ialottery blog

Our Reminder Note: Lottery Tickets Are For The Grown-Ups

Here’s a reminder note we hope you’ll think back to as you’re shopping for gifts in the next few weeks.

Lottery tickets are popular as presents and stocking stuffers, and we’re all for having fun! But here at the Iowa Lottery, we’re also cognizant that our tickets – while colorful, entertaining and affordable – may not be something you want to give to those underage.

That same thing holds true for a wider range of products, too. Some video games and movies may not be appropriate for all ages due to their content. Alcohol and tobacco-related products have their own age restrictions. Even toys have age-recommendation guidelines.

In Iowa, you have to be at least 21 years old to buy lottery tickets, and we’ve always considered that our products are for adults. Remember, you are gambling when you play the lottery.

The Iowa Lottery offers these reminders to minimize the risks associated with youth gambling:

• Be sure to give youngsters age-appropriate gifts.
• When you give lottery tickets as presents, please keep the person's age in mind.

And as always, if you or someone you know has questions about problem gambling, know that help is available 24/7 by text, live chat or telephone through the Your Life Iowa website or the 1-800-BETS OFF helpline.

SE Iowa Man Claims Lottery Prize Of $25,000 A Year For Life

A southeast Iowa man admits it took him a few days to realize he’d won a lottery prize of $25,000 a year for life, and he had the winning ticket in his pocket the entire time.

Craig Walker of Bloomfield claimed his big prize in the Lucky for Life game yesterday at Iowa Lottery headquarters in Clive. He said that a few days after the drawing when he won, he noticed an announcement on the lottery’s website that someone in southeast Iowa was the winner. So he started checking his tickets and realized it was him!

Craig said word spread quickly about his news and people in his area are happy that someone local won.

Craig’s Lucky for Life ticket that matched the first five numbers but missed the Lucky Ball in the Nov. 16 drawing to win the game’s second prize of $25,000 a year for life. He said he bought his easy-pick ticket the day before the drawing when he stopped for a sandwich at a local convenience store.

The winning numbers in that night’s Lucky for Life drawing were: 3-8-16-38-44 and Lucky Ball 15. J’s One Stop in Bloomfield will receive a $500 bonus from the lottery for selling the winning ticket.

There is a lump-sum option at the game’s top two prize levels for players who prefer that approach rather than lifetime annuity payments. Craig chose to receive his prize in its lump-sum amount of $390,000. He says it’s definitely going to help him with retirement!

Just One Week Left For Unclaimed $100,000 Prize In Des Moines

It’s down-to-the-wire time for a big unclaimed prize in the Des Moines area.

Check your wallet, check on top of the sun visor in your car, check that stack of stuff that may have piled up at home to be sure you don’t have a ticket winning a $100,000 Powerball prize that’s about to expire. We’re hoping we can jog someone’s memory in time so the prize can be claimed!

The $100,000 prize was won in the Powerball drawing on Nov. 27, 2019, with a ticket purchased at the Quik Trip, 4021 Fleur Drive in Des Moines. The ticket initially won a $50,000 prize that night by matching the first five numbers but missing the Powerball. But whoever purchased the ticket also added the Power Play® option to the play, which multiplied the prize to $100,000.

The winning numbers that night were: 15-26-37-53-55 and Powerball 21. The Power Play number was 2.

The winner or winners have until the close of business at 4 p.m. next Monday (Nov. 30) to claim the $100,000 prize at one of the Iowa Lottery’s regional offices. Please remember that Iowa Lottery offices will be closed Wednesday-Friday this week for the Thanksgiving holiday. If you think you’ve won this prize and have questions before coming forward to claim it, give us a shout at the lottery at 515-725-7900 or wmaster@ialottery.com.

Several other tickets winning big prizes in Iowa also remain unclaimed and will expire within the next few months if the winner(s) don’t come forward in time. Click here to go to the Unclaimed Prizes page on our website so you can see that entire list.

And remember that here in Iowa, the money from unclaimed 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.

