ialottery blog

How Do Those Lottery Odds Work?

We've blogged about this issue before, but it is still one of the topics we receive ongoing questions about, so I'll cover it again here. Nothing like an oldie but a goodie!

Players are always asking us about the odds in our lottery games, particularly instant-scratch games. And we understand -- the laws of random statistics can be a difficult concept to absorb, even for those of us who work here.

Lottery players across Iowa win prizes each day, but the thing to remember is that each play is based solely on random chance. There are many winning tickets, but your purchase does not guarantee a winner.

Let’s take the scratch game “Super Crossword” as an example. The overall odds of winning a prize in that $5 game are about 1 in 3.69. So, the question we often get goes something like this: “The overall odds said 1:3.69, but I bought 4 tickets and I didn’t win, so your odds must be wrong.” But in fact, they’re not.

The overall odds of winning on a scratch ticket apply to each ticket purchased in a game, not a series of tickets. So, if a scratch game has overall odds of winning of about 1:4, that doesn't mean that if you buy four tickets that one will automatically be a winner. It means that if you were to buy all of the tickets available in that game, approximately 1 in 4 of them would win a prize.
 
It’s also important to know that the distribution of tickets within our games is completely random. That’s part of the security process involved in running a lottery; not even our sales representatives who deliver our tickets to stores know where the winning tickets are or which stores will receive them. So, there could be three winning tickets in a row in one of our games, and then several nonwinning tickets after that. Security is of the utmost concern at the Iowa Lottery -- people play our games because they understand the integrity behind our products. We work hard to ensure that everyone has the same fair shot at winning.
 
The bottom line is, big winners happen all over the state at various retail locations, and higher ticket sales at a particular location do mean more winners there as well. Some busy locations where scratch tickets are sold sell several times as many tickets as others, and therefore cycle through ticket packs more often - creating more winners.

We keep a complete list of winners on our website, as well as a list of all the remaining prizes in our instant-scratch games.
 
We always encourage our players to remember the entertainment that lottery games have provided them and the help that lottery proceeds have meant to the state of Iowa. Players not only are playing a lottery ticket in the hopes of winning money, they're entertaining themselves and enjoying the experience. Since the Iowa Lottery's start in 1985, our players have won more than $3 billion in prizes while the lottery has raised more than $1.4 billion for state programs.

February Facebook Contest Results

Now for the moment you’ve all been waiting for…THE WINNERS!

Congratulations to:

1) David Dumdei
2) Ben Boelkes
3) Joyce Farrington

Each of these three winners will receive $20 in Mega Millions® coupons!

We’ll notify the winners by email to claim their prize. We’ll need to verify each winner’s information so we can award their prize packs!

Winners will have until 4 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 26, to verify their information with us. If any of the winners don’t contact us within the specified amount of time, alternates will be contacted by email.

Thanks to everyone who entered the February Facebook contest.

Be sure to come back and enter March’s Facebook contest beginning at 11 a.m. March 11 through 11 a.m. March 12. We sure hope you can join us!

February Facebook Contest

Valentine’s Day isn’t the only day you can show a little extra love. We’re sharing the love in this month’s Facebook contest.

You’ll have 24 hours to enter for a chance to win free plays in Mega Millions!

You can enter February’s Facebook contest beginning at 11 a.m. Monday (Feb. 18) through 11 a.m. Tuesday (Feb. 19). We’ll be asking you a lottery-related question on the Iowa Lottery’s Facebook page under the “Lottery Contests” tab.

Enter for your chance to win one of three sets of $20 in Mega Millions coupons. Now that’s sharing the love!

Visit our Facebook page beginning at 11 a.m. Monday through 11 a.m. Tuesday where we’ll pose our question on the Lottery Contests tab located under our cover photo. When the man on the Lottery Contests tab turns green and says “Enter Now!” that’s your cue to enter. Click the tab, read the question, fill in the entry form and your answer and click “submit” during the 24-hour window and you’ll be entered. Limit one entry per person. It’s just that easy!

Important Note: The question will NOT appear on our Facebook “Wall.” You’ll need to visit our Facebook page and click the Lottery Contests tab to see it! Also, if you’re viewing our Facebook page on a smart phone, you will need to use the Desktop view in order to see the Lottery Contests tab. It does not appear in the mobile application view.

We’ll select three winners from the correct eligible answers submitted, so make sure to double-check your answer before you hit the submit button. Winners will be announced in our February Facebook contest results blog, on the Lottery Contests tab on our Facebook page and we’ll link to the blog entry on Twitter.

We’ll notify the winners by email to claim their prize. If you’re one of the winners, we’ll need to verify your information to award your prize pack!

Winners will have until 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 26, to verify their information with us. We’ll also select alternates in case any of the winners don’t contact us within the specified amount of time.

A few other details:
• You must live in Iowa to participate.
• You must be at least 21 years old to enter.
• There’s no purchase necessary to enter or win.
• The Mega Millions coupons are only redeemable for tickets, not for cash.
• You can only enter once. If you try to enter more than once, only your first entry will be accepted.

And now for the fine print: This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook. You understand that you are providing your information to the Iowa Lottery and not to Facebook. The information you provide will only be used for lottery purposes. The risk of loss for electronic misdelivery, late delivery or failure of receipt for information entered electronically remains with entrant regardless of the cause of the transmission failure.

