Later This Spring, We’ll Give Away That $1 Million Unclaimed Prize

Lottery players in Iowa will get another shot at the money from that $1 million prize that expired last week without being claimed.

On Thursday, the prize-claim deadline passed for a $1 million Powerball® prize won in April 2018 in central Iowa. We had issued several reminders about the unclaimed prize and held events at the Nevada store where the winning ticket was purchased, but a winner never came forward.

So later this spring, the lottery will give players another chance to win the money.

From May 29 through June 18, 2019, Iowa Lottery players will be able to enter a promotion called the “Woo Hoo A Million For You Giveaway” for a chance to win the $1 million prize. Any Powerball ticket purchased in Iowa during that three-week period will be eligible for entry. The drawing for the promotion’s $1 million prize will be held June 19. (You likely already picked up on the fact that the promotion’s name is a nod to the lottery’s long-time catch phrase of “Woo Hoo For You.”)

We believe this is the first time that a $1 million prize has gone unclaimed in the lottery’s 34-year history. Under Iowa law, the money from unclaimed lottery prizes goes into the lottery’s prize pools for future games and promotions. So with this one-time, $1 million giveaway, we’re putting that into action!

The $1 million prize was won in the Powerball drawing on April 11, 2018, with a ticket purchased at Casey’s, 1800 S. B Ave. in Nevada. The ticket matched the first five numbers that night but missed the Powerball. The winner or winners had until the close of business at 4 p.m. on Thursday (April 11, 2019) to claim the $1 million prize at lottery headquarters in Clive. We repeatedly called attention to the unclaimed prize during the past year, and now we’ll dedicate our efforts to making sure that this prize money finds its way to a new Iowa Lottery winner.

Casey’s received a $1,000 bonus from the lottery for selling the $1 million prize at one of its stores, and that payment was made shortly after the prize was won.

There’s another distinction that also applies to this particular unclaimed prize money: When a jackpot prize in Powerball expires without being claimed, the money is returned to the states in the game in proportion to the percentage of sales that came from each state. But because the $1 million prize that expired was at Powerball’s Match 5 level, the entire $1 million will remain in Iowa to be given away as a prize here.    

When the promotion starts on May 29, we’ll have the rules and full details on our website at www.ialottery.com.

Comments

[Mary Neubauer]

Hi, Jeff. Thank you for sharing your idea. In the case of the $1 million prize that will be available in this promotion the odds are entirely dependent upon how many tickets end up being entered into the promotion. So, your odds of winning $1 million could actually be really good in this promo. We'll have to wait and see!

[Mary Neubauer]

Hi, Peg. Yes, any Powerball ticket purchased in Iowa during the three-week promotion entry period from May 29 through June 18 will be eligible for entry into the promotion. Anyone who purchases a ticket in Iowa can then enter it into the promotion. Many Iowa Lottery players are residents of our state, but folks from other areas are welcome to buy tickets here as well.

[Kevin Pidima]

I can't believe people buy Lotto tickets and don't check them to see if they have won anything??? Handing over cash to purchase Lotto tickets is not the fun part, checking your ticket after the draw to see if you have won anything is the fun part. And if the ticket was lost? shame on that person for not treating that ticket like a million dollar winner and signing the back of it and keeping it in a safe place. Like the lottery says "You can't win if you don't play" and the flip side of that fraze is "Why buy a ticket if you're not going to play it?" O well, Thank You to whoever blew their million dollar win, all the rest of us serious Lotto players welcome another chance at a million bucks!

[Peg Bettis]

So any ticket "purchased" in Iowa is eligible for this prize? Does that also include people from bordering states (Minnesota, Missouri etc.) coming into Iowa and purchasing tickets?

[Jeff]

I think u should make more winners,like maybe 10 100,000.00 winners,spread the joy around a little more since odds of winning are high to begin with..