ialottery blog

You’re arguing it both ways that ‘no one from here ever wins’

We’ve gotten some conflicting comments this week on social media, all from folks who believe that “no one from here ever wins.” But their definitions vary … a lot.

The image you can see here gives a sampling of the comments, with the names blurred out to keep the focus on the messages themselves. As you can see, one person says lottery winners are always in small towns. Another person says there are never any winners in Des Moines or even communities near Des Moines. But someone else says that winners are always from Des Moines and Cedar Rapids!

So, which is it???

In reality, they’re all wrong, but I also understand that perception matters.

The idea that no one from here ever wins seems to be a myth based on the area you're from, no matter where that is. I think the root of the situation is that people will never be truly satisfied unless THEY’RE the ones who win.

People can and do win lottery prizes every day. So far today alone, Iowa Lottery players have claimed 16 prizes ranging from $1,000 up to $100,000!

Those winners were from many different communities: Cresco, Cedar Rapids, Thompson, Fort Dodge, Salem, Des Moines, Winthrop, Knoxville, Waterloo, Leighton, Cedar Falls, Sperry, Victor, Bushnell and Davenport.

And the day isn’t done yet!

Thank you for playing. We truly do appreciate that. But the next time someone tells you that no one from here ever wins, what will your response be?

If I Spend $1 On A Lottery Ticket, Does It Actually Make A Difference In Iowa?

Here’s an oldie-but-goodie question that just came our way from a man asking about the breakdown of the money for every $1 spent on lottery tickets in Iowa.

It goes to show that even though we can recite the details from memory here the lottery, it can be completely new information to someone else!

We keep a chart showing the details involved on our website. For every $1 spent on lottery tickets in Iowa, the money flows into four categories. The biggest is prizes. Without prizes to players, there obviously wouldn’t be a lottery for long!

Prizes are followed by proceeds to state programs, commissions to the local businesses that sell lottery tickets, and the daily costs of running the lottery.

In addition to that bigger picture, we also pinpoint the state programs that currently receive lottery proceeds in Iowa, and how lottery proceeds have been used over time. The use of the money raised by the lottery for state causes has changed several times through the years, so we keep a historical list as well as a current list.

We do our best to break things out into clear categories with direct links where you can learn more.We know it’s our job to provide transparency, and the totals involved are significant.

Since the Iowa lottery’s start in 1985, its players have won more than $5.6 billion in prizes while the lottery has raised more than $2.4 billion for the state programs that benefit all Iowans. And, those numbers increase every day as more tickets are sold!

Will I Get a Tax Form from the Lottery if I Claimed a Prize Last Year?

If you claimed an Iowa Lottery prize of more than $600 in calendar year 2023, we’ll send a form to you later this month that you’ll need as you file your income taxes.

The document that most winners will receive is the W-2G form. It lists the total prize amount won along with any federal and state withholdings applied to the prize. (Lottery winners who aren’t U.S. citizens receive a document called Form 1042S.)

If you claimed multiple Iowa Lottery prizes of more than $600 in 2023, you’ll receive multiple forms from us, one for each prize claimed.

The deadline for all W-2G forms to be mailed is Wednesday, Jan. 31. We’re processing the forms on our end now! Depending on the delivery time, you should receive your form within about a week of the date we mail it.

If you think you should receive a tax form from us for winnings in calendar year 2023 and you've moved since you claimed your prize, please let us know your new address as soon as possible. Unless we receive that update, our records will show the address provided when you claimed your prize. Your tax form would be sent there.

You can call the Iowa Lottery at 515-725-7900 or email us at [email protected] if you have questions. Be sure to include your name, old address, new address, and telephone number in case we need to contact you.

Thank you again for playing the lottery. And congrats again to all our winners!

One $2 Million Powerball Prize Claimed, Another Still Up For Grabs

One huge Powerball® prize was claimed this week, and we're still waiting to hear from the winner of a second multimillion-dollar prize!

Danny Buckelew of Treynor stopped by lottery headquarters yesterday to claim his $2 million Powerball prize. He matched all five white balls in the drawing on Oct. 7, 2023, and was just one number away from winning that night's $1.4 billion jackpot! Buckelew bought his easy-pick ticket at Casey's, 403 Stephans St. in Tiffin.

The winning numbers in the Oct. 7 drawing were 47-54-57-60-65 and Powerball 19. The Power Play number was 3.