Just How Many Top Prizes Are There?

The same question has come our way this week from a couple different people on Facebook, so we’re sharing our answer here with you as well, in case you’ve wondered about the same thing!
 
Just about every day, someone takes home the top prize in one of our scratch games or pull-tab games. And that’s where some confusion has apparently come in. Some people have thought that if someone wins the top prize in one of those games, there aren’t any other top prizes left!

But when we release scratch games and pull-tab games they always have multiple top prizes. It could be five, 15 or even more than 90, as is the case with our popular “Crossword” game.

Let’s take our Game Book as an example. We had our first top prize winner of $100,000 in that game in January. A couple different people have commented on Facebook that if she’s already won the top prize, then why play the game? Well, in fact, that game has a total of six top prizes of $100,000, so five are still up for grabs!

When the last top prize IS claimed in one of our scratch or pull-tab games, we pull that game from the market. An automatic notification goes out and the pick-ups begin right away. We try to err on the side of our players as much as possible! 

If you’re ever curious about how many remaining prizes there are in our games, that list is always available on our website. The remaining prizes list is updated Monday-Friday, first thing in the morning. So check it out and maybe that will help you to determine which game you play next!

A Twitter Contest Just For You!

Just for him or just for her? Why not try to have both in our Twitter contest this month? That way, you can keep part of the prize for yourself and give the other half to your sweetie! Afterall, it’s almost Valentine’s Day… 

Those who enter our February Twitter contest will have the chance to win one of three prize packs of $20 in “Just for Him! Just for Her!” scratch tickets.

These tickets are fun to play even if you don’t have a special someone. And the game has top prizes of $8,000.

You’ll have 15 minutes to submit your answers to be entered, with our contest this month beginning at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 12.

To be eligible to enter, just follow us on Twitter – it’s free to create an account if you don’t already have one. Then give us the correct answer to our super-easy contest question and you’ll be entered for a chance to win one of the three ticket prize packages.   

At 11 a.m. next Tuesday, we’ll pose our question on Twitter. Reply with your answer within the 15-minute time limit and you’ll be entered in the contest! Reply to @ialottery on Twitter. (Don’t direct message us on Twitter, as direct messages aren’t eligible for entry.)

We’ll select the three winners in our contest, then blog about the results and link to that blog entry on Twitter and Facebook.

If you win, you’ll need to contact us with your name, date of birth and mailing address so we can send out your tickets. Winners will have until 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 19, to contact us with their information in order to claim their prize.

A few other details:
• You must be at least 21 years old to enter.
• You must live in Iowa to participate.
• There’s no purchase necessary to enter or win!
• You can only enter once. If you try to enter more than once, only your first entry will be accepted.

And now for the fine print: This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Twitter. You understand that you are providing your information to the Iowa Lottery and not to Twitter. The information you provide will only be used for the lottery’s Twitter Contest. The risk of loss for electronic misdelivery, late delivery or failure of receipt for information entered electronically remains with entrant regardless of the cause of the transmission failure.

Forfeited Jackpot Generating More Headlines

That jackpot that was claimed for a few days but ultimately forfeited last year here in Des Moines is generating more national news headlines.

The latest round hit this week. Click here to read today’s ABC News take on the story!

Will we ever know what really happened there? We’ll see as the investigation continues …

January Facebook Contest Results

Now for the moment you’ve all been waiting for…THE WINNERS!

Congratulations to:

1) Stefanie Ellison
2) Carrie Meyer
3) Monte Riley

Each of these three winners will receive $10 in Powerball® coupons, a Powerball keychain, a Dream t-shirt and a pizza cutter!

We’ll notify the winners by email to claim their prize. We’ll need to verify each winner’s information so we can award their prize packs!

Winners will have until 4 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 5, to verify their information with us. If any of the winners don’t contact us within the specified amount of time, alternates will be contacted by email.

Thanks to everyone who entered the January Facebook contest.

Be sure to come back and enter February’s Facebook contest beginning at 11 a.m. Feb. 18 through 11 a.m. Feb. 19. We sure hope you can join us!

New Games to Benefit Iowa Veterans

You can help Iowa veterans and their families by purchasing tickets in two new lottery games hitting the market this month.

The “A 10 Hut” scratch game started sales Jan. 3 while the “Veterans Amazing 8’s” pull-tab game is going on sale today. Proceeds from the sale of tickets in both games support veterans and their families through the Iowa Veterans Trust Fund. The games’ tickets feature the logo of the Veterans Trust Fund so you can easily tell they’re dedicated to that cause.  

Legislation was approved in 2008 authorizing the Iowa Lottery to release four games each year to benefit the Veterans Trust Fund. The Lottery creates two new scratch games and two additional pull-tab games each year, with all proceeds from those games dedicated to the Trust Fund.

These games provide between $2 million and $3 million in proceeds annually for the Iowa Veterans Trust Fund. Your purchases have helped the Lottery raise more than $12 million for the fund since 2008! 
 
The Veterans Trust Fund was established to provide state help to veterans and their families. Those interested in applying for assistance through the fund should contact their county V.A. representative or the Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs in Johnston.

