ialottery blog

Player Question: Where Do I Find The Numbers To Enter?

Now that our Million Dollar $ummer is underway, we’ve gotten questions from players re-familiarizing themselves with how to enter tickets in our promotions for a chance to win. There are two ways you can enter: By manually keying in the numbers from your tickets or scanning them with our mobile app. Here are the details for both.

Nonwinning tickets in 15 current scratch games can be entered into the Million Dollar $ummer promotion.

To enter a ticket manually, you'll need to key in the 10-digit entry number from the front of the ticket and the ticket number, which is found on the back. The 10-digit entry number is under the security coating on the front of a scratch ticket and can't be seen until the coating is scratched off. (Three of the numbers in that 10-digit code are inside a rectangular box.) The ticket number is by the bar code on the back of the ticket.

The lottery's mobile app gives you an even easier way to enter: Just use it to scan the barcode under the “Scratch 2 Cash” area on the front of an eligible ticket. You don’t have to key in any numbers that way!

The image posted here shows examples of the numbers you would need to manually enter a ticket as well as the barcode that you can scan from the mobile app.

Good luck with your promo entries!  

Expiration Date Is Next Week For Unclaimed $15K+ Prize In Des Moines

Time is running out for an unclaimed lottery prize of $15,625 won earlier this year in Des Moines.

If you’ve got a lotto ticket at home, please double-check it to see if you’re the winner! At the Iowa Lottery, we’re hoping we can jog someone’s memory in time so the prize can be claimed.

The prize was won in the midday Pick 4 drawing on April 21 with a ticket purchased at Cash Saver, 4121 Fleur Drive in Des Moines. Pick 4 prizes won in Iowa have to be claimed within 90 days of the drawing involved, so the $15,625 prize will expire at 4 p.m. next Tuesday (July 20) if it isn’t claimed by then at a lottery office.   

Pick 4, which has been offered in Iowa since September 2003, features a top prize of $30,000, with odds of just 1:10,000 of winning it. Another intriguing aspect of the game comes in the variety of ways players can choose to play it. Plays in Pick 4 range in price from 50 cents up to $5 for the chance to match a four-digit combination of numbers from 0000 to 9999.

There are several ways to win in Pick 4. A player can choose a straight play, meaning that if the winning numbers are 1-2-3-4, the player wins a prize for matching that combination exactly: 1-2-3-4. Another option is to choose a box play, which allows players to win for matching the winning numbers, but not in the exact order drawn (if the winning numbers are 1-2-3-4, you can win for any combination of those numbers, such as 4-3-2-1). You also can choose a straight/box play, which allows you to win for matching the numbers in the exact order drawn or in any order.

The winning numbers in the midday Pick 4 drawing on April 21 were 3-2-1-0 and the Des Moines ticket was for a $5 play that matched the numbers in the exact order selected to win a prize of $15,625.

Pick 4 drawings are held twice a day Monday-Saturday. The game’s midday drawings are at 12:40 p.m. and its evening drawings are at 9:20 p.m.

Here in Iowa, the money from prizes that expire without being claimed goes into the lottery’s prize pools for future games and promotions, so it will be used to pay prizes, just not those prizes that have expired.

Is This YOUR Million Dollar $ummer?

From now through late August, you can have a shot at nearly $1.2 million in prizes that are exclusively for Iowa Lottery players. Thirteen prizes ranging from $5,000 to $1 million are up for grabs in our Million Dollar $ummer promotion that just opened for entries today.

Iowa Lottery players who are members of our free VIP Club can enter the promotion through noon on Aug. 20. We’ll hold the promotion prize drawings on Aug. 26. We’re applying the “max bet” concept in the promotion, meaning that the size of the prize you could win increases along with the purchase price of the scratch ticket you’ve entered.

Players can enter the promotion with non-winning tickets in 15 current scratch games that range in price from $5 up to $30, including some of our popular “Crossword” and “Game Book” tickets. 

These prizes will be awarded in the promotion’s drawings: 
• 3 prizes of $5,000 from the $5 entries
• 3 prizes of $10,000 from the $10 entries
• 3 prizes of $20,000 from the $20 entries
• 3 prizes of $30,000 from the $30 entries
• 1 grand prize of $1 million from all promotion entries not previously selected. 