You Don’t Scratch THAT Spot On “Holly Jolly Luck” Tickets

We’ve gotten questions from some players who thought their tickets in the “Holly Jolly Luck” game were defective, but it turns out they were scratching the wrong area on the ticket. Here are the details so you can avoid that.

The players said they tried to scratch off the “Winning Symbol” starburst area at the top of the ticket, and in the process, they damaged the paper or actually put a hole in it. That’s because the starburst isn’t an area to be played on the ticket.     

The starburst is just a label for the winning symbol on the ticket, which you can see immediately below the label without having to scratch anything. In the case of the example you can see here, the winning symbol on the ticket is the jolly snowman.   

The only area on the ticket that you as the player scratch is the play area at the bottom that includes “Your Symbols” and the “Scratch 2 Cash” spot. On the example ticket here, you would win a prize if any of your symbols from the play area match the jolly snowman, or if you find the “Lucky” symbol as described in the instructions.

I hope this background helps as you play Holly Jolly Luck!

Ticket Purchased In SE Iowa Wins Prize Of $25,000 A Year For Life

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

A Bloomfield 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 J’s One Stop, 202 Weaver Road in Bloomfield.

This is Iowa’s 10th 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: 3-8-16-38-44 and Lucky Ball 15. J’s One Stop will receive a $500 bonus from the lottery for selling the winning ticket.

This prize must be claimed at Iowa Lottery headquarters in Clive. During the current COVID-19 emergency, prize claims are being handled by appointment at the lottery, so the winner or winners of the Bloomfield prize can call 515-725-7900 to schedule a claim. Full details are available on the lottery’s website here.

There is plenty of time for this prize to be claimed: Players in Lucky for Life have up to 365 days from the date of the drawing to claim prizes won in Iowa.

Pick 3/Pick 4 Question: Is It OK When More Prizes Are Won With Identical Numbers?

Here is the answer to a player’s question about the drawing results in our Pick 3 and Pick 4 games, and specifically, whether something is wrong because more prizes are often won with numbers that are all the same, such as 3-3-3 or 7-7-7-7. In reality, more people win prizes when those numbers are selected in a Pick 3 or Pick 4 drawing because more people play those numbers in the games. Here's the back story:

In Pick 3 and Pick 4, many players choose their own numbers rather than letting the lottery terminal randomly select the numbers on their tickets. The players who choose their own numbers are loyal to them and often make identical selections. I don’t know if they just like the symmetry of 1-1-1 or 5-5-5-5, but combinations of identical numbers are very popular.

And, when those combinations are then selected as the winning numbers in a drawing, there are a lot of winners simply because so many people have played them. 

Another reason that people may choose to play identical numbers is that those are straight plays, which have the biggest payouts in Pick 3 and Pick 4. By making a straight bet, the player wins a prize only if the numbers they selected match the winning numbers in the exact order drawn. It’s harder to win on a straight bet than by matching the winning numbers in any order drawn (which is known as a box play), so the odds of winning are longer and the prizes that can be won with straight plays are bigger.

There of course are players who make plays with numbers that aren’t identical, and those combinations do win in Pick 3 and Pick 4 drawings as well. But overall, when the winning numbers in the games’ drawings are identical, you will often see more winners.

Iowa Woman Finds Lottery Ticket She Misplaced In Her Car, Wins $10,000 Prize

This truly is a story of the one that almost got away! A Des Moines woman claimed a $10,000 prize this week from a lottery ticket she left in her car and forgot about for nearly three months.

I’ve included a photo here of Alyssa Frideres and her winning Mega Millions® ticket. Alyssa won her prize in that game’s drawing back on Aug. 18 when she matched four of the white balls and the Mega Ball®. But she said that after she bought her ticket, it ended up in the glove compartment of her car. All these months later, Alyssa said she recently had trouble with her tires, so she got out the owner’s manual for her car and the ticket had ended up in it.

She checked her numbers on the Iowa Lottery’s website and was shocked to discover she’d won such a big prize. Just to be sure, she had a neighbor double-check her work, and it turns out she was right! Alyssa admitted she was still kind of shaky as she claimed her prize.

