How To Help: Find The Play ‘Em All Option

An eastern Iowa woman’s email prompted this blog entry, and I’ll do my best here to walk you through how to find the ‘Play ‘Em All’ feature on the lottery terminal in case you ever have trouble buying it.

If you’re not familiar with the Play ‘Em All option, it lets you buy plays to cover all the numbers for the Powerball, Mega Ball and Star Ball in the three different games involved. For example, if you buy the Play ‘Em All option in Powerball, you’ll get 26 plays to cover all the numbers in the Powerball pool (1-26). In Mega Millions, the Play ‘Em all option will give you 25 plays, one for each of the Mega Ball numbers; and in Lotto America, you’ll get 10 plays, one for each of the 10 Star Ball numbers.

The woman who emailed us this week said she was having trouble buying the Play ‘Em All option because employees in some of the stores in her area didn’t know about the option or how a customer could buy it. We’ve asked if she can share with us the stores involved so we can follow up with them to go over the details. But sometimes the best plan as a consumer is to have the information yourself.
 
Here in Iowa, the clerk can find the Play 'Em All feature on the lottery terminal by touching the "Special Offers" tab in the top right-hand corner of the terminal's main screen. That tab brings up the Play ‘Em All screen, and the clerk can then touch the icon for the game you want to buy.

If you’re buying a ticket at a lottery self-service kiosk here in Iowa, after you select a play option in Powerball, Mega Millions or Lotto America, in the upper right of the screen, you'll see a button that says: Play 'Em All. By touching that button, you can play that option.

I hope these “insider” tips can help you walk through the process – and make it easy!

Comments

[Christine Warth]

Thank you so much!

[Mary Neubauer]

Hi, Landon. Please feel free to use the tips in this blog to help guide the process along. It can help the clerks quickly and easily find the "Play 'Em All" screen and then you can get your plays.

[L. Martin]

No one knows what I’m talking about when I ask for this option. It’s like I speaking a foreign language. Today I walked into two stores and had to explain it to them while customers behind me were waiting to be served. I left both stores without a ticket. So frustrating. The staff at all stores are not informed or trained about this. Someone is dropping the ball here. (pardon the pun).

[Mary Neubauer]

Thank YOU for helping in the process, Evelyn. The best thing we can do as consumers is be well informed, and you are doing that! We will keep working to provide information to retailers as well.

[Evelyn Anderson]

I play the Play Em All, Lotto America option every week. I find it odd that most of the cashiers do not know about this option. I have had to explain to them where the Special Offers button is and how to print out the ticket. I have heard multiple cashiers say Oh, I've never seen that before. Happy to help them learn something new.