Here’s another entry in our Truth or Myth series to see if everyone has their thinking caps on! This is about a comment we get a lot, and it comes from people all over the state: All the big winners are from big cities/small towns, this county/that county, eastern Iowa/northern Iowa, etc., etc.
It’s definitely a myth, and it seems to be based upon the area the person is from, no matter where that is. I think the truth of the matter is that the people likely won’t truly be satisfied until they’re the big winner, but maybe you have another theory.
Here's an example of that myth in action, but on a national scale: We were talking one day with the folks from the DC Lottery in Washington. I told them about the comment we get that "no one from here ever wins." They laughed and said what they hear is that "it's always those people from Iowa who win the jackpot."
In reality, people all across Iowa – and all across the country – can and do win lottery prizes every day.
Now, it is true that there will be more winners in spots where more people are buying lottery tickets. Another way of putting that is that if 5 percent of lottery tickets are sold in a particular area, you can expect to find about 5 percent of the overall winners there.
That's always been the case with the Iowa Lottery. Everyone has the same chance of winning but there will be more winners in places where more tickets are being sold.
You want to know when you buy a lottery ticket that you have the same fair chance of winning as anyone else. And it’s our job at the Iowa Lottery to ensure that the case, with winners in our games being determined by nothing other than pure, random chance.
Whether you play the lottery or not, we want everyone to have an accurate understanding of how the lottery works. This Truth or Myth series is part of that effort.
It seems to me that the big winners are in the bigger towns, also out of state winners. I would like to think the lottery is not rigged!!!!! But it sure seems that way…
Posted by: Sheila Bouck | June 22, 2024 at 09:05 PM
Hi, Melanie. We do have that information and can certainly provide it if you have a request. Please send an inquiry to our Webmaster account if you would like to make a request. You would need to specify the period of time for which you are seeking information. For example, are you talking about the top-selling retailers in a particular county for the past month? The past year? Etc.
Posted by: Mary Neubauer | June 20, 2024 at 09:38 AM
Where can we find a list of top selling stores by counties? I have searched the website and can only find overall top ten retailers. Is this stat tracked by lottery? Can this list be requested for certain counties by the consumer?
Posted by: Melanie | June 20, 2024 at 07:42 AM