ialottery blog

Settlement Website, Phone Number Announced For Claims In Jackpot Lawsuit

A website and toll-free telephone number are now live for U.S. lottery players to contact if they think they can make a claim in a settlement stemming from a class-action lawsuit.

The settlement will allow refunds for the cost of tickets purchased in a small set of lottery drawings held from November 2005 to May 2013 in certain games, including the Hot Lotto game.

The only way that players can make a claim as part of the settlement is by going to the website at www.LotteryGameSettlement.com or calling 1-877-872-3816.

The claims process will run for 120 days, through Jan. 7, 2020. Players who don’t submit their claim forms by the deadline will be excluded and won’t be part of the settlement.

The claim form that players will need to file is available on the settlement website and can be completed online or downloaded. Players who download the form will need to fill it out and follow instructions to send it to a company that will review the claims. 

The $4.3 million settlement in the case of Culler et al vs. the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) will provide refunds to those with nonwinning lottery tickets linked to the lottery fraud case that centered on Eddie Tipton, an Iowa man who worked for years in information-security at MUSL.

The Iowa Lottery was not a party to the lawsuit, but the events of this week give us another chance to look back and take pride in the work we did along with that of other Iowa officials who led the investigation. That effort ultimately led to this point where there can be a settlement for affected players.

Please note that the Iowa Lottery is not involved in the settlement process and can’t help review, process or validate any player claims. Players who want to make a claim need to visit the settlement website or call the toll-free telephone number.

Once the claims process is completed, the court will review the settlement agreement again and make a final determination about the process that will follow.

The long-running lottery jackpot investigation case culminated in 2017 with guilty pleas from three men who admitted they illegally claimed prizes by rigging lottery drawings in five states. Eddie Tipton, the man at the center of the investigation, worked at MUSL, an organization within the lottery industry, and installed malicious computer code that allowed him to predict winning numbers in some lottery drawings.

Tipton ultimately pleaded guilty to three felony charges in Iowa and Wisconsin and was sentenced in August 2017 to up to 25 years in prison. He admitted that he conspired with friends and family to claim lottery prizes in Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma and Wisconsin. He also tried to claim a jackpot in Iowa, but it was not paid after the Iowa Lottery’s security questions went unanswered. 

Tipton’s younger brother, Tommy Tipton, also pleaded guilty in the case, as did Tipton’s long-time friend, Robert Rhodes.

Burlington resident Dale Culler filed a lawsuit naming MUSL in connection with the rigged games. A Polk County District Court judge granted Culler's request to seek damages on behalf of other lottery players in a class-action suit.

Settlement Reached In Lawsuit Stemming From Long-Running Jackpot Investigation Case

A settlement has been reached in a class-action lawsuit stemming from the long-running lottery jackpot investigation that ended with three men being sentenced after admitting that they cooperated to commit lottery fraud.

The Iowa Lottery was not a party to the lawsuit, but we view this as a moment to look back and take pride in our work along with that of other Iowa officials who led the investigation. That effort ultimately led us all to this point where there can be a settlement for affected players.

The $4.3 million settlement in the case of Culler et al vs. the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) will provide refunds to those with nonwinning lottery tickets linked to the lottery fraud case that centered on Eddie Tipton, an Iowa man who worked for years in information-security at MUSL.

The settlement will allow refunds for the cost of tickets purchased in some lottery drawings between November 2005 and May 2013 in certain games sold around the country.

It’s our understanding that once the settlement reached by MUSL is approved by the court, a settlement website will be set up. That is the place where players who made purchases for the lottery drawings involved will be able to submit claims online or access claim forms that they can print out and submit by mail. We don’t have information yet about the settlement website, but we’ll share it when the details are provided to us.

Attorneys in the case say there will a mechanism for players who no longer have their tickets to file a claim.

The jackpot investigation case began with a lottery ticket purchased in December 2010 in Des Moines and culminated in 2017 with guilty pleas from three men who admitted they illegally claimed prizes by rigging lottery drawings in five states. Eddie Tipton, the man at the center of the investigation, worked at MUSL, an organization within the lottery industry, and installed malicious computer code that allowed him to predict winning numbers in some lottery drawings.

Tipton ultimately pleaded guilty to three felony charges in Iowa and Wisconsin and was sentenced in August 2017 to up to 25 years in prison. He had conspired with friends and family to claim lottery prizes in Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma and Wisconsin. He also tried to claim a lottery jackpot in Iowa, but it was not paid after the Iowa Lottery’s security questions went unanswered. 

