ialottery blog

Really a Winner? Double-Check Those Details!

Artificial intelligence may be the future, but sometimes it still gets things wrong!

We heard from a VIP Club member this week who stopped by the lottery’s Clive office, excited to claim a prize she thought she’d won in one of our second-chance promotions.

The only problem? She wasn’t a winner.

So, what happened?

It turns out AI gave her some false hope. We’d sent an email to our VIP Club members letting them know the winners were announced, and encouraging them to check the list on our website. The player’s email service features an AI-powered tool to summarize messages, and it mistakenly told her: “You’ve been drawn as one of the winners of the Iowa Lottery’s latest drawing.”

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. And when she arrived at our office, we had to deliver the disappointing news. 

This was a first for us, but a reminder that even with all of the new technology out there, there’s no substitute for carefully checking the official details yourself.

As a reminder: We post all of our promotion prize winners at ialottery.com. And if you win, we’ll also contact you directly using the information in your VIP Club account.

So before you celebrate, double-check the official winner list – just to be sure!

Good-bye: Thank You For Spending Time With Me For So Many Years On The Blog!

As we near the point of sliding into the weekend, I’m posting to the blog one last time to thank you for being part a conversation here with me for so many years. Showing that time really does fly, today is my last day at the Iowa Lottery.

I am retiring after being a member of the lottery team for nearly 26 years.

Jackpots & The Speed At Which We Find Out

I think of the huge change in the size of the jackpots during that time! And the speed with which we find out whether there’s been a big winning ticket in Iowa. That used to take several hours, usually until the early morning time, but with today’s faster computers, we generally know whether Iowa has had a winner by about 10:30 p.m.

The way we communicate with each other also has definitely changed! There was no such thing as social media when my career started at the lottery. But we jumped right in when that new thing came along that at the time was called new media. And now you can interact with us on multiple social media platforms

Wait, It’s Not Just One Free Play A Year?

Here’s something else to make you smile: When I started at the Iowa Lottery, the lottery had a birthday club you could join to get a free play mailed to you on your birthday. Fast forward to today, and that’s morphed into the VIP Club where you get a free play every month and can enter contests and promotions for the chance to win exclusive prizes.

The Difference The Lottery Has Made

I think about the tremendous good the lottery has accomplished in our state through the years. During my time here, the lottery has raised more than $42 million for the Iowa Veterans Trust Fund to support veterans and their families. I’m extremely proud to have worked on the legislation to make that possible.

Those Winning Stories

The winner stories are what I’ll remember and miss the most.

I think of the jackpot winner who knew for a couple weeks that he’d hit big, but he waited to claim the prize because he was having so much fun listening to people in his hometown theorize about why the money hadn’t been claimed yet.

Then there was another jackpot winner who bought the small golf course in his community to keep it open for folks to enjoy.

And the winner who knew on a Friday that he’d won a big prize, and he’d have to wait the whole weekend before he could claim his winnings when lottery offices opened on Monday. When I asked him where he kept his ticket for safekeeping that weekend, he said it was in his dentures case because no one would ever look there.

THAT was a story I wasn’t expecting!

Things Change, But They Also Stay The Same 

Through it all, the lottery has kept coming up with new game ideas and provided as many details as we can to help answer your questions.

As I step away, the blog may not be updated as often until new staffers come onboard. There will be more lottery stories to tell in the time to come, and I hope you’ll enjoy talking with the next person who will deliver them.

                                                                                                     -- Mary from the Lottery 

These Are Things You Really Should Know Before You Play

Ever complained that we got the odds wrong? Thought your ticket should have won when it didn’t? Wondered if a message you got is actually a scam? We’ve got new info. to help you find answers.

The new details are all designed to build your lottery know-how and make informed decisions when you buy tickets.

You’ll find it all on our new website page called Know Before You Play.

When you click on one of the topic lines on that page, it will expand to provide that content, but you’ll stay on the same page so you can easily keep going to other topics. When you click on a different topic, the previous section “rolls back up” so only one subject is open at a time.