The initial category drawings and the grand-prize drawing will all be held on Thursday, Aug. 26. All entries submitted in the promotion that aren’t selected as a winner in one of the initial drawings will automatically be eligible for the grand-prize drawing.

And, if you enter tickets in each of the prize categories, you could win a prize at each level. (Yes, the odds of that happening are long, but we’ve seen players win multiple prizes before in our drawings.)

Good luck, thank you for playing, and we hope this turns out to be YOUR million-dollar summer!

A New Example Of Why It’s Important To Sign Your Ticket

A man who contacted us this week shared details that are a new reminder about the importance of signing the lottery tickets you buy.

The man said he’d found a ticket in a parking lot that had won a $10 prize. He wanted to know if he could claim the money. We asked if the ticket was signed, as that would identify it – and the prize involved – as belonging to that person. He said it was not signed, so we asked if he could share an image of the ticket with us so we could check our records regarding lost or stolen tickets.

The information in the image confirmed that the ticket was indeed a $10 winner, no one had signed it, and a check of our records showed that no one had contacted us to report it as lost or stolen.

A lottery ticket without a signature in legal terms is known as a bearer instrument, meaning that the person who bears it is its owner. We shared with the man that based upon the details he provided, he could claim the prize at a local lottery retailer.

When it comes to protecting your lottery winnings, you can have the earliest impact by signing your tickets when you buy them. It’s an easy way to help keep your lottery play fun and safe.

We keep Player Security tips as a permanent feature on our website to help you learn more, so check them to brush up on those details.

She Didn’t Believe It At First, But A SE Iowa Woman Has Won $25,000 A Year For Life

Apparently, realizing you’ve won a big lottery prize but wanting to keep it quiet makes for a VERY long day at work.

That’s the word from a Mount Pleasant woman who claimed a prize today of $25,000 a year for life. Deb Perrott said she realized she’d won the prize before she went to work yesterday, but things hadn’t really sunk in yet. She said she kept feeling like someone should pinch her to see if she was dreaming. She also didn’t want to tell a lot of folks before she could get to the lottery to claim her prize, so with her mind whirling, work just dragged along.

Deb won her prize in Monday night’s Lucky for Life drawing. She said she learned the news just a few hours later when she popped awake about 1:30 a.m. and decided to check her lottery tickets.

She used her phone to check her numbers on the Iowa Lottery website, but was still a bit in doubt. After waking up her husband, Greg, they both were in disbelief about what they were seeing, so she went to a local convenience store to have a clerk there check the ticket on a lottery terminal.

Everything verified that she was indeed Iowa’s 11th big winner in Lucky for Life since the game’s debut in the state in January 2016. 

Deb said she called her adult children to share the news, but they also didn’t believe her at first. She said she’s not known as a practical joker, but for some reason, people kept thinking that she was “pulling their chains.”

Deb, who is 58 and works at a mail-management company, chose to receive her winnings in annual payments of $25,000. Her immediate plans after claiming her prize were to take her husband to lunch! She also said she might do a little traveling, but the bulk of her winnings will make a difference long term, helping with retirement.

The winning numbers in Monday’s Lucky for Life drawing were: 5-7-23-25-48 and Lucky Ball 8. Deb’s ticket matched the first five numbers but missed the Lucky Ball to win the game’s second prize of $25,000 a year for life.

Her winning ticket was purchased at Gas Land Express, 309 W. Washington St. in Mount Pleasant. The business will receive a $500 bonus from the Iowa Lottery for selling the winning ticket.

Deb plays the same set of numbers for each Lucky for Life drawing and says she does it just for fun, never truly expecting to win big!

Ticket Purchased In Mount Pleasant Wins Prize Of $25,000 A Year For Life

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

The Mount Pleasant ticket matched the first five numbers but missed the Lucky Ball in last night’s drawing to win Lucky for Life’s second prize of $25,000 a year for life. The winning ticket was purchased at Gas Land Express, 309 W. Washington St. in Mount Pleasant.