Tipton’s younger brother, Tommy Tipton, also pleaded guilty in the case, as did Tipton’s long-time friend, Robert Rhodes.

Burlington resident Dale Culler is among at least three people who filed lawsuits naming MUSL in connection with the rigged games. A Polk County District Court judge granted Culler's request to seek damages on behalf of other lottery players in a class-action suit.

Big Jackpot On The Line For Christmas!

Dec. 26 update: As we now know, Mega Millions has gone five for five with no jackpot winners in its drawings that have been held on Christmas Day. Nobody won the jackpot in last night’s drawing, so the Mega Millions top prize has climbed to an estimated $348 million annuity, $210.2 million cash option for Friday’s drawing. The next time there will be a Mega Millions drawing on Christmas will be in 2020, when Dec. 25 is on a Friday. But in 2019, Dec. 25 will be on a Wednesday, so next year there will be a Powerball drawing for Christmas! 

Jackpot drawings in our lotto games are held come rain or come shine – or as is the case tomorrow, come the Christmas holiday. And a BIG jackpot will be on the line this Christmas: the Mega Millions® jackpot has reached an estimated $321 million annuity, $193.7 million lump-sum option, for tomorrow night’s drawing.

This is just the fourth time that a Mega Millions drawing has been held on Christmas since the game’s start in 2002. (The last time was in 2015.) But so far, no one has actually won a Mega Millions jackpot on Christmas.

The game’s jackpot has been growing since it was last won in the drawing on Oct. 23. You may remember that big prize: that night’s jackpot of $1.54 billion was won with a single ticket purchased in South Carolina. The winner has not yet claimed the prize.

So, has Iowa ever seen a jackpot winner on Christmas? Our state’s very first Powerball® jackpot winner came close: Ed Brown of Washington split a $10.4 million jackpot with a Missouri woman in the Powerball drawing on Dec. 23, 1992.

And ten years later, a western Iowa man won a Hot Lotto jackpot in that game’s drawing on Christmas Day 2002. Don Sporrer of Denison waited a few weeks  before claiming his $2.7 million prize in January 2003. He said he knew the whole time that he had the winning ticket  and he had fun listening to local speculation about the identity of the winner!

Iowa Lottery Wins International Gaming-Compliance Award For Work In Investigation

The Iowa Lottery has won an international gaming-compliance award for its work in the long-running lottery jackpot investigation that uncovered fraud against U.S. lotteries and resulted in confessions and guilty pleas from three men.

Yesterday, GamblingCompliance named the Iowa Lottery its 2018 recipient for outstanding achievement in compliance. The organization’s annual awards that recognize excellence in 11 categories were presented in London. The lottery was one of five worldwide finalists for the gaming-compliance award.

We’re enormously proud of the work we put in and the perseverance investigators showed through the years in bringing the long-running case to a successful conclusion. We believed the case was a crucial opportunity for our lottery to pinpoint security enhancements and new technologies we could bring to our operations. I’m confident in the integrity of our games, and if anything, we’re even more aware today that we have to aggressively monitor and “trust but verify” in all areas of our operations if we’re going to stay ahead of those who would try to commit crimes.

GamblingCompliance is headquartered in London and has its U.S. hub in Washington, D.C. It provides independent legal, regulatory, and business intelligence to the global gambling industry.

The jackpot investigation case began with a lottery ticket purchased in December 2010 in Des Moines and culminated in 2017 with guilty pleas from three men who admitted they illegally claimed prizes by rigging lottery drawings in five states. Eddie Tipton, the man at the center of the investigation, installed malicious computer code that allowed him to predict winning numbers in some lottery drawings.

The Iowa Lottery noticed that something was amiss from the group’s earliest attempt to claim the jackpot won in Des Moines, and requested that the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation open an investigation.

Tipton pleaded guilty to three felony charges in Iowa and Wisconsin and was sentenced in August 2017 to up to 25 years in prison. He had conspired with friends and family to claim lottery prizes in Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma and Wisconsin and attempt to claim a lottery jackpot in Iowa, which ultimately was not paid.

Tipton’s younger brother, Tommy Tipton, also pleaded guilty in the case, as did Tipton’s long-time friend, Robert Rhodes.