There are 8 topics on the page, all with real-world examples and scenarios from a consumer-awareness perspective.

The Know Before You Play topics are:

• Know Your Limits
• Know What The Odds Mean
• Know Where You Can Buy Tickets
• Know The Details On Your Ticket
• Know How To Spot Scams & Fraud
• Know How To Play In A Group
• Know What To Do When You Win
• Know When To Take A Break

Player Question: Why Does My Powerball Ticket Say It’s For A Monday Drawing?

Here’s a question from a player that proves time really does fly. The woman bought a Powerball® ticket this month and wondered why it showed that her play was for a Monday drawing.

The short answer is that’s because Powerball has drawings 3 nights a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays. Monday drawings were added to the game in August of 2021.

But if you’re only an occasional player, or if you’ve had the habit of only buying tickets for the game’s Wednesday and Saturday drawings, maybe you haven’t played on a Monday before.

But Monday drawings have been part of the game for nearly 4 years! It’s not a typo on your ticket when you see that.

So play on Monday if you’d like. Or Wednesday, or Saturday. Or all 3! It truly is your choice.

Iowa Lottery Winners Featured On HGTV Show As They Search For Vacation Home

An eastern Iowa couple’s search for a vacation home is featured on a new episode of an HGTV show, about 6 months after they won a big lottery prize.

Mike and Lori Blaser of Bellevue are shown as they search for a lake home on Season 17, Episode 12 of HGTV’s My Lottery Dream Home. Host David Bromstad joins them in Missouri to tour properties at the Lake of the Ozarks before they make their choice!

Mike Blaser claimed a $250,000 prize in early November in the “Winter Winnings” scratch game. He was the first top prize winner in that game, which was available during the holiday season. 

The episode of the show featuring Mike and Lori is called "Ozark Lake House."

It's A Throwback For Our 40th Anniversary

Forty years after we did it the first time, the Iowa Lottery is inviting you again to Scratch, Match & Win!

You read that right: The lottery is turning 40 this year. And to celebrate the moment, a throwback version of our very first game has just arrived in stores.

Tickets in 2025’s version of the Scratch, Match & Win game feature artwork of a hand holding a coin to scratch a ticket, a lot like the lottery’s original scratch game from August 1985. But today’s version is a $5 game with instant prizes of up to $50,000. And its tickets are a lot bigger than those from 40 years ago!

If you don’t win a cash prize on your Scratch, Match & Win ticket, you can enter it into a promotion for a chance to win concert prize packages to the Iowa State Fair Grandstand or cash prizes of up to $100,000.

The Scratch, Match & Win promotion has just opened for entries today. You can enter eligible tickets through the morning of Sept. 17.

The promotion will have 2 drawing dates. The first on July 22 will be for 87 concert prize packages to 2025 performances at the Iowa State Fair Grandstand. Each Grandstand ticket prize package includes 4 concert tickets, 4 Iowa State Fair admission tickets, a parking pass for the Fair, and $400 spending money.

The promotion’s second drawing date on Sept. 18 will be for 51 cash prizes ranging from $1,000 up to the grand prize of $100,000.

By The Numbers, 40 Years Of Lottery

Legislation allowing a lottery in Iowa was signed into law on April 18, 1985, and Iowa Lottery sales began a little more than 4 months later with a kick-off celebration on Aug. 22, 1985, at the Iowa State Fair.

By the numbers, here’s a look at 40 years of a lottery in Iowa.

$10.4 billion	Total Iowa Lottery sales
$6.1 billion	Total prizes won by Iowa Lottery players
$2.5 billion	Total lottery proceeds raised for Iowa causes
$722.5 million	Total lottery sales commissions paid to the local Iowa businesses that sell lottery tickets
$343.9 million	Largest lottery prize won in Iowa. A Redfield woman claimed that Powerball® jackpot on Nov. 5, 2018.
6.4 million	Number of lottery tickets sold during the lottery’s first week of sales
2,500	Number of retail locations in Iowa that sell lottery tickets
189	Number of Iowa Lottery tickets to date that have won prizes of $1 million or more
9	Number of Powerball jackpots won to date by Iowa Lottery players

Player Question: Can I Win A Different Amount Than The Game's Prize Levels?