Currently, the Trust Fund can be used for:
•    unemployment or underemployment assistance due to service-related causes;
•    assistance with vision, hearing, dental care, durable medical equipment and prescription drugs;
•    counseling and substance abuse services;
•    housing repair;
•    and transitional housing in an emergency.

Your Chance to Win A Brand-New Ticket!

We’re kicking off the New Year in style! For this month’s Twitter contest, we’re giving away  tickets in a brand-new game – with a brand-new play style.

Those who enter our Twitter contest will have the chance to win one of three “Game Book” tickets, worth $20 each.

The Game Book is a new concept for us. It’s a booklet containing several of your favorite scratch games and a few new ones, too (eight games in all)! That’s why it’s worth $20.

Just remember this very important point as you play your Game Book: Don’t tear the pages apart! You must keep the booklet as a whole to claim any prizes won on any of the games.

In our Twitter contest this month, you’ll have 15 minutes to submit your answers to be entered, with the contest beginning at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 22.

To be eligible to enter, just follow us on Twitter – it’s free to create an account if you don’t already have one. Then give us the correct answer to our super-easy contest question and you’ll be entered for a chance to win one of the three ticket prize packages.   

At 2 p.m. next Tuesday, we’ll pose our question on Twitter. Reply with your answer within the 15-minute time limit and you’ll be entered in the contest! Reply to @ialottery on Twitter. (Don’t direct message us on Twitter, as direct messages aren’t eligible for entry.)

We’ll select the three winners in our contest, then blog about the results and link to that blog entry on Twitter and Facebook.

If you win, you’ll need to contact us with your name, date of birth and mailing address so we can send out your tickets. Winners will have until 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 29, to contact us with their information in order to claim their prize.

A few other details:
• You must be at least 21 years old to enter.
• You must live in Iowa to participate.
• There’s no purchase necessary to enter or win!
• Only one entry per person. The first entry from each person will be accepted. Duplicates will be removed.

And now for the fine print: This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Twitter. You understand that you are providing your information to the Iowa Lottery and not to Twitter. The information you provide will only be used for the lottery’s Twitter Contest. The risk of loss for electronic misdelivery, late delivery or failure of receipt for information entered electronically remains with entrant regardless of the cause of the transmission failure.

December “Holiday Bonus” Facebook Contest

We’re celebrating the holiday season early with a special Holiday Bonus for our December Facebook contest! You asked for more time to enter our monthly contest and we heard you loud and clear. Beginning with our December Facebook contest, you’ll have a full 24 hours to enter! Woo Hoo!

This month, we’re giving you a chance to win free plays in Iowa’s $100,000 Cash Game!

You can enter December’s Facebook contest anytime from 11 a.m. Monday (Dec. 17) to 11 a.m. Tuesday (Dec. 18). We’ll be asking you a lottery-related question on the Iowa Lottery’s Facebook page under the “Lottery Contests” tab.

Enter for your chance to win one of three sets of $20 in Iowa’s $100,000 Cash Game coupons. That sounds sweeter than a whole package of candy canes in your stocking. Sorry Santa!

Visit our Facebook page anytime from 11 a.m. Monday to 11 a.m. Tuesday where we’ll pose our question on the Lottery Contests tab located under our cover photo. When the man on the Lottery Contests tab turns green and says “Enter Now!” that’s your cue to enter. Click the tab, read the question, fill in the entry form and your answer and click “submit” during the new 24-hour window and you’ll be entered. It’s just that easy!

Important Note: The question will NOT appear on our Facebook “Wall.” You’ll need to click the Lottery Contests tab to see it! Also, if you’re viewing our Facebook page on a smart phone, you will need to use the Desktop view in order to see the Lottery Contests tab. It does not appear in the mobile application view.

We’ll select three winners from all of the correct answers submitted, so make sure to double-check your answer before you hit the submit button. Then we’ll blog about the winners, update the Lottery Contests tab on our Facebook page and link to the blog entry on Twitter.

We’ll notify the winners by phone and/or email to claim their prize. If you’re one of the winners, we’ll need to verify your information so we can send out your prize pack!

Winners will have until 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 26, to verify their information with us to claim their prize. We’ll also select alternate names in case any of the winners don’t contact us within the specified amount of time.

A few other details:
• You must live in Iowa to participate.
• You must be at least 21 years old to enter.
• There’s no purchase necessary to enter or win.
• You can only enter once per person. Only the first entry from each person will be accepted. Duplicates will be removed, including those by the same player entering with multiple email accounts.


And now for the fine print: This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook. You understand that you are providing your information to the Iowa Lottery and not to Facebook. The information you provide will only be used for lottery purposes. The risk of loss for electronic misdelivery, late delivery or failure of receipt for information entered electronically remains with entrant regardless of the cause of the transmission failure.

Twitter Contest Winners Take Home the Gold

Thanks to everyone who entered our Twitter contest today! Our three winners will be enjoying some free tickets in another one of our holiday games!

Today’s question was: How many winners will get to go to Last Vegas as part of the Winter of Winners promotion?

The correct answer: 10! Ten trip packages to THE PALMS™ in Las Vegas will be awarded on Jan. 14. Don’t forget to continue entering your nonwinning holiday tickets for a chance to get in on that! Any entries you had from the first two drawings also will carry over.

Here are the three Twitter followers who gave correct answers to today’s question and were selected as winners in our contest!

