A player who emailed us this week had some good questions about our InstaPlay games, but also some misconceptions about how they actually work. He wondered if the odds we give for the games are correct. They are, and here’s the background involved:
You’ve likely heard us describe the InstaPlay product as combining features from both lotto and scratch games. InstaPlay tickets are printed from the lottery terminal on demand as are tickets in lotto games like Powerball® and Mega Millions®, but the prize structures in InstaPlay games are similar to those of scratch games.
So, in producing an InstaPlay ticket, the lottery terminal does not utilize an internal randomizer to determine the outcome of the ticket. Rather, it dispenses the next ticket available in the game.
That is because InstaPlay games are like scratch games, but with the plays involved left in electronic form rather than printed out onto tickets. And just as it happens in our scratch games, the next available play is sold when an InstaPlay ticket is purchased.
The lottery terminals in the 2,400 retail locations in Iowa where lottery tickets are sold are connected to a central communications hub. Through that central backbone, the terminals receive the data involved to print the next available play in the game when an InstaPlay purchase is made.
There is a single supply of tickets in each InstaPlay game, and winning tickets are randomly distributed within that universe of tickets. No one – not even those of us who work at the lottery – knows where within the pool of tickets the winning tickets are located or when the next big winner will hit.
The overall odds listed for our InstaPlay games are correct. Two jackpots may be won in the same game somewhat close together, or it could be weeks between jackpots being hit. That’s what occurs with the random distribution of winning tickets.
Hi, Ken. First, let me say in all seriousness that I'm glad you're paying attention to the details of the promotion and are putting a lot of thought into how you want to enter. As you likely already are aware, we have switched out the eligible games with each different entry period of the promotion so we would give the most players a chance to enter. The highest prizes available in the promotion are in the categories that involve our higher price-point tickets. We weren't tying the number of prizes available in each drawing directly to the individual tickets, but rather, kept the number of prizes involved consistent from drawing to drawing within the promotion. I hope that helps explain our thought process as we designed the promo, but I'll share your thoughts with our team as well so we can keep your perspective in mind as we plan out our future promotions. Thank you again for playing, and good luck with your entries!
Posted by: Mary Neubauer | August 28, 2020 at 02:45 PM
I see in "The Prize Zone" the top prize for the up coming draw is $5000.00. With the non-winning tickets from the Jewel game book. That sells for $20.00 a ticket, 3 winners will be drawn. In the last draw the ticket was Xtreme winnings that sold for $10.00 each, and also had 3 winners drawn. In sticking with the mental rules of fair play. (Granted you make the rules). shouldn't to prize be $10.000.00 or the number of prizes being awarded be doubles to 6? I will play anyway, and I will enter my non-winning tickets. Because I feel it is still a chance. And that is better than nothing. Thanks for reading. Stay safe.
Ken.
Posted by: Ken Olsen | August 28, 2020 at 10:27 AM
Hi, Dennis. There are a couple quick ways that can help in this regard, one that will allow you to get right to the coupon if you still have an active VIP Club account. First, please double-check something in your VIP Club settings: To receive your monthly newsletter and coupon, you needed to choose "yes" to receiving email communications from the lottery when you signed up for the club. If you didn't choose "yes," please use the "Account Management" link on the VIP Club homepage and update your profile to make that change. If you did click "Yes" when you joined, we now have a direct link where you can access the newsletter on the VIP Club website and get your coupon there. When you log into your VIP Club account, click on the "VIP Connection & Coupon" link on the home page. That will take you to the page where you can access the current month's edition of the newsletter, which includes your free-play coupon. If it has been a long time since you logged into your VIP Club account, it may no longer be active, as we scrub the list periodically for inactive accounts. If you have further questions, please email our VIP Club staffers so they can check our account lists. Here is a direct link to the help form for the VIP Club: https://www.ialottery.com/Pages/VIPClub/HelpForm.aspx
Posted by: Mary Neubauer | August 24, 2020 at 03:18 PM
I never get a chance for a free ticket.Why,i would like to know you people have my email address?
Posted by: Dennis Asche | August 21, 2020 at 10:10 PM