ialottery blog

Additional Prize-Claim Option Coming Soon

As we continue to safely find our way forward during this COVID-19 health emergency, the Iowa Lottery is continuing to restrict public access at our offices, but we’re adding an additional prize-claim option.

Beginning on Monday (June 1), we’ll offer curbside claims by appointment at our offices in Storm Lake, Mason City, and Cedar Rapids. And a week later, on June 8, curbside claims by appointment will begin at lottery headquarters in Clive.

If you’ve won a lottery prize, you also have the option of mailing or shipping your ticket to us if you’d like, and we have a secure dropbox at lottery headquarters. Some people prefer a prize-claim process with no direct human interaction right now, and we understand that. That’s why we’re making a variety of prize-claim options available.

To utilize curbside claims, call the lottery office where you want to claim your prize to make an appointment and receive other details, including the documentation you’ll need to have with you. (Remember that all prizes of more than $250,000 must be claimed at lottery headquarters in Clive.)

Here are our telephone numbers:

Clive: 515-725-7900
Cedar Rapids: 319-395-9313
Mason City: 641-424-6011
Storm Lake: 712-732-6662

(Our How To Claim A Prize page provides a list of the documentation required, including a government-issued I.D., when claiming an Iowa Lottery prize. Direct links to our prize-claim documents are also available on that page.)

Our curbside claims process will be similar to the curbside procedures we’re all using in so many places these days. When you arrive at the lottery office, you’ll park in one of the spaces designated for curbside prize claims and stay in your vehicle. You’ll call the telephone number for the office involved to let staffers know that you have arrived, since the doors to our offices are closed. Please tell the lottery staffer you speak with the number of the curbside claims spot where you’re parked.

A lottery staff member wearing gloves and a mask will then bring prize-claim documentation out to your vehicle and maintain social distance while you complete the necessary forms. The lottery staffer will review the documentation with you, then return to the lottery office to process the claim.

After printing your prize check, the lottery staffer will bring it to you in your vehicle and complete any final paperwork details with you.

Why Can I Sometimes Not Play Certain Numbers In Pick 3 & Pick 4?

A man who reached out to us on Facebook was surprised recently when he tried to buy a Pick 4 play and couldn’t because the lottery terminal showed that the combination was sold out. He wanted to know what that meant.

Every so often, a particular number combination in our Pick 3 and Pick 4 games sells out, meaning that no more plays of that combination can be purchased for the next drawing. Unusual dates often are big sellers and can lead certain combinations to sell out. We saw that back on Sept. 9, 2009, when 9-9-9 sold out in Pick 3 and 9-9-0-9 sold out in Pick 4. The same thing had happened with the corresponding numbers on July 7, 2007, and Aug. 8, 2008.

Some people consider the dates lucky, others just like the play of the numbers involved.

Sometimes it’s not obvious to us why a particular combination of numbers sells out, we just know that the liability limit has been reached. Lotteries have liability limits in Pick 3 and Pick 4 games to protect the integrity of the games and the proceeds that the lottery raises for state causes.

The liability limits don’t get hit all that often, but when they do, that particular set of numbers will be sold out for that particular drawing, and you’ll have to choose a combination to play that time around. The combination will be available again for the next drawing, assuming that the liability limit isn’t reached the next time around as well.

Player Question: What Determines The Jackpot In InstaPlay Progressive Games?

A man reached out to us on Facebook to ask about the jackpot amounts in our Progressive InstaPlay games, and I’m sharing our answer here on the blog in case you’ve wondered the same thing.

The man specifically asked how the jackpot amount is determined in the “Extreme Green Progressive” InstaPlay game, but the process applies to the jackpots in any of our progressive InstaPlay games. They’re called progressive because their jackpots grow progressively larger with each ticket sold statewide until they’re won.

InstaPlay as a product combines features from both lotto games and scratch games. The games have a playstyle similar to that of our scratch games, but InstaPlay tickets are printed and sold on demand from the lottery terminal like those in lotto games. And in the case of our progressive InstaPlay games, they have a starting jackpot amount, just as lotto games like Powerball and Mega Millions have a starting jackpot amount.

In the case of Extreme Green Progressive, its jackpot starts at $20,000 and grows from there, increasing by $2 with each ticket sold statewide in the game.

An electronic file of plays exists in the game, and winning tickets are randomly distributed throughout that file. The exact amount of the jackpot won depends upon where the jackpot-winning ticket exists in the electronic file, and when the ticket is purchased.

Some jackpots won in the game will be larger, based upon where that particular jackpot-winning ticket falls within the game, and some will be smaller, for the same reason. As a security feature, not even those of us who work at the lottery know where the winning tickets are within our games, so no one can predict when or where the next big winner will hit.

The jackpot won in Extreme Green Progressive is therefore a combination of the starting jackpot amount in the game and the number of tickets purchased up until that particular jackpot is won.

The jackpot is clearly not the only prize available in that game. Players also can win prizes in Extreme Green Progressive ranging from $20 up to $10,000, so much of the money spent on tickets in the game goes to pay prizes. A portion of the money from sales in the game also becomes part of the lottery's annual proceeds to state causes. And part of it goes to pay the lottery's expenses for the game, including the costs of the paper on which the tickets are printed.