Congratulations to:

@Aubrizzlynn
@tomstiles4
@MzR0se

They each have won $20 in tickets in the Holiday Gold scratch game! It’s a $1 holiday game with a top prize of $1,500. And remember, if you don’t win a cash prize instantly on your holiday tickets, you can also enter them into your free VIP Club account to earn Points For PrizesTM AND entries into the Winter of Winners promotion.

Our Twitter contest winners need to contact us by 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 18, to claim their prizes.

Thanks to everyone who participated in this month’s contest. Our next Twitter contest is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Jan. 22.

©2012 FP Holdings, L.P. dba Palms Casino Resort. All Rights Reserved.

All That Twitters is Gold

We’re continuing with our holiday theme for this month’s Twitter contest – and this month you’ll get a holiday bonus!

Those who enter our Twitter contest will get the chance to win one of three prize packs that each contain $20 in the  “Holiday Gold” instant-scratch game.

And as a holiday bonus, we’re extending the contest entry time! Our contests usually last 15 minutes, but this month you’ll have 30 minutes to answer our easy question and be entered for a chance to win those free tickets.

And remember, you can also Play It Again™ with any nonwinning tickets in that game – along with all other nonwinning holiday-themed scratch tickets this season – by entering them into your VIP Club account. Entering those nonwinning holiday tickets not only earns you points to use in the Points For Prizes™ online store, but also gets you entries into the Winter of Winners promotion!

All the promotion’s details can be found on the Winter of Winners page on our website.

Our Twitter contest is set for 11 a.m. on Tuesday (Dec. 11). To be eligible to enter, just follow us on Twitter – it’s free to create an account if you don’t already have one. Then give us the correct answer to our super-easy contest question and you’ll be entered for a chance to win one of the three ticket prize packages.   

At 11 a.m. Tuesday, we’ll pose our question on Twitter. Reply with your answer within the NEW 30-minute time limit and you’ll be entered in the contest! Reply to @ialottery on Twitter. (Don’t direct message us on Twitter, as direct messages aren’t eligible for entry.)

We’ll select the three winners in our contest, then we’ll blog about the results and link to that blog entry on Twitter and Facebook.

If you win, you’ll need to contact us with your name, date of birth and mailing address so we can send out your tickets. Winners will have until 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 18, to contact us with their information in order to claim your prize.

A few other details:
• You must be at least 21 years old to enter.
• You must live in Iowa to participate.
• There’s no purchase necessary to enter or win!
• Only one entry per person. The first entry from each person will be accepted. Duplicates will be removed.

And now for the fine print: This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Twitter. You understand that you are providing your information to the Iowa Lottery and not to Twitter. The information you provide will only be used for the lottery’s Twitter Contest. The risk of loss for electronic misdelivery, late delivery or failure of receipt for information entered electronically remains with entrant regardless of the cause of the transmission failure.

It’s Powerball Wednesday, Baby!

It’s Wednesday, the day of the HUGE Powerball drawing, so we’re all about Powerball today here at the Iowa Lottery. We’re celebrating by all wearing red shirts and we’re taking turns wearing the Powerball suit. Hey, who WOULDN’T want to be the Powerball on a day like this? Amy got to wear the suit for this pic!

The Iowa Lottery made national news this morning – did you see? Mary and Brian Lohse from Bondurant, our $202.1 million Powerball jackpot winners from October, were on “CBS This Morning” and the “Today” show! They talked about what it’s like to win Powerball and what you do after you’ve won a big jackpot. Click here for a link to the CBS News story about the Lohses. And below is a link to Matt Lauer’s interview with the Lohses on “Today.” 

One of our staff members (Thank you, Kim!) also made Powerball cookies for us to enjoy today here at lottery headquarters in Des Moines. Hey, you gotta enjoy the run while it lasts, right?

You can buy Powerball tickets for tonight’s drawing until 8:59 p.m. here in Iowa. If you buy a ticket after that, it will be for the next drawing on Saturday.

And as we always say, remember to play with your head, not over your head. It only takes one ticket to get in the game and have a shot at that giant jackpot.   

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

 

Powerball Jackpot Climbs Even Higher

The huge jackpot for tomorrow night’s Powerball drawing, already a record for the game, has been pushed even higher by strong sales nationwide. It’s just been announced that the jackpot is being raised another $75 million to an estimated $500 million annuity ($327 million cash) for the drawing at 9:59 p.m. tomorrow.

Strong sales across the country are the reason the prize is taking big jumps now – Wednesday’s jackpot is now $173 million higher than the $327 prize that was up for grabs in this past Saturday’s drawing.

The Powerball jackpot was last won in the drawing on Oct. 3, so it’s been growing for nearly two months.

The previous jackpot record in the Powerball game was a $365 million prize won in February 2006 by eight co-workers at a Nebraska meatpacking plant. The world record for a jackpot in any lotto game also was set this year when the Mega Millions jackpot hit $656 million before it was won on March 30. That big prize was split between three tickets in Illinois, Kansas and Maryland.
 
You can buy tickets here in Iowa for the drawing until 8:59 p.m. tomorrow. If you buy a ticket after that, it will be for the following Powerball drawing on Saturday, Dec. 1.

