought a ticket on a Wednesday, thinking it would be for the next night’s Lucky for Life drawing. What he didn’t realize was that in July 2021, Lucky for Life had changed from two drawings a week to nightly drawings. So, his ticket ended up being for Wednesday’s drawing.

As he drove past the Casey’s store, Chuck said he decided to stop and buy another ticket that actually would be for Thursday’s drawing. One of the plays on that ticket ended up winning Lucky for Life’s second prize level of $25,000 a year for life.

Sherry Thomas, 55, said that at the time, they had just ordered new carpet for their home. She said that if they had won just a little sooner, they might have gotten wood floors.

The couple’s prize is the 13th big win by Iowa players in the game since it debuted in January 2016 in the state.

Chuck and Sherry chose to receive their prize in a lump-sum payment of $390,000. They said they were thinking about buying a hot tub with some of their winnings, but they plan to invest most of the money with an eye toward retirement. Chuck said their lottery win will hopefully make retirement a lot easier!

The winning numbers in the Lucky for Life drawing on Nov. 4 were: 6-9-12-23-41 and Lucky Ball 8. The couple’s ticket matched the first five numbers but missed the Lucky Ball to win at the game’s second prize level.

Casey’s received a $500 bonus from the lottery for selling the winning ticket.

Where Are We Going Next? The List Is On Our Events Page

As the summer goes on and we’re making more stops around the state on our Explore Iowa tour, we’ve gotten questions from some folks asking if we’ll make it to their area.

The short answer is that we’re continuing to add new stops over time and we’re doing our best to hit all areas of Iowa. Our campaign is called Explore Iowa, after all!

To see the list of our upcoming events, please visit the Special Events page on our website here.

Some of the events are at retail locations while others are at football games, baseball games, local festivals and auto races.

We’ve already been to Waverly, Fort Dodge, Des Moines, Mason City, Council Bluffs and Davenport, to name a few. This week we’ll be in Cedar Rapids, Waukee and Cedar Falls.

We’ll keep updating the list of events as summer goes on. At some of the stops, we’re doing special presentations to highlight the Iowa Veterans Trust Fund, one of the most important beneficiaries of lottery proceeds to state causes.

We sell tickets in our Explore Iowa scratch game at each stop, and all lottery products are available at the events at retail locations. And yes, our prize wheel is there! With a qualifying purchase, you can spin the wheel to win lottery merchandise.

2 Big Wins On Scratch Tickets They Initially Didn’t Plan To Buy

Two big winners this month both have an unusual twist to their story: At first, neither of them planned to buy the ticket that delivered their moment of luck!

First up was Curt Smith of Des Moines, who claimed a $300,000 top prize in the “Win Big” scratch game. Curt said that after a long day of work, he went to a local store to buy a ticket in a scratch game he usually plays, but it was sold out. So, he said he decided to try Win Big.

Curt said he scratched the ticket in his car and couldn’t believe what he saw. He said he was a little shaky, so he ended up fumbling around with his phone before he finally was able to use the Iowa Lottery’s mobile app to scan the ticket and confirm that his eyes weren’t deceiving him.

After that, he said he just sat in the parking lot for about 10 minutes, in a bit of shock!

Curt, who’s 51 and works at a Des Moines tire plant, claimed his prize June 10 at lottery headquarters in Clive. He said that he and his wife, Anna, plan to use the winnings to buy a new home, pay off debt, and purchase a headstone for his mother’s gravesite.

The next business day after Curt got his prize, we met Michele Bautista of Waterloo, who claimed a $30,000 top prize in the “Bonus Crossword” scratch game. Michele said that when she asked for two tickets in the game at a local convenience store, the clerk accidentally grabbed three instead. She decided to buy them all.

She played the tickets when she got home and won her $30,000 prize on the third ticket. Michele, who’s 50 and manages a restaurant, said she was out of breath and called her son to come double-check the results. He confirmed that she really had won big!

Michele said she plans to save most of her winnings, but will use some of the money to fly her mom from California to Iowa for a visit.

Congratulations to these two unintentional winners!

A Countdown Is Starting For Multi-Draw Tickets In Lotto America

With Monday drawings being added next month in Lotto America®, a countdown is starting on the number of drawings in the game for which you can buy tickets in advance. The countdown is a standard procedure when a major update is made in one of our lotto games, and it’s designed to ensure you have valid tickets.

Powerball® did it last year, and now Lotto America also is moving to drawings three nights a week on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. The first Monday drawing in the game will be held on July 18.

In games like Lotto America, you can buy tickets for just one drawing at a time or for several drawings in a row. That decision is entirely up to you as the customer -- some people like to do their lottery shopping for multiple drawings all at once while others prefer to buy their tickets one at a time. When you buy plays for multiple drawings in advance, you have what is called a multi-draw ticket.

Normally, you can buy Lotto America tickets for up to 10 consecutive drawings in advance here in Iowa. But the countdown means that after tomorrow night’s drawing in the game, that number will be down to nine. And after Saturday’s drawing, it will be down to eight.

The countdown on advance plays will reach zero just before the first Monday drawing in the game. Once sales begin July 18 in the “new” Lotto America with three drawings each week, things will reset and you’ll be able to buy tickets for up to 10 drawings in advance again here in Iowa.