Meanwhile, another $2 million Powerball prize remains unclaimed nearly two months after it was won! That ticket matched all five white balls in the drawing on Nov. 25, 2023, and was purchased at Clinton Liquor, 1641 S. Bluff Blvd. in Clinton.

The winning numbers in that drawing were 27-33-63-66-68 and Powerball 9. The Power Play number was 2.

Prizes of this size must be claimed at Iowa Lottery headquarters in Clive. The deadline to claim this $2 million prize is the close of business on May 23, 2024.

We can't wait to meet the winner -- or winners!

Calendar Invite: Tomorrow We’ll be at Veterans Day at the Capitol

Tomorrow is an event we look forward to every year for the opportunity to interact with those who have given so much for our country.

It’s the annual Veterans Day at the Capitol event. Tomorrow morning, our state’s veterans and their families will gather at the Statehouse in Des Moines to talk with Iowa lawmakers and advocate for ideas to help support the veterans community.

The lottery will have a booth at the event to provide information about the proceeds that we raise for the Iowa Veterans Trust Fund. We’ll add lottery fun to the day by giving away some lottery prize packs in contests we’ll hold at our booth in the Rotunda on the Capitol’s first floor.

Everyone during the event from 9 a.m. until about noon tomorrow is welcome to enter our contest for a chance to win a prize pack. We’ll also have lottery and veterans-themed swag at our booth to help lift people’s spirits on a cold winter day!

Since 2008, when lottery proceeds were first dedicated to the Iowa Veterans Trust Fund, the Iowa Lottery has now raised nearly $40 million for the cause. A portion of the money raised from the sale of all lottery tickets in Iowa goes to the Veterans Trust Fund to directly help veterans and their families.

It’s another way for us all to say: Thank you, veterans!

Player Comment: I’m Mad You Pulled Your Holiday-Themed Games

Here’s a player comment we received that in some ways we understand and in other ways, we totally don’t. At all.

The man was mad that we’ve removed our holiday-themed games from store shelves for the year. He said he thought we were being unfair by pulling them.

On one hand, we understand that some people may really like a particular game and want the chance to keep playing it. On the other hand, it wouldn’t make sense for us to have a holiday-themed game still on sale in July. Nothing says summer in Iowa like a … ticket with snowmen and holly on it!

We remove our holiday-themed games from sale each year shortly after the holiday season ends. Once the holidays are over, people are ready to move on!

But we also design our holiday games for the relatively short period of time that they will be on sale. They generally begin sales in early October and then end in early to mid-January after the holidays. By comparison, some of our non-holiday scratch games can be for sale for years at a time.

We order smaller quantities of tickets in our holiday games, designed to best fit their shelf life. And we’ll sometimes bring back a holiday game the following year if it was particularly popular the year before.

So while that particular player wasn’t happy with us, others say they look forward to the switch-over of our games. There probably are as many opinions on the matter as there are people who play.

Just know that we’ll keep doing our best to come up with fun and new game ideas! And before you know it, the NEXT holiday season will be on the way and we’ll have holiday-themed games out once again!

Congratulations to the Million Dollar Holiday winners!

There may be snow and icy temperatures on the horizon, but a big lottery win is sure to warm you up!

It's been great fun getting to meet some of our Million Dollar Holiday winners today, including Heidi Olsen of Allison and Renee Stanbrough of Nashua. Heidi won the $500,000 top prize in Wednesday's drawing, while Renee took home a $100,000 prize in the same promotion.

Heidi found out she was a winner when she checked her email last night. She quickly called for her husband, Gabe, who thought from her alarmed tone of voice that something bad happened.

"It was really crazy, exciting and surreal," she said. "It's probably one of the best feelings ever, I would say."

As the name suggests, the Million Dollar Holiday awarded a total of $1 million in prizes, including a $500,000 top prize, two prizes of $100,000 and a $50,000 prize. You can see the full winners' list here.

The promotion was born after a $1 million prize last year went unclaimed. That unclaimed prize money was then awarded in the lottery's holiday promotion that ended this week.

 

 

 

 

I’m Having Trouble Claiming My Prize …

We helped a lottery player this week who had gone to a store where his prize couldn’t be paid. Ultimately, he was able to claim his $200 in winnings, and I’ll share the same details here that we provided to him.

The Iowa Lottery requires that its retailers pay prizes of up to $100. We ask that they pay prizes of up to $600, but not all stores keep that amount of cash on hand. And we understand the reasons why. Safety is a top priority in retail locations for staff and customers, with available cash routinely kept at a minimum, especially during business hours after dark.