And here’s what we know about coverage for the drawing – and I don’t mean media coverage! All of the lotteries across the country that sell Powerball tickets are tracking sales, and by looking at the numbers overall, estimates can be made about how many of the possible combinations of numbers in the game will be purchased for a particular drawing. The odds of winning the jackpot in Powerball are about 1 in 175.2 million because there are about 175.2 million possible ways you can combine the numbers to make a play.

It’s anticipated that about 60 percent of all the possible combinations will be purchased – or covered – for tomorrow night’s Powerball drawing. So, does that mean there will be a winner? We won’t know for sure until the drawing happens!

Howwwwwwwl about a Twitter Contest?

“Happy Howlidays” from us to you! We’re giving away tickets in this cute game in our next Twitter contest.

Our Twitter followers will get the chance to win $20 in tickets in the  “Happy Howlidays” instant-scratch game. What can be better than a ticket with cute dogs on it? Especially when it’s got a top prize of $2,000.

And remember, you can also Play It Again™ with any nonwinning tickets in that game – along with all other nonwinning holiday-themed scratch tickets this season – by entering them into your VIP Club account. Entering those nonwinning tickets not only earns you points to use in the Points For Prizes™ online store, but also gets you entries into the Winter of Winners promotion!

All the promotion’s details can be found on the Winter of Winners promotions page our website.

Our Twitter contest is set for 2 p.m. on Tuesday (Nov. 20). To be eligible to enter, just follow us on Twitter – it’s free to create an account if you don’t already have one. Then give us the correct answer to our super-easy contest question and you’ll be entered for a chance to win one of the ticket prize packages.   

At 2 p.m. Tuesday, we’ll pose our question on Twitter. Reply with your answer within the 15-minute time limit and you’ll be entered in the contest! Reply to @ialottery on Twitter. (Don’t direct message us on Twitter, as direct messages aren’t eligible for entry.)

We’ll select the three winners in our contest, then we’ll blog about the results and link to that blog entry on Twitter and Facebook.

If you win, you’ll need to contact us with your name, date of birth and mailing address so we can send out your tickets. Winners will have until 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 27, to contact us with their information in order to claim your prize.

A few other details:
• You must be at least 21 years old to enter.
• You must live in Iowa to participate.
• There’s no purchase necessary to enter or win!
• Only one entry per person. The first entry from each person will be accepted. Duplicates will be removed.

And now for the fine print: This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Twitter. You understand that you are providing your information to the Iowa Lottery and not to Twitter. The information you provide will only be used for the lottery’s Twitter Contest. The risk of loss for electronic misdelivery, late delivery or failure of receipt for information entered electronically remains with entrant regardless of the cause of the transmission failure.

October’s Frightful Facebook Contest Results

Now for the moment you’ve all been waiting for…THE WINNERS!

Congratulations to:

1) Onyotse Agbese
2) Chrissy Carman
3) Penny Staley

Each of these three winners will receive $20 in Powerball coupons!

We’ll notify the winners by phone and/or email to claim their prize. We’ll need to verify each winner’s information so we can send out their prize packs!

Winners will have until 4 p.m. (CST) on Monday, Oct. 29, to verify their information with us in order to claim their prize. We’ve also selected alternate names in case any of the winners don’t contact us within the specified amount of time.

Thanks to everyone who entered the October Facebook contest.

Mark your calendars now for
November’s Facebook contest set for 11 a.m. (CST) Nov. 26.
We sure hope you can join us!

One Of Our Best Winner Stories …

The spotlight this week may be on our huge winners from Wednesday night’s drawings, but it’s a different winner story that’s got my attention.  

Yesterday afternoon, Mary Fife of Ankeny came to see us here at lottery headquarters to claim a $1,000 prize in the “Hot $50,000” scratch game. Her daughter and granddaughter came along for a fun family outing. We gave Mary one of our big ceremonial checks, took her photo and generally made it a big to-do.  

Big deal, you might say. After all, $1,000 isn’t exactly one of our biggest prizes these days.

Did I mention that Mary is 100?

Yep, she just won a $1,000 prize in her 100th year. That’s a whole lot of 0s!

If I make it to 100 someday, I want to be having fun like Mary. She lifted all our spirits yesterday!

HOLY COW! Four Big Prizes, Including Powerball Jackpot, All Won In Iowa Last Night

Just for one night, Iowa may have been the luckiest place on earth!
In Wednesday night’s lotto drawings, Iowa Lottery players won a $202.1 million Powerball® jackpot,
a $1 million Powerball prize, a $10,000 Powerball prize AND a top prize in Iowa’s $100,000 Cash Game. Whew!

So you’ve got your tickets out and you’re checking them, right? (hint, hint…) As our CEO Terry Rich said this morning, if there’s ever a time to double-check your tickets, this is it!!

Here’s the 411 on the winning tickets:

•    The jackpot-winning ticket matched all six numbers selected in Wednesday’s Powerball drawing to win the big prize. The jackpot winner was purchased at: Casey’s General Store, 1455 Grant St. in Bondurant.
•    The $1 million-winning ticket came close to having a share of the jackpot, matching the first five numbers but missing the Powerball. That ticket was purchased at another Casey’s location, at 130 W. Evans St. in Williamsburg.
•    The $10,000-winning ticket also was just one number away from having a share of the jackpot. That ticket matched four of the first five numbers and the Powerball. It was purchased at the Big 10 Mart, 1225 Boyson Road in Hiawatha.
The winning numbers in Wednesday’s Powerball drawing were: 13-26-39-41-42 and
Powerball 10.
•    And, the top prize-winning ticket in Iowa’s $100,000 Cash Game was purchased at Hy-Vee Gas, 2632 Ave. L in Fort Madison.