In keeping with the tires theme, Alyssa said she plans to use part of her winnings to buy tires for her daughter and grandson’s vehicles, then she’ll save the rest of her winnings. Sounds like a plan.

Congratulations, Alyssa, and thank you for lifting our spirits with your story!

Recognizing, Remembering & Helping Veterans Through The Veterans Trust Fund

As we recognize Veterans Day this week, we also can take heart in the extra help Iowa makes available to our state’s veterans and their families through a special program that isn’t available in a lot of other places. 

It’s the Iowa Veterans Trust Fund, and we at the Iowa Lottery are proud that a portion of the proceeds raised from the sale of lottery tickets in Iowa goes to the Veterans Trust Fund each year. We just made our latest annual transfer of $2.5 million to the IVTF, and that brings the lottery’s total proceeds through the years to that program to nearly $32.4 million.

That’s help right here at home for those who have given so much for our country. The IVTF was started years ago to help fill in the gaps in federal veterans benefits by adding state help to the mix. It feels good to know Iowa has a solution like that in place, and we get to be a part of it.  

If you’re an Iowa veteran or the family member of an Iowa veteran and you’re looking for more information about the IVTF, you can visit va.iowa.gov and click on the “Trust Fund” link under the “Benefits” tab. There, you’ll find the categories for assistance from the fund as well as a copy of the application form. If you’d prefer an option to speak with someone, you can call the Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs toll-free at 800-838-4692 or contact your local County Veterans Office. (There is a veterans office in every county in Iowa, but please be aware that office hours and other operating details may have changed right now during the COVID-19 emergency.)

While the Iowa Lottery raises money for the Veterans Trust Fund, it’s the Iowa Commission of Veterans Affairs that approves applications for assistance through the fund. Perhaps more than any other, it’s commision members' perspective that matters in terms of the impact that the Trust Fund has had in Iowa. Click on the video below to hear two members of the commission share the story of their own service to our country and why the IVTF matters so much to them.

Player Question: Why Do Some Numbers Come Up More Often As The Multiplier?

A player recently emailed us with a question about the All Star bonus option in the Lotto America game, and since the same concept applies to the multiplier option in Powerball and Mega Millions, I’ll cover all three of them here.

The player wondered why the number 2 comes up more often as the All Star Bonus in Lotto America. You may already know that the Bonus option can be added to a play in the Lotto America game for an extra $1, and it will multiply any prize you win. The All Star Bonus is similar to the Power Play option in Powerball and the Megaplier option in Mega Millions.   

The answer to the player’s question is found in the game rules, which are available on our website as part of the details for each game.  

The All Star Bonus option can multiply a Lotto America prize (except the jackpot) by 2, 3, 4 or 5. So, for example, if your ticket matches the five white balls in a drawing but misses the Star Ball, you’d win a $20,000 prize. But if you’ve added the All Star Bonus option to your ticket and the Bonus number that night is 3, your prize will be multiplied to $60,000.

In the Powerball game, the Power Play option can multiply prizes (except the jackpot and the Match 5 prize) by 2, 3, 4, 5 or 10 times. And in Mega Millions, the Megaplier option can multiply prizes except the jackpot by 2, 3, 4 or 5 times.

But when it comes to Lotto America specifically, why does the number 2 come up more often as the multiplier? It’s due to the universe of numbers available to be selected as the All Star Bonus. There are 32 numbers in the All Star Bonus pool. Of them, 15 are 2s, 10 are 3s, 4 are 4s, and 3 are 5s. Here is what that looks like in table form:
32 Total Numbers In All Star Bonus Pool
2X = 15
3X = 10
4X = 4
5X = 3

So, does it stand to reason that the All Star Bonus number would come up more often as 2 or 3? Yes. But the other multipliers also have a shot. It’s the same concept for the multipliers in our other big-jackpot games.

Here are the details for the Power Play option in Powerball:
43 Total Numbers In Power Play Pool
2X = 24
3X = 13
4X = 3
5X = 2
10X = 1

And here are the details for the Megaplier option in Mega Millions:
15 Total Numbers In Megaplier Pool
2X = 5
3X = 6
4X = 3
5X = 1