A player who was worried that she may have missed a prize reached out to us about the recording that an Iowa Lottery terminal plays when a winning ticket is scanned. The player wanted to know if the terminal plays the same message for winning AND nonwinning tickets.
The short answer is no. But here is the background involved:
Whenever a winning lottery ticket is scanned on a lottery terminal in Iowa, the machine plays a recorded message. A voice from the terminal says, “You’re a winner!” followed by the lottery’s signature “Woo-hoo!” sound.
The sound is the same for any prize you win, whether it’s $1 or $100 million. It’s not possible for retail employees to adjust the sound level on a lottery terminal, so the recorded message will come through for a winning ticket. The terminal does not play the sound when a nonwinning ticket is scanned.
(The lottery’s self-checkers, self-service kiosks and mobile app display a message on the screen with the amount of any prize won rather than playing a recording.)
And remember that customer receipts also are printed from the lottery terminal for any ticket that is checked or cashed. The receipts are available to you as the customer if you have a question about what you may have won.
Hi, Tim. Everybody has their own systems and habits, don't they? I do think it's perhaps easier for folks to just check their own tickets using the lottery's mobile app because you can do it on your own time from wherever you are! But again, that's just me. Somebody else may prefer a different approach ...
Posted by: Mary Neubauer | June 22, 2023 at 10:27 AM
I always wanted it to announce with a buzzer and voice message "you are a loser" when the guy in front of me hands cashier a stack of tickets he is too lazy to check himself.
Posted by: Tim | June 22, 2023 at 07:58 AM