The winning numbers in Wednesday’s drawing of the $100,000 Cash Game were: 2-6-18-25-33.

Powerball jackpot winners can choose to receive their prizes in annuitized payments over time or as a one-time, lump-sum payment. If the winner(s) chooses the annuity option for Wednesday’s jackpot, it will be made in 30 payments over 30 years totaling $202.1 million before taxes, with the annual amount increasing over time to accommodate for inflation. If the winner(s) chooses the cash option, he or she will receive about $129.8 million before taxes.

Wow, What A Night For Iowa Lottery Players!

Here are the initial details we know about the shower of big winners we’re seeing here in Iowa from last night’s lotto drawings! More details to come as we have them…

Iowa Lottery players had perhaps their winningest night ever last night, winning four big prizes in Powerball® and Iowa’s $100,000 Cash Game.
 
Someone who bought a ticket in Iowa won last night’s $202.1 million Powerball jackpot to become the second-biggest lottery winner ever in the state and Iowa’s second Powerball jackpot winner this year. Another Iowa player won a $1 million Powerball prize last night and yet another won a $10,000 Powerball prize. And, someone won the top prize of $100,000 in last night’s drawing of Iowa’s $100,000 Cash Game.

Due to of the large number of big prizes involved, the Iowa Lottery’s processing of the winning information is expected to take longer than usual. Further details, including the locations where the winning tickets were sold, will be released as soon as possible later today.

Here are the winning numbers you’ll need to CHECK YOUR TICKETS!

The winning numbers in last night’s Powerball drawing were: 13-26-39-41-42 and Powerball 10. And the winning numbers in last night’s drawing of the $100,000 Cash Game were: 2-6-18-25-33.  

Webster City Man Is Iowa’s Latest Big Powerball Winner

The winner of that Powerball prize in Urbandale shows that anyone from anywhere can buy a lottery ticket – and win! I blogged about the big prize earlier today, and now we know that a Webster City man is the $1 million winner. Click on the video above to see Tom Christeson’s story of how he bought his winning ticket while in the Des Moines area to visit family.

The real question is: What gives with Webster City’s run of luck? Christeson is the third big winner in two years for Webster City, a community of about 8,000 in Hamilton County. Larry Dawson of Webster City won a $9.09 million jackpot in the Hot Lotto® game in May 2011 while Aenoi Phetxoumphone of Webster City won a $1 million prize in the “Lifetime Riches” scratch game in February 2011. We’ve definitely got a new lucky town on our hands!
 
Lottery players in Iowa now have won seven Powerball prizes of $1 million or more in 2012, including the $241 million jackpot in the June 13 drawing.

Just How Many People Play?

We just got a great question about lottery players in Iowa, so I’m sharing our answer here on the blog to give you some numbers to think about.

Here’s the question: How many people play the Iowa Lottery in a week? The short answer is that I don’t think we’ve ever quantified that. Sheer scale and distance would make that extremely difficult if not impossible!

Lottery tickets are sold at more than 2,400 retail locations in Iowa, with people simultaneously buying tickets at any given time all across the state. And, sales can and do vary from week to week, depending on things such as the size of the jackpots in our big games.  

Eighty-some percent of Iowa adults say they have played the lottery. We consider the entire adult population of Iowa as our playing base, although we know that many of our players come from out of state. And, by a lottery’s very definition, its players can be anyone from anywhere, so long as they are of age to make the purchase.

Another way to address the issue is to look at sales. The Iowa Lottery’s latest financial year was fiscal year 2012, which ended on June 30. In that year, Iowa Lottery players purchased $310.9 million in tickets. That means lottery players in Iowa bought an average of nearly $6 million in tickets per week during FY 2012.

Now There’s A Wish List For VIP Club Items

If you’ve had your eye on some items in our VIP Club store, there’s a new way to track your special list and share it with others. It’s called “My Wish List” and we’ve just added it as a new feature in our VIP Club.

Every nonwinning ticket in one of our eligible scratch games is worth points in the VIP Club. As you build up points in your account, you can spend them in the Points For Prizes store. With electronics, camping gear, jewelry, college fan apparel, tool sets and more, there’s a lot to choose from!

Some VIP Club members had asked if they could create their own custom lists just for sorting purposes on their end or for sharing with others. The Wish List feature adds that functionality, so check it out next time you log into your account.

To create a wish list, just click on the “Add to Wish List” button in the listing for the item you like. You then can view your list by clicking on the “My Wish List” link in the box that provides the details about your account, including how many points you have. To email your list out, just click on the “Email Wish List” link on the points redemption page.

Once you’ve ordered an item, or if you decide you don’t want to track it anymore, you can take it off your list by simply clicking on the “Remove From Wish List” link.

Happy tracking!

August Facebook Contest Results

Now for the moment you’ve all been waiting for…THE WINNERS!