If the retail location you've visited isn't able to pay your prize, you have a couple options: You can try to claim it at a larger store that sells lottery tickets, such as a supermarket. Or, you can visit one of our offices or send the ticket to us at the Iowa Lottery so we can validate it.

All prizes of more than $600 have to be claimed directly from the Iowa Lottery. Our offices can provide greater security when you’re claiming a larger amount of money, and there are tax forms you’ll need to fill out when you’re claiming a prize of that size.

Our Regional Offices in Cedar Rapids, Mason City and Storm Lake can pay prizes of up to $250,000.

Our very biggest prizes – meaning those of more than $250,000 – as well as some merchandise prizes have to be claimed in person at Iowa Lottery headquarters in Clive.

We keep all the details about the claims process, including the documentation you'll need to have with you, on our website’s How To Claim A Prize page.

Good luck on your tickets and we hope to meet you as a winner soon!

Ticket Packages to Minnesota Timberwolves & Iowa Wolves Games on the Line in Lottery Promotion

Some incredible VIP ticket packages to Minnesota Timberwolves and Iowa Wolves basketball games are on the line in the Bonus Basketball promotion that started today.

The promotion’s entry period opened at 10 a.m. today. Members of the lottery’s free VIP Club can enter nonwinning tickets from the “Bonus Multiplier” scratch game into the promotion for a chance to win the pro basketball ticket packages.

When they enter the promotion, lottery players will choose the games they’d like to win tickets to attend. Nine of the prize packages in the promotion include tickets to both the Golden State Warriors vs. Minnesota Timberwolves game on March 24 in Minneapolis and an Iowa Wolves basketball game in Des Moines.

The promotion’s final prize, called the Last Shot prize package, includes only tickets to the Minnesota Timberwolves home game on March 24 in Minneapolis plus a larger amount of additional spending money.

The first 9 prize packages up for grabs in the promotion are valued at more than $2,800. Each package includes:

• 2 suite tickets to the Minnesota Timberwolves home game on March 24 at the Target Center in Minneapolis with complimentary food, water and soda in the suite;
• a 1-night stay with parking at the Loews Minneapolis Hotel adjacent to the Target Center;
• 2 courtside tickets at center court to an Iowa Wolves home basketball game in Des Moines with complimentary food, water and soda in the Courtside Club; and a parking pass at Wells Fargo Arena;
• $1,000 spending money paid via check;
• co-branded Iowa Lottery and Iowa Wolves shirts.

The final prize package awarded in the promotion is valued at more than $3,100. That Last Shot prize package includes:

• 2 suite tickets to the Minnesota Timberwolves home game on March 24 at the Target Center in Minneapolis with complimentary food, water and soda in the suite;
• a 1-night stay with parking at the Loews Minneapolis Hotel adjacent to the Target Center;
• $1,500 spending money paid via check;
• co-branded Iowa Lottery and Iowa Wolves shirts.

The Bonus Basketball entry period runs through 9:59 a.m. on March 6. The promotion will have three drawing dates on Jan. 25, Feb. 22 and March 7. Entries will not carry over from one drawing to the next, except that all entries not selected as a winner in one of the promotion’s initial drawings will remain eligible for the Last Shot drawing.

As part of the fun, the Iowa Lottery will hold a special event at the Iowa Wolves home basketball game on Feb. 23 in Des Moines. We’ll have more details soon about how VIP Club members can be part of that event!

That Lucky Feeling: A New ‘Family of Games’ is Hitting Stores This Week

The new scratch games hitting stores this week here in Iowa include a special series of tickets that may catch your eye for how much they look alike. And we meant to do that.

Through the years, we’ve occasionally released what we call a “Family of Games.” The latest are the “Luck” games beginning distribution today. Maybe think of them as S-M-L-XL!

The $1 Luck game is red, the $2 Luck game has green tickets, the $5 Luck game is blue, and the $10 Luck game has purple tickets.

Players have told us that they like the fun of a set of games, and we have fun coming up with ideas to try.

The top prize available gets larger as you follow the Luck series up. So does the playing time on the ticket. For example, the $1 Luck game has five prize spots to scratch off and offers a top prize of $1,000, while the $10 Luck game has 25 prize spots to play and offers a top prize of $100,000.

So, choose the version of Luck you like or play them all! And you KNOW I’m going to ask this: Do you feel lucky?