Two Big Prizes Claimed On Same Day With Tickets From Same Store

An Ottumwa convenience store is definitely having a run of luck, with two players claiming big prizes on the same day with tickets they bought there.

Jackie Hamilton of Ottumwa claimed a $10,000 prize in the “Mega Crossword” game on the same day that Danelle Besco of Bloomfield won a $50,000 prize in the “Super Crossword” game. They both bought their winning tickets at the MAD Ave Quik Shop at 405 S. Madison Ave. in Ottumwa.

With tickets randomly distributed in our games, not even we know where the next big winner will hit and it’s always fun to see the stories that can come along.

Congratulations to Jackie, Danelle and the MAD Ave Quik Shop!

Calhoun County Man Claims Prize Of $25,000 A Year For Life

A northwest Iowa man has claimed a prize of $25,000 a year for life that he won in a drawing late last month.

David Holder of Pomeroy is Iowa’s eighth big winner in the Lucky for Life game since its 2016 debut in the state. He bought his winning ticket at Country Stores of Rockwell City at 730 High St. in Rockwell City. His ticket matched the first five numbers but missed the Lucky Ball in the drawing on April 27 to win the game’s second prize of $25,000 a year for life.

Holder’s prize claim was received in the Iowa Lottery's secure dropbox and processed Wednesday at lottery headquarters in Clive. He chose to receive his prize in its lump-sum option of $390,000.

The winning numbers in the April 27 Lucky for Life drawing were: 1-5-9-28-35 and Lucky Ball 9. Country Stores of Rockwell City will receive a $500 bonus from the lottery for selling the winning ticket at one of its locations.

Lotto America Jackpot Changes Will Follow Those In Powerball & Mega Millions

Changes will be made next month to the jackpot in Lotto America that are similar to the updates already made in Powerball and Mega Millions.

After the Lotto America drawing on June 13, the starting jackpot amount in the game and the rate that the jackpot increases between drawings will be based upon sales and interest rates, with no fixed minimums.

The adjustments are needed to ensure that the game’s ticket sales can support its jackpots and other prizes. The current COVID-19 public health emergency has drastically impacted life for us all and altered normal consumer behavior for all types of products, including ticket purchases in lottery games like Lotto America. Interest rates also have declined during the health crisis, and that in turn drives down the annuity amount of the game’s jackpots.

We know that folks have many more important issues on their minds these days than purchasing lotto tickets, and in many locations around the country, they're not in a position to buy them at all. That in turn means changes have to be made on different fronts, including in the Lotto America game.

Player Question: Why Do Some Tickets Seem to Scratch Differently Than Others?

Some players who buy different scratch games have noticed that the security coating on the tickets can vary from game to game, and they’ve asked why. In many cases, it’s because they’re specifically designed that way, but I have more background below.

The material on scratch tickets that you remove when you play them is called a security coating. There are different types of security coatings on our tickets, depending on the specific game that you’re playing.

For example, in some of our games, the security coating has to be transparent so you can see through it to the letters, numbers and symbols that you’ll scratch off in the play area. In other games, the security coating covers up the details below it so the play area can’t be seen until you scratch the ticket.

In addition, the scratch games that we sell here in Iowa can come from different companies. (There are only three companies that print the scratch tickets available in the U.S. market, and the Iowa Lottery has printing contracts with them all so we can access the popular concepts they each offer.)

For all those reasons, the security coating on our tickets can vary from game to game. Sometimes it can be a powdery substance when you scratch it off and other times it will be a bit gummy. Sometimes the coating is purposefully thin, and other times it can have multiple layers. That also means you likely will need to apply different amounts of pressure as you scratch off the security coating on different tickets.

All our games go through testing to ensure that the security coating involved meets the parameters required for those particular tickets.

I hope this background helps! And, happy scratching.

New Step In the Process When You Check A Ticket Using Our Mobile App

An update being made today to our mobile app allows you to clear out the results of the previous ticket before starting to scan another one.

We’re making the change after input from some players who said this additional step could help make the process of checking tickets on the app more clear for them. This update is designed to do just that.

So now, when you check a ticket on the mobile app and have had a chance to review the results, you’ll click the “Clear Scan Results” button to remove that information from the screen. You then can proceed with checking the next ticket, and since you’ve cleared the results of the previous one, you’ll be starting with a clean slate. We hope this change will be a positive!

We debuted our app for Apple AND Android devices back in 2017, and like any technology, we’ve updated it over time. If you already have our app (it’s called the Iowa Lottery’s LotteryPlus) on your device, there’s nothing you need to do to receive this update. It happens automatically. If you don’t yet have the app, feel free to install it from the Google Play Store® or Apple iTunes Store® as applicable for your particular device.

The most popular way that people use our app is to check the results of their lottery tickets. You can check lotto, scratch and InstaPlay tickets on the app, so you don’t have to visit a store or a lottery office to see if you’ve won. Two other popular ways that people use the app is to enter their tickets into our VIP Club drawings and to check the winning numbers in recent lotto drawings.

Thank you for playing the lottery, and we hope this update makes it even easier for you to use our mobile technology!