Our first $1 million winner of 2016 is Joel Dominguez of Sioux City. Joel said he bought his easy-pick Powerball® ticket at his local Hy-Vee and couldn’t believe he matched so many numbers. He was just one number away from winning Saturday’s $947.9 million record Powerball jackpot.
Initial estimates for tomorrow's Powerball jackpot have been raised again, with the prize currently set at a world-record $1.5 billion annuity, $930 million cash option.
Obviously sales in Iowa in recent weeks have been extremely strong and continue to follow the jackpot up.
WHAT DO SALES LOOK LIKE, EXACTLY?
Statewide lottery sales on Sunday and Monday of this week were about four times higher than they had been on each of those days the prior week.
To give some perspective to the sales figures, in fiscal year 2015, the Iowa Lottery sold a total of $52.2 million in Powerball tickets. Since the jackpot began its current run on Nov. 5, the lottery has sold nearly $25 million in Powerball tickets. That’s almost half a year’s sales in about two months.
TOP 10 IOWA RETAILERS FOR POWERBALL SALES
Retailers are extremely busy selling Powerball tickets in the lead-up to tomorrow's drawing. Some stores are asking customers to form two lines – one for Powerball tickets and the other for all other business. Some stores are only selling easy-pick tickets, which are a faster transaction and can move customers through the line more quickly. We at the lottery appreciate the hard work of all our retailers at this busy time and are supportive of their efforts to assist their customers and manage traffic flow within their locations. We ask everyone to be patient in the next couple days -- we know it will continue to be busy.
Here are the Top 10 Iowa retailers for Powerball sales from Jan. 3-11:
$34,937 Hy-Vee, 20 Wilson Ave. in Cedar Rapids
$32,330 Hy-Vee, 1725 Jordan Creek Pkwy. in West Des Moines
$31,919 Hy-Vee, 5050 Edgewood Road in Cedar Rapids
$31,697 Hy-Vee, 1843 Johnson Ave. N.W. in Cedar Rapids
$31,667 Big 10 Mart, 999 Middle Road in Bettendorf
$30,475 Hy-Vee, 4605 Fleur Drive in Des Moines
$29,685 Hy-Vee, 2900 Devils Glen Road in Bettendorf
$29,468 Hy-Vee, 3600 Iowa Highway 151 in Marion
$28,767 Hy-Vee, 8701 Douglas Ave. in Urbandale
$27,681 Hy-Vee 1745 Madison Ave. in Council Bluffs
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