Hot Lotto Jackpot Money Will Roll Forward Into Lotto America Game

A couple weeks ago, I wrote about what would happen to the money in the Hot Lotto jackpot pool if the grand prize was not won by the time the game ended. And as it has turned out, the Hot Lotto jackpot indeed was not won before or during the game’s final drawing on Saturday.

The big prize that night was $12.16 million and no one won the jackpot by matching all six of the winning numbers in the final Hot Lotto drawing. So the money in the jackpot pool will roll forward into the Lotto America game that begins sales in less than two weeks on Sunday, Nov. 12.

The jackpot in Lotto America normally will start at $2 million and grow until someone wins it. But with the Hot Lotto jackpot money carrying forward, the jackpot in the first Lotto America drawing on Wednesday, Nov. 15, will be $15 million annuity. (The cash value of that first jackpot will be set just before the drawing occurs. Fluctuating interest rates prevent the lump-sum value from being set very far in advance.)

The situation involving the Hot Lotto jackpot and what would happen to the money has brought up a lot of discussion, and we’ve been glad to be part of it. We know that not everyone will be happy with the decision to roll the money from the jackpot pool into the new game. But the majority of folks seem to like that idea more than some others that were discussed, such as returning the money from the Hot Lotto jackpot to the states in the game, and allowing each state to then follow its rules and procedures for what would happen to the money.

With the extensive programming that it takes for lottery systems to offer a new product, the Lotto America game will move ahead as I have described here. The jackpot in that game will follow the traditional annuity or lump-sum model, and jackpot winners will be able to choose which option they want to take. We’re glad that players will have the chance to continue to play for the money in the Hot Lotto jackpot pool.

Below is an image showing the prizes that will be available in the Lotto America game and the odds of winning. Please note that the odds of winning the jackpot in Lotto America (1 in 25.9 million) will be better than those in Hot Lotto, where the odds of winning the top prize were 1 in 29.14 million.

If It Isn’t Won, Hot Lotto Jackpot Will Roll Into Lotto America Game

Since we announced in August that the Hot Lotto® game will end Oct. 28, we’ve heard from a lot of folks wondering what will happen to the game’s jackpot if it isn’t won by then. And today, we can announce that a decision has been made. The money in the Hot Lotto jackpot pool will roll forward into the new Lotto America^SM game if the jackpot hasn’t been won by the time Hot Lotto ends. 

Initial thoughts were that the money in the jackpot pool – which currently stands at $11.63 million – would be returned to the states in the Hot Lotto game in proportion to the percentage of sales that had come from each state. And the money could then be used for prizes in future games and promotions. But a lot of players said they want the chance to keep playing for that money.

So the 14 states in the Hot Lotto game have voted for that very thing to occur. If the Hot Lotto jackpot isn’t won before the game ends, the money in the jackpot pool will carry forward into the new $1 Lotto America game that begins sales on Sunday, Nov. 12. The jackpot in Lotto America normally will start at $2 million and grow until someone wins it, but if the Hot Lotto jackpot money carries forward, the first jackpot in Lotto America on Wednesday, Nov. 15, will be $15 million annuity!

Click here to see more details about Lotto America from our blog entry when we announced that game last month. And below, I've included an image showing the prizes that will be available in the Lotto America game and the odds of winning. The first column shows the prizes available if you don't add the All Star Bonus multiplier to your play. The other columns show the prizes available with the All Star Bonus, which will multiply any prize except the jackpot by two to five times.

     

Maximum Prison Sentence For Man At Center Of Jackpot Investigation

 

Eddie Tipton, the man at the center of the long-running lottery jackpot investigation, was sentenced today to up to 25 years in prison. He received the maximum sentence for the felony charge of ongoing criminal conduct to which he'd pleaded guilty here in Iowa.

While in court in Des Moines, Eddie Tipton said he regretted his actions in rigging lottery drawings, said he knew what he did was wrong, and that he was sorry for hurting so many people.

In handing down the maximum sentence, the judge said he was sending a strong message of deterrence. Tipton was taken into custody at the end of the sentencing hearing.   

Here at the Iowa Lottery, we appreciate the judge’s work and respect the court’s decision. This moment has been years in coming and provides certainty and closure after all this time.

Assistant Attorney General Rob Sand and Iowa Lottery CEO Terry Rich answered questions from the media after today’s hearing. Click on the video above for a front-row seat to their Q-and-A session.