This is Iowa’s 11th big winner in the game since it debuted in January 2016 in our state.

Lucky for Life is a $2 game with drawings twice a week, at 9:38 p.m. on Mondays and Thursdays. The game’s top two prize levels are described as “lasting as long as you do,” meaning that they are truly for life. The minimum guaranteed payout for those two prize levels is 20 years, and there is a lump-sum option for players who prefer that rather than lifetime annuity payments.

The winning numbers in last night’s Lucky for Life drawing were: 5-7-23-25-48 and Lucky Ball 8. Gas Land Express 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 $4 up to $5,000.

Prizes at the top two levels in Lucky for Life need to be claimed at Iowa Lottery headquarters in Clive. The lottery’s offices are open Monday through Friday, and prize claims are currently available by appointment. The winner or winners of the Mount Pleasant prize can call the lottery at 515-725-7900 to make an appointment to claim it.

Player Question: What’s Up With The Top Prizes In Your Scratch Games?

A player just sent us a question about the prizes available in our scratch games. Specifically, what determines the top prize amount in Iowa Lottery scratch games?

Population is a major factor. But so is input from players about what they prefer.

The player who contacted us this week asked about scratch-game prizes of $1 million, and said she’d like to see that prize level offered in scratch games available in Iowa.

The Iowa Lottery has sold scratch games in the past that offered top prizes of $1 million. The last one was a $20 game called “Lifetime Riches” that ended in 2014. 

But with a population base the size of Iowa’s, the mathematics behind a game like that mean that only one or two top prizes of $1 million could be offered. And our players told us they found that frustrating. In general, they said they prefer a game that offers more top prizes even if they’re not quite as large. That’s why you’ll see that the biggest prizes in our scratch games are often in the $250,000 to $300,000 range, and the games that feature them have a lot of top prizes.

For example, the $250,000 Extreme Cash scratch game had 16 top prizes of $250,000, and 13 of those are still unclaimed. Two other examples: Colossal Crossword had 13 top prizes of $300,000, with six of those still unclaimed; and Aces High offered 18 top prizes of $250,000, with two of those still unclaimed.

Population is the other big factor when it comes to determining the prizes that can be offered in a particular game. A lottery in a state with a larger population can design a game with bigger prizes and more of them simply because that state will have so many more people playing. That greater population base means larger sales overall, and that in turn supports higher prizes.

With a population of about 3.2 million, Iowa is fairly small compared to states like California (39.5 million) or Florida (21.5 million). But we can still be creative when it comes to game planning!

We do our best to keep a variety of games in the marketplace to meet player tastes. Our goal is to have different game designs, colors, price points, themes and prize structures, understanding that what works for one person may not interest another. Variety matters!

Sometimes that emphasis on variety means that games at the same price point will have different top prizes because players have their own preferences in the tickets they choose to play.

We hope that by having a variety of games out there, you’ll find something that you like.

We Really Mean It: If Playing The Lottery Makes You Unhappy, Take A Break Or Stop

You’ve heard us say this before, but it bears repeating: If playing the lottery is making you unhappy or causing you stress, please take a break or stop completely.

We’ve heard from a few folks recently who are really unhappy with their lottery play and have definitely let us know that. Their inquiries were a reminder for me to revisit the issue here on the blog.      

We want you to know your limits, both monetarily and emotionally. Buying lottery tickets should never be a way to fulfill a financial need. Winning AND not winning are both part of playing the lottery. It’s not a source of income or an investment.

Lottery tickets are something you should buy just for fun from your discretionary spending. That's the money you have left to spend, invest or save after you've paid for necessities like food, clothing, and housing. From your disposable income, you can choose to buy things like movies, books, exercise gear – or lottery tickets.

The definition of "playing within your means" varies from person to person along with their income and circumstances. If you decide to play the lottery, determine in advance how much you want to spend and then follow that plan. When you do that, you're more likely to stay within your set limit and not overspend.

We keep a lot of tips and reminders under the “Play Smart, Be Informed” player’s guide on our website. Check out the details there to see how you’re doing in knowing lottery facts.