During the countdown period, if a clerk at a lottery terminal tries to process plays for drawings beyond the allowable date range, they’ll receive an error message stating: “Draw date not available for sale.” And if you try to purchase plays at a lottery self-service kiosk that are outside the available range, you’ll get an error message stating: “Out of valid draw range.”

Please note that the countdown on advance plays in Lotto America does not impact the advance plays available in our other lotto games. It’s a Lotto America-specific change that will be in place for the next month or so.

Multi-Draw Tickets: What To Do If You Claim A Prize Before All The Drawings Are Done

Here’s a question we’ve gotten this week about a complication some players have had with tickets for multiple drawings in lotto games like Powerball® and Mega Millions®.

The players knew they’d won a prize in one of the early drawings on their ticket, so they went to a local store to claim their winnings. And that’s where a complication came in. I give the background involved below along with details about what you can do if you’re ever in the same situation.

If you’ve never heard of a multi-draw ticket before, here’s how it works: In our lotto games, you can buy a ticket for just the next upcoming drawing or for several drawings at a time. A ticket with plays for more than one drawing is called a multi-draw ticket. It’s a convenience factor in today’s busy times, and a lot of players use the multi-draw option to save on trips to the store.

If you buy a multi-draw ticket and win a prize before the last drawing on your ticket has been held, you can claim your winnings right away, either at a lottery retailer or a lottery office, depending on the amount you’ve won. When your multi-draw ticket is scanned by the lottery terminal, you'll be paid your prize or get a prize claim form (again depending on the amount you’ve won) along with an exchange ticket for the drawings you have left. Your original ticket will be kept by the retailer as part of the prize-claim process.

An exchange ticket has the word “Exchange” printed on it just above the plays. Be sure to look for that word to know you’ve received the exchange ticket. To help you identify an exchange ticket, I've included an image of one here in the Powerball game with the word "Exchange" highlighted.

In the past few weeks, we’ve heard from some players who either didn’t get their exchange ticket when it printed from the lottery terminal or were given back their original ticket. The mix-up meant that they initially couldn’t claim any additional prizes they might have won, and that’s why they reached out to us. The folks in our Security Department were able to research what happened and track down the right details to help. But as a consumer, it’s always best to avoid complications like that.

If you’ve won a prize, you’re obviously excited and want to claim it quickly. So, feel free to do just that! But if you won on a multi-draw ticket, be sure to get the exchange ticket for the remaining drawings you still have to go! 

(And, if you want to wait until all the drawings on your ticket have occurred before claiming your winnings, you're obviously welcome to do that. The details here about exchange tickets are helpful tips for those who want to claim their winnings early on.)  

We Hope To See YOU While We’re Out And About This Summer

We’re spending this spring and summer getting out to celebrate Iowa, and we hope to see YOU at one of our stops!

The Iowa Lottery will be at a number of locations around the state in the next couple months. Some of the events will be at retail locations while others are at football games, baseball games, and auto races.

We’ve already been to Des Moines and Mason City. Today we’re in Council Bluffs, and on Sunday, we’ll be in Davenport.

We keep a list of events in the next couple weeks on our website’s Promotions page and we’ll update that list as the summer goes on.

We sell tickets in our Explore Iowa scratch game at each stop, and all lottery products are available at the events at retail locations. And yes, we’ll have our prize wheel at the events! With a qualifying purchase, you can spin the wheel to win lottery merchandise.

Player Question: Do Retailers Get A Bonus For Selling Lottery Tickets That Win Big?

Here’s a player question that just came our way about lottery tickets that win a big prize. The person wanted to know if the retail location involved receives a bonus from the Iowa Lottery. The short answer is that yes, they definitely do! The details vary with the size of the prize and the lotto game where the prize was won.

Here in Iowa, retail locations receive a commission from the Iowa Lottery for every ticket they sell. And that total really adds up. In fiscal year 2021, the latest complete year for which the lottery has records, retailers were paid a total of $29.7 million in compensation from the Iowa Lottery. We’re gratified to know that the lottery is making a difference in the bottom line for local businesses!

In addition to the sales commission for each ticket sold, retailers in Iowa also receive bonuses from the lottery. For example, retailers get a peak sales bonus when the jackpots in Powerball® and Mega Millions® climb higher than $400 million. We at the lottery know that those are busier times for our retailers and we appreciate their work in selling lottery tickets.

Retailers also receive bonuses for selling lottery tickets that win a big prize. Iowa businesses that sell a jackpot-winning ticket in Powerball or Mega Millions receive a $10,000 bonus. Retailers that sell a jackpot-winning ticket in Lotto America® ticket get a $5,000 bonus, as do those that sell a ticket winning the top prize in Lucky for Life®. Retailers that sells a ticket winning Lucky for Life’s second prize level of $25,000 a year for life receive a $500 bonus from the lottery.

There also are smaller bonuses for retailers that sell lotto tickets winning prizes of $100,000 or more. For example, a business that sells a lotto ticket winning a $100,000 prize receives a $100 bonus from the lottery, while a location that sells a lotto ticket winning a $1 million prize gets a $1,000 bonus.

Businesses that received bonuses from the Iowa Lottery have used that income in different ways through the years. For example, the owners of one business used their bonus from selling a jackpot-winning ticket for a new roof on the building. Others businesses have made donations to organizations in their local community.

It’s always fun to be part of the moment when a big prize is won and to learn more about the winner and retail location involved!