Hot Lotto Game Ending, Last Drawing Will Be Saturday, Oct. 28

Earlier this summer, we updated our line-up of lotto games, and today we have another announcement: The Hot Lotto game will end this fall. The group of lotteries that sells the game has scheduled its final drawing for Saturday, Oct. 28.

Hot Lotto is a $1 game that offers Powerball-style play but with easier odds and jackpots starting at $1 million. It got its start back in April 2002 and is currently sold in Iowa and by 13 other U.S. lotteries. Those lotteries are working on plans for a new $1 draw game that will debut later this year.

You’ve heard us say before that as part of our business decisions, lotteries routinely replace existing games with newer offerings over time to keep our game selection fresh. That happens more often with scratch games than it does with lotto games, simply because it takes months if not years of planning and programming to bring about changes on the lotto side, like this decision to end the Hot Lotto game. Any game has a lifespan. And while Hot Lotto initially sold well and the game was updated a few times through the years to include new features, its sales have dropped down over time.

Iowa Lottery players have won eight jackpots in Hot Lotto through the years, including the largest prize offered in the game to date. That $19.97 million jackpot was won in January 2007 by John Hall of Indianola.

Lottery players in Iowa will have time to claim prizes won in Hot Lotto after the game ends. Prizes in Hot Lotto are valid in Iowa for up to 365 days from the date of the drawing in which they were won.

Also, please be aware that while you’ve been able to buy Hot Lotto plays for up to 10 drawings in advance here in Iowa, that number will gradually decrease as the end of the game approaches and the number of remaining drawings counts down.  

If there is any prize money in the jackpot pool that hasn't been awarded when the game ends, here in Iowa, we'll use our portion of that money as prizes in future lottery games and promotions, so it will go pay prizes.

We’re continuing to monitor our game offerings, so look for more announcements and changes in the coming months. We’re doing our best to have variety and choices for you as players.

LOTTERY STATEMENT FOLLOWING GUILTY PLEAS IN JACKPOT INVESTIGATION

Iowa Lottery CEO Terry Rich released the following statement today following Eddie Tipton and Tommy Tipton’s guilty pleas in Polk County District Court in the long-running lottery jackpot investigation:

“Today’s plea agreement is a crucial step in bringing to a close one of the biggest lottery mysteries in history. The details we’ve already learned through this long-running investigation have allowed us at the Iowa Lottery to develop security enhancements across our games and procedures, and we remain mindful of the need to continually review our operations to make improvements.

It was important to us to hear Eddie Tipton acknowledge in court today that he wrote malicious computer code, then used that code to predict winning numbers in lottery drawings and passed those numbers to others, including his younger brother, Tommy, multiple times in years past to fraudulently claim prizes. This information will be invaluable to the Iowa Lottery and the lottery industry as a whole to help us safeguard our games and protect our players.

We understand that this agreement is part of a package of plea deals that will resolve the pending criminal court proceedings relating to the attempt to claim the 2010 Hot Lotto jackpot prize in Iowa, as well as to the other lottery prizes paid in Wisconsin, Kansas, Oklahoma and Colorado.

We’re thankful for the extensive work in this nationwide lottery investigation by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, the Iowa Attorney General’s Office and authorities from around the country.

We have said all along that the Iowa Lottery will follow the facts of this investigation wherever they may lead. I’m pleased to say we are one step closer to the end of that road today.

I continue to have confidence that Iowa Lottery games offered today are fair. Our lottery has strong layers of security in place to protect lottery players, lottery games and lottery prizes. And we will continue to make important necessary updates to maintain our safeguards.”

Lottery Statement Regarding Plea Agreement In Long-Running Jackpot Investigation

You may have heard that an agreement was reached today with Eddie Tipton and Tommy Tipton in the long-running jackpot investigation.

Iowa Lottery CEO Terry Rich released the following statement regarding today’s court proceedings:

“We’re pleased with the agreement that has been reached in the Tipton cases.  We understand that this agreement, if approved by a judge in Iowa, will resolve the pending criminal court proceedings relating to the attempt to claim the 2010 Hot Lotto jackpot prize in Iowa, as well as to the other lottery prizes paid in Wisconsin, Kansas, Oklahoma and Colorado.

We’re thankful for the extensive work in this nationwide lottery investigation by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, the Iowa Attorney General’s Office and authorities from around the country. We’re also grateful for the support of former Governor Terry Branstad and Governor Kim Reynolds, for the priority that they have placed on protecting the integrity of the lottery system here in Iowa.