Congratulations to:

1) JoAnn Lopez
2) Beverly Steuerwald
3) Shirley Thede

Each of these three winners will receive $20 in Mega Millions coupons!

We’ll notify the winners by phone and/or email to claim their prize. We’ll need to verify each winner’s information so we can send out their prize packs!

Winners will have until 4 p.m. (CST) on Tuesday, Sept. 4, to verify their information with us in order to claim their prize. We’ve also selected alternate names in case any of the winners don’t contact us within the specified amount of time.

Thanks to everyone who entered the August Facebook contest.

Mark your calendars now for
September’s Facebook contest set for 11 a.m. (CST) Sept. 24.
We sure hope you can join us!

‘Lucky’ Twitter Contest Winners!

Thanks to everyone who entered our Twitter contest today! They’ll be enjoying some free tickets in one of our newest games!

Today’s question was: Who was the $1 million winner in Sunday’s “Mystery Millionaire” finale event?

We had NO wrong answers – everyone answered correctly with “Dean Stuhr.” We just blogged about Dean today; you can read his story and watch video from the live event here.

We had a blast putting on the live event. Dean was so overwhelmed he could barely say anything! But we’re sure he’s celebrating this week.

Today, we used a random number generator, or “RNG” to determine the winners of the contest instead of doing an in-house game. It allowed us to get you the results much more quickly.

Our three winners have each won $30 in the Lucky Cherry Slots scratch game! It’s a new $1 game and has a top prize of $1,000. And remember, if you have any nonwinning tickets, you can also enter them into your free VIP Club account to earn Points For Prizes.

Congratulations to:
@kgbearclaw
@barelyberlee
@Mischelle63

The winners need to contact us by 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 28, to claim their prizes.

Thanks to everyone who participated in this month’s contest. Stay tuned for the next one coming soon!

Revisiting An Incredible Tale of Family Luck

The hub-bub over Iowa’s biggest Powerball winners this summer pushed attention past a really incredible story of lottery luck that I want to go back and highlight here today.

Back in June, a father and son from west-central Iowa both won the top prize of $10,000 in the “Royal Riches” scratch game on the exact same day.

It all started when Nicholas Janning from Scranton called his dad, Terry, to share the news that he’d won a $500 prize in the "Crossword” game. But Terry Janning, who lives in Carroll, surprised his son with the news that he had just won $10,000 playing Royal Riches.

Well, that got Nicholas to thinking that maybe he should try that game, too. So that night, he bought a Royal Riches ticket … And he, too, won $10,000!

Father and son had some fun claiming their prizes together on June 7 at our office in Storm Lake. The behind-the-scenes details are that Terry Janning bought his big winning ticket in Glidden while Nicholas Janning bought his big winner in Scranton.

There’s no doubt: That’s quite a hot streak! Can’t wait to see if that “Janning luck” continues!

Hidden Symbol Contest Reminders

Earlier this year, we began running a series of Hidden Symbol contests. From what we’ve heard from you, it’s fun to search around the lottery’s website and stumble upon a chance to win some free stuff!

Since we’ve been doing this for a few months now, we figured now would be a good time for a few reminders. Our Twitter and Facebook gurus, Amy and Kim, have been giving you teasers on our social media sites to get you on the right track. Sometimes they provide a link to our website. However, that link will only take you to the lottery’s website home page, not directly to the Hidden Symbol contest page. That’s up to you to find with your super sleuth skills!

The contests have no real schedule; we start and end them periodically. That’s why it’s important to keep checking back for new opportunities to enter. And why it’s also a good idea to follow us on Twitter and Facebook – so you can get those teasers.

We keep updated information on the Hidden Symbol contests on the promotions page of our website, as well as information on all of our other promotions.

Right now we’ve got a Veterans Hidden Symbol contest running. You’ve got until noon on July 20 to find this symbol and enter! You’ve got a chance to win one of three prize packs of $20 in “Veterans Silver 6s” scratch tickets, a messenger bag, a back scratcher and a cell phone caddy.

And here’s your hint: You might need a “history” lesson to find this hidden symbol!

‘Super’ Twitter Contest Winners

Thanks to everyone who entered our Twitter contest today! Hopefully our winners will be able to “cash out” with their prizes!

Today’s question was: Who is the Iowa Lottery’s current CEO?

The answer, of course, is Terry Rich. Terry has been the Iowa Lottery CEO since 2009. He is only the lottery’s second CEO, following Dr. Ed Stanek.

There were a ton of right answers and NO wrong ones. We love that our players are so well-informed! Way to go.

Today, we used a random number generator, or “RNG” to determine the winners of the contest instead of doing an in-house game. It allowed us to get you the results much more quickly.

Our three winners have each won $30 in the Super Cashout scratch game! And remember, if you have any nonwinning tickets, you can also enter them into your free VIP Club account to earn Points For Prizes.

Congratulations to:
@BW_0
@vickie_68
@DannyBeaverino

The winners need to contact us by 4 p.m. on Tuesday, July 24, to claim their prizes.

Thanks to everyone who participated in this month’s contest. Stay tuned for the next one coming soon!

July’s Facebook Contest

What better way to celebrate July than with a Facebook contest? This time we’ll be giving you a chance to win free plays in Powerball®!