Here’s a question we occasionally get from players digging into the details of our games: Can I ever win a different amount than the prize levels in the game, particularly the top prize amount?

The latest inquiry came from a man who was playing the Xtreme Multiplier Progressive InstaPlay game, but the answer to the question applies to tickets in any of our games.

If you have a winning ticket in one of our games, your prize will match one of the designated prize levels in the game. No other amount is possible.

The player who contacted us this week was looking at the symbol on his ticket that would multiply the prize amount shown. It’s also a game where you can win more than once on a ticket, with the amounts involved adding up to one of the prize levels in the game.

That’s one of the play styles in our games. But on tickets in other games, you may win just one prize amount on your ticket.

We vary the play styles in our games knowing that different people like different things, and variety matters!

But in any game, the maximum you can win on your ticket is the top-prize amount in the game. You can’t win the top prize AND a smaller prize amount on your ticket that would add up to more than the top-prize figure.

JURASSIC WORLD Second Chance Promotion from the Iowa Lottery

Dinosaurs and lottery prizes together? Yep, it’s happening in Iowa!

Two new games featuring iconic dinosaur-themed images have hit stores this week and a promotion tied to them will give you even more chances to win. The JURASSIC PARK Progressive InstaPlay game debuted Sunday here in Iowa. Tickets in the JURASSIC WORLD scratch game are beginning to arrive in stores today and will be available statewide by the end of the week.

The 2 games are tied to the JURASSIC WORLD Second Chance Promotion from the Iowa Lottery that will award 10 prizes of $10,000 and 2 trip packages to Hawaii where the winner will participate in an exciting event with the chance to win up to a $1 million prize!

Tickets in the JURASSIC PARK Progressive InstaPlay game and JURASSIC WORLD scratch cost $10 each, with multiple ways to win instant prizes. The scratch game features a top prize of $100,000, while the InstaPlay game has a progressive jackpot that starts at $10,000 and grows with each ticket purchased statewide until it is won.

How The Promotion Works & The Prizes Involved

The new promotion opened for entries at 10 a.m. today. Members of the lottery’s free VIP Club can enter it with nonwinning tickets in the JURASSIC PARK Progressive InstaPlay game or the JURASSIC WORLD scratch game. The entry period runs through 9:59 a.m. on Oct. 1, and the promotion will have 2 drawing dates.

On Aug. 14, the Iowa Lottery will select 5 promotion prize winners of $10,000 each. And on Oct. 2, the lottery will select 5 more winners of $10,000 each along with the 2 trip prize winners.

Each trip package, valued at nearly $17,000, includes:

• roundtrip airfare for 2 from any U.S. international airport to Honolulu, Hawaii (November 2026)
• a 5-night hotel stay (double occupancy) in Oahu, Hawaii
• $2,500 in spending money
• a welcome reception and choice of curated tour or activities in and around Oahu
• ground transfers between the destination airport and hotel, and if necessary, between hosted activities and events
• the winner’s participation along with other U.S. lottery trip winners in the $1,000,000 JACKPOT CHALLENGE Event, for a chance for all trip winners to win cash prizes of up to $1 million.

The Drawing Details

Players will choose the prize category they prefer at the time they make an entry into the promotion. Entries will not carry over from one drawing to the next.

And, while the odds of this happening are long: If you enter each promotion category, you could win a $10,000 cash prize on each drawing date and a trip prize package.

Here are the promotion’s key dates:

Entry Period	Drawing Date	Prize	Number of Winners
10 a.m. June 3 - 9:59 a.m. Aug. 13	August 14	$10,000	5
10 a.m. Aug. 13 - 9:59 a.m. Oct. 1	October 2	$10,000	5
10 a.m. June 3 - 9:59 a.m. Oct. 1	October 2	Hawaii trip and $1,000,000 JACKPOT CHALLENGE Event	2

© Universal City Studios LLC and Amblin Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Universal is not a sponsor or administrator of this Promotion.