As these cases reach conclusion, we look forward to the process to help answer any remaining questions about exactly what occurred. This information will be valuable to the Iowa Lottery and the lottery industry as a whole to help us safeguard our games and protect our players.

We have said all along that the Iowa Lottery will follow the facts of this investigation wherever they may lead. I am pleased to say we are one step closer to the end of that road today.

I continue to have confidence that Iowa Lottery games offered today are fair. Our lottery has strong layers of security in place to protect lottery players, lottery games and lottery prizes. We will continue to enhance the layers of security to protect the integrity of our lottery games.”

More information about today’s court proceedings and the long-running jackpot investigation can be found on our website, here.

Reminders About How To Redeem Winning Tickets

We got nearly identical questions from Facebook and by email from two different players asking where winning pull-tab tickets can be cashed here in Iowa. Here’s the answer in case you have wondered the same thing:

Prizes in our pull-tab games need to claimed at the retail location where you purchased your ticket, or, for pull-tab prizes of more than $600, at a lottery office. This is due to the individual accounting procedures for those games.

If you don’t remember where you bought your winning pull-tab ticket or you received the ticket as a gift, you can send us an email or call us and we can tell you where the ticket was purchased. We’ll need to know the name of the pull-tab game on your ticket as well as the ticket’s serial number, which is found on the front, right above the bar code.

All tickets in any of the Iowa Lottery’s other games can be redeemed at any lottery retailer across the state, except for prizes of more than $600. Those prizes must be claimed at a lottery office for tax-reporting purposes.

And remember the deadlines for claiming prizes. Scratch and pull-tab tickets are valid for 90 days after the announced end of the game. Tickets in Powerball^®, Mega Millions^®, Hot Lotto^®, Lucky for Life^® and All or Nothing™ are valid for 365 days from the date of the drawing. Tickets in Pick 3, Pick 4 and InstaPlay are valid 90 days from the date of the drawing.

You can find more information about claiming lottery prizes on our website, here.

Player Mail: How Many States Play ‘Game X’?

We got a question last week from a player who wondered which states are in the lotto games we have here in Iowa. Here’s a quick membership breakdown so you’ll have all the lists in one place!

Powerball® is played in Iowa and by 46 other lotteries. Here’s a link to the map showing all of the members in that game. And yes, it’s nearly the entire country.

Mega Millions® is nearly as big, being offered by a total of 46 lotteries. (Puerto Rico is a member of Powerball but not Mega Millions, so that’s the difference.) Here is a map showing that game’s membership.        

Lucky for Life® is sold by 21 lotteries while Hot Lotto® is sold by 15 lotteries around the country.

The multi-state version of All or Nothing™ is sold in Iowa and Minnesota.

The Pick 3 and Pick 4 games that we have here in Iowa are offered only in our state. So, those two games truly are “Iowa only.”

We offer a variety of games in all of our product lines – lotto games, scratch games and pull-tab games – so you’ll have a variety to choose from. And if you don’t care for one particular game, hopefully you’ll find a different one that you like. With different price points, game designs and playstyles, we hope to have something for everyone.

New Development In Jackpot Investigation

State investigators are asking for the public’s help in the long-running lottery jackpot investigation.

The Iowa Attorney General’s Office has requested subpoenas for records relating to two Texas attorneys, and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation is seeking lottery-related information about those same two men.

Click here to see the full announcement from the Iowa Department of Public Safety.

 

Two More Big Lottery Prizes Nearing Expiration Dates

For the second time this year, the expiration date is approaching for two big lottery prizes – this time, one for $50,000 and another for $30,000 – that are still unclaimed nearly a year after they were won with tickets purchased in the Des Moines metro area.

Two other sizeable Iowa Lottery prizes expired in March without being claimed, so the lottery is reminding players to double-check their tickets. It’s unusual to see this many large prizes expire or getting close to their end dates, and we want to see them be claimed in time! We hope our reminders will jog someone’s memory. So wherever you keep your tickets, get them out and double-check them!

Click on the video above to learn all the details about the latest unclaimed prizes. The first is a $50,000 Powerball® prize won with a ticket in Altoona for the drawing on May 6 of last year. The other is a $30,000 Hot Lotto® prize won with a ticket in Ankeny for the drawing on May 27 last year.