This month’s contest is set for 2 p.m. (CST) on Monday (July 23). We’ll be asking you an easy, lottery-related question on the Iowa Lottery’s Facebook page under the “Lottery Contests” tab.

Up for grabs will be three sets of $10 in Powerball coupons and some cool lottery goodies!

Visit our Facebook page at 2 p.m. Monday where we’ll pose our question under the Lottery Contests tab located under our cover photo. When the man on the Lottery Contests tab turns green and says “Enter Now!” that’s your cue to enter. Click the tab, read the question, fill in the entry form and your answer and click “submit” during the 15-minute window and you’ll be entered. It’s just that easy!

Important Note: The question will NOT appear on our Facebook “Wall.” You’ll need to click the Lottery Contests tab to see it! We recommend visiting our Facebook page early so you can make sure everything is working for you and you can easily locate the tab. Also, if you’re viewing our Facebook page on a smartphone, you will need to use the Desktop view in order to see the Lottery Contests tab. It does not appear in the mobile application view.

We’ll select three winners from all correct answers submitted. Then we’ll blog about the winners here, update the Lottery Contests tab on our Facebook page and link to the blog entry on Twitter.

We’ll notify the winners by phone and/or email to claim their prize. If you’re one of the winners, we’ll need to verify your information so we can send out your prize pack!

Winners will have until 4 p.m. on Monday, July 30, to verify their information with us to claim their prize. We’ll also select alternate names in case any of the winners don’t contact us within the specified amount of time.

A few other details:
• You must live in Iowa.
• You must be at least 21 years old to enter.
• There’s no purchase necessary to enter or win.
• Only one entry per person. Duplicates will not count.

And now for the fine print: This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook. You understand that you are providing your information to the Iowa Lottery and not to Facebook. The information you provide will only be used for lottery purposes. The risk of loss for electronic misdelivery, late delivery or failure of receipt for information entered electronically remains with entrant regardless of the cause of the transmission failure.

Time for Another ‘Super’ Twitter Contest

It was hard to pick a theme for this month’s Twitter contest since we’ve got so many cool new tickets out. We settled on a ‘super’ theme!

July’s contest gives you a chance to win $30 in tickets in the new “Super Cashout” scratch game. It’s a $3 ticket that plays a lot like our “Bingo” tickets, but has top prizes of $30,000. It’d be easy to keep cool in this hot summer weather with that kind of cash!

We’re changing up the time of our contest again as well. Our Twitter contest is set for 2 p.m. on Tuesday, July 17. To be eligible to enter, just follow us on Twitter – it’s free to create an account if you don’t already have one. Then give us the correct answer to our super-easy contest question and you’ll be entered for a chance to win one of the ticket prize packages.   

At 2 p.m. next Tuesday, we’ll pose our question on Twitter. Reply with your answer within the 15-minute time limit and you’ll be entered in the contest! Reply to @ialottery on Twitter. (Don’t direct message us on Twitter, as direct messages aren’t eligible for entry.)

We’ll select the three winners in our contest, then we’ll blog about the results and link to that blog entry on Twitter and Facebook.

If you win, you’ll need to contact us with your name, date of birth and mailing address so we can send out your tickets. Winners will have until 4 p.m. on Tuesday, July 24, to contact us with their information in order to claim their prize.

A few other details:
• You must be at least 21 years old to enter.
• You must live in Iowa.
• There’s no purchase necessary to enter or win!
• Only one entry per person. Duplicates will be removed.

And now for the fine print: This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Twitter. You understand that you are providing your information to the Iowa Lottery and not to Twitter. The information you provide will only be used for the lottery’s Twitter Contest. The risk of loss for electronic misdelivery, late delivery or failure of receipt for information entered electronically remains with entrant regardless of the cause of the transmission failure.

Our Next Round Of ‘Warehouse Dash’ Contestants!

The next round of lucky contestants in our “Warehouse Dash” promotion has been chosen, so now we’re gearing up for another fun weekend trip to Chicago!

And just like the last time, our three contestants for the June Warehouse Dash trip are from across the state. A big congratulations to:

•    Ruth Dolter of Dubuque
•    Joshua Meier of Sioux City
•    Donna Zoutte of Knoxville.

So what do they have to look forward to? Click here to see video of our first-round winners in action as they ran through the warehouse grabbing prizes! Those three teams each went home with $10,000-$13,000 in merchandise from their dash!  

If this is the first time you’re hearing about the Warehouse Dash, here’s the background: The lottery is throwing open the doors to the main warehouse that supplies the prizes in our VIP Club store, including televisions and other sought-after electronics, housewares, jewelry, camping gear, sporting equipment and more.

Three contestants were chosen for a Warehouse Dash trip earlier this month and now our second round of contestants is gearing up for their trip in June. Each contestant gets to choose a partner to accompany them on the trip and participate in a 90-second dash through the prize warehouse to grab as much top-brand merchandise as they can.

The contestants and their guests get a two-night stay June 22-23 at the Chicago Marriott® Downtown Magnificent Mile hotel, a welcome dinner at the nearby Fleming's® steakhouse, transportation to and from the warehouse for the dash, and then are able to relax and have fun on their own on the second night. Each contestant also receives $1,500 travel and spending cash and the lottery pays the state and federal taxes for the prize package.