The money from unclaimed prizes in Iowa goes into the lottery’s prize pools for future games and promotions, so it will be used to pay prizes, just not those prizes that have expired. In fiscal year 2015, more than $1.3 million in lotto prizes expired in Iowa without being claimed.

Player Mail: Do The Drawing Balls All Weigh The Same?

Here’s a great question to send us into the weekend, and it comes from a woman named Jamie on Facebook who asks: “For the games that require ball drawings like Powerball, Hot Lotto, Mega Millions, etc., are the balls weighed before the drawings and does each ball weigh the exact same amount?”
 
The answer is: Yes, on both counts! Those are just part of the security procedures in place for our drawings. I’ve blogged about the security behind our drawings a few times, including this 2008 entry that includes a lot of detail.

Not only are the numbered balls weighed, they’re also X-rayed and measured to meet precise size, weight and density specifications. There are multiple sets of balls and machines that can be used in lottery drawings, and the equipment that is used in a particular drawing is randomly selected as part of the security procedures.

 

Lottery Statement Regarding Lawsuit From 2011 Jackpot Winner

You may have heard that a lawsuit was filed today against the Iowa Lottery and the Multi-State Lottery Association by a Webster City man who won a multi-million-dollar Hot Lotto® jackpot in May 2011.     

Iowa Lottery CEO Terry Rich released the following statement regarding the lawsuit:

“It is impossible to rewrite history. No one can know what would have occurred in this case had any event in it been changed.  We believe that Mr. Dawson rightfully was paid the jackpot to which he was entitled.

We at the Iowa Lottery are thankful for the work accomplished in the long-running lottery jackpot investigation by Iowa law enforcement and officials from around the country. Together, we have taken the actions necessary to ensure the integrity and security of lottery games today.

Our lottery will defend its efforts to protect lottery players in any forum, including in this litigation.”

 

NEW EVIDENCE IN LOTTERY JACKPOT INVESTIGATION

The long-running lottery jackpot investigation that began here in Iowa has been expanded again, now involving lottery jackpot prizes in five states, the latest in Kansas. A felony criminal conduct charge filed this fall that stemmed from jackpots won in Iowa, Colorado, Wisconsin and Oklahoma now also includes two jackpots claimed in Kansas.
 
At the time that all of the jackpots were won, the man at the center of the case worked as an information security consultant at a vendor organization within the lottery industry. That man, Eddie Tipton, later became the director of information security at that same vendor organization, the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL), which is based in Urbandale. MUSL handles day-to-day functions such as prize drawings in some lotto games on behalf of U.S. lotteries. In his work at MUSL, Tipton evaluated security systems at many U.S. lotteries and provided other information-technology duties, including software programming.    

Tipton was convicted this summer on two felony counts of fraud in the case that started the investigation nearly five years ago: the attempted claim of a lottery jackpot in 2010 here in Iowa.
 
Then in October, a felony charge of ongoing criminal conduct was filed against Tipton that initially encompassed lottery jackpot prizes won in three states: the attempted claim here in Iowa; a jackpot claimed in 2005 in Colorado; and another in 2007 in Wisconsin. A jackpot claimed in 2011 in Oklahoma was added to the charge in November. And now, two jackpot prize claims in 2010 in Kansas also have been added to the charge.

In all of the incidents, Tipton is charged with violating Iowa’s ongoing criminal conduct statute. The criminal complaint against him stipulates that he helped build the random-number generator equipment used in the jackpot drawings for the prizes involved. The complaint also stipulates that according to court testimony earlier this year, he had the technical ability and opportunity to tamper with the drawing equipment that picks the winning lottery numbers in order to make the numbers predictable.       

The Iowa and Oklahoma jackpots were both won in the multi-state Hot Lotto game. The jackpots in Colorado and Wisconsin were won in different games offered only in those states. The Kansas jackpots also were won in a separate game. 

From the beginning, we here at the Iowa Lottery have asked investigators to follow the evidence wherever it led to help get to the bottom of the situation. This latest development is another step in the process to protect lotteries, our games, our players and the billions of dollars at stake for the worthy causes that lotteries benefit.

 

New Evidence In Lottery Jackpot Investigation

The long-running lottery jackpot investigation that began here in Iowa has been expanded again, now involving lottery jackpot prizes in four states, the latest in Oklahoma. A felony criminal conduct charge filed last month that stemmed from jackpots won in Iowa, Colorado and Wisconsin now also includes the new details from Oklahoma.

At the time that all of the jackpots were won, the man charged in the case worked as an information security consultant at a vendor organization within the lottery industry. That man, Eddie Tipton, later became the director of information security at that same vendor organization, the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL), which is based in Urbandale. MUSL handles day-to-day functions such as prize drawings in some lotto games on behalf of U.S. lotteries. In his work at MUSL, Tipton evaluated security systems at many U.S. lotteries and provided other information-technology duties, including software programming.    

Tipton was convicted this summer on two felony counts of fraud in the case that started the investigation nearly five years ago: the attempted claim of a lottery jackpot in 2010 here in Iowa.   Then in October, a felony charge of ongoing criminal conduct was filed against Tipton that initially encompassed lottery jackpot prizes won in three different states: the attempted claim here in Iowa; a jackpot claimed in 2005 in Colorado; and another in 2007 in Wisconsin. The evidence in the criminal conduct charge now also includes a jackpot prize claim in 2011 in Oklahoma.

Tipton is charged with violating Iowa’s ongoing criminal conduct statute. The criminal complaint against him stipulates that he helped build the random-number generator equipment used in the jackpot drawings for the prizes involved. The complaint also stipulates that according to court testimony earlier this year, he had the technical ability and opportunity to tamper with the drawing equipment that picks the winning lottery numbers in order to make the numbers predictable.       

The Iowa and Oklahoma jackpots were both won in the multi-state Hot Lotto game, while the jackpots in Colorado and Wisconsin were won in different games offered only in those states.

From the beginning, we here at the Iowa Lottery asked investigators to follow the evidence wherever it led to help us get to the bottom of the situation. This latest development is another step in the process to protect lotteries, our games, our players and the billions of dollars at stake for the worthy causes that lotteries benefit.

New Charge Filed, Lottery Jackpot Investigation Expands To CO, WI

 

 

A new arrest has been made in that long-running lottery jackpot investigation that began here in Iowa. The investigation now has been expanded and includes jackpot prize claims from Colorado and Wisconsin.

Click on the video above to see details from the news conference where the new charge was announced. Click here to see the announcement from the Iowa Department of Public Safety.

 

Just How Many Free Plays Did You Give Out?

Our month-long promotion just wrapped where we gave away free plays in some of our lotto games. And folks have asked: Just how many player bonuses did you give out? The answer: A lot!

The “30-Day Ticket Giveaway” began Aug. 24 and continued through Tuesday. Players in Mega Millions®, Hot Lotto® and All or Nothing™ had the chance to win a free easy-pick play when they made a purchase. If their ticket was the 30th sold statewide in that particular game, the lottery terminal played a special “Surprise! Player Bonus!” sound and then automatically printed a free $1 easy-pick ticket for the next drawing in that same game.

We’ve now got the final figures from the promotion, and it turns out that players in Iowa received 29,792 free plays during the 30 days. Not too shabby!

(And here’s a hint: Check back here for the details about our next big promotion, which will start early next month.) 

10-Year Sentence Handed Down In Hot Lotto Case

The man convicted of fraud in the long-running Hot Lotto investigation has been sentenced today to 10 years in prison. A Polk County District Court judge handed down the maximum sentence that Eddie Tipton could have received for his offenses, noting that the crime was a large breach of trust.

Tipton, of Norwalk, had worked at a lottery vendor organization that handles the day-to-day functions in several lottery games, including Hot Lotto. Among other responsibilities, the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) carries out lottery game drawings and hosts websites of many U.S. lotteries. Tipton had worked as the director of information security at MUSL, which is based in Urbandale.

Tipton's lawyer indicated today that he plans to appeal.

Today's events have been years coming, and the sentencing is a bit of closure after all this time.

Every organization will face tests throughout its history, and this case certainly was one for our lottery. It’s disconcerting that someone who’d worked at a vendor organization within the lottery industry chose to betray the trust placed in him for his own personal gain. We’re glad that the judicial system worked and we have an outcome today.

We’ve said before that this case is an important reminder to lotteries everywhere to keep monitoring and making improvements to stay ahead of those who would try to beat the system. It was the strong procedures at our lottery that caught the fraud attempt in this case and prevented this multi-million-dollar jackpot from being paid out.

We’re proud of the work that was done in this case and thank the Iowa Attorney General’s Office and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation for their dedication and professionalism in achieving this outcome.

The money from this jackpot, which totaled nearly $10.8 million in cash, was returned to the lotteries in the Hot Lotto game in proportion to the sales from each jurisdiction. The Iowa Lottery received about $1.4 million back and gave that money away in a special promotion called "Mystery Millionaire" back in 2012.

The Latest Way You Can Join In Our Big Celebration

Our celebration of the Iowa Lottery’s 30th birthday is amping up again today, this time focusing on lotto players, since our promotion earlier this summer focused on scratch games.

The “30-Day Ticket Giveaway” started this morning, giving players in the Mega Millions^®, Hot Lotto^® and All or Nothing™ games the chance to win a free easy-pick play when they make a purchase. Here’s how it works:

When a player buys a ticket in one of those three games and their ticket is the 30th sold statewide in that same game, the lottery terminal will play a special “Surprise! Player Bonus!” sound and then automatically print a fee, $1 easy-pick ticket for the next drawing in that game. It’s that simple and it’s FREE!

This special offer began at the start of business this morning and continues until 11:59 p.m. central time on Tuesday, Sept. 22.

Please note that the free ticket applies to the 30th ticket sold in each of those games statewide, not at one particular location. So have fun with it and be listening for the Player Bonus recording from the terminal!

Are You Sitting On A Big Prize-Winning Ticket?

Some people find it hard to believe, but each year more than $1 million in Iowa Lottery prizes expire without being claimed.

This money goes into future prize pools, so it will be used to pay prizes, just not the particular prizes that have expired. For example the unclaimed Hot Lotto jackpot in 2010, which totaled nearly $10.8 million in cash, was returned to the lotteries in the Hot Lotto game in proportion to the sales from each jurisdiction. The Iowa Lottery received about $1.4 million back and gave the money away in a special summer promotion called “Mystery Millionaire” in 2012.

We keep a list of unclaimed prizes of $9,000 or more on our website and this list is updated daily. This page shows the game, amount won, retailer where the ticket was purchased, drawing when the prize was won and expiration date of the prize. Remember, there are deadlines to claim prizes in each of our lotto games. Powerball^®, Mega Millions^®, Hot Lotto^® and All or Nothing tickets are valid for 365 days after the drawing in which the prize was won. Pick 3 and Pick 4 tickets are valid for 90 days after the drawing.

At the lottery, we do all we can to help spread the word about unclaimed prizes, from sending out news releases to the media, posting videos with expiring ticket details and putting up signs in the stores that sold the winning tickets to posting information and reminders about unclaimed prizes on our social media pages, as well as our website.

So if you have a lotto ticket still sitting around at home or folded up in your wallet, get it out and check it today! You may have a big prize waiting!

Lottery Issues Statement Following Verdict in Hot Lotto Trial

Iowa Lottery CEO Terry Rich issued the following statement today after the jury's verdict in the long-running Hot Lotto case:

“There is no doubt this has been a fascinating case. We respect the court’s work and the jury’s verdict. The facts in this case have enabled us to further enhance our layers of security to protect the integrity of lottery games, and that ultimately has been a positive. 

This case is an important reminder that lotteries have to keep monitoring and making improvements to stay ahead of those who would try to beat the system. As a society, we may never be able to stop people from trying to commit crime, but we need to have strong procedures in place to catch and prevent them when they do.

I have confidence that the games we offer today are fair. Our lottery has strong layers of security to protect lottery players, lottery games and lottery prizes. Those procedures enabled us to seek information about the winning ticket in this case and not pay the prize until basic questions could be answered – and they never were.

There was no prize paid in this instance. The money from this jackpot, which totaled nearly $10.8 million in cash, was returned to the lotteries in the Hot Lotto game in proportion to the sales from each jurisdiction. The Iowa Lottery received about $1.4 million back and gave the money away in a special summer promotion called ‘Mystery Millionaire’ back in 2012. Fifteen players ended up winning prizes in that promotion.

The details in this case are important for anyone who has ever played a lottery game, the good causes benefitted by lotteries, and the billions of dollars at stake. There obviously were indications that something was amiss with this particular prize claim. This case has provided our lottery with an opportunity to better pinpoint potential security risks and update our procedures to protect against them.”

One Man’s Story: How Do YOU Pick Your Lucky Numbers?

Eleven years after he won a jackpot prize, a central Iowa man is seeing a run of lottery luck again.

Daniel Good of Saint Charles says that when he plays a lotto game, he typically picks his own numbers. Recently, and he’s been loyal to a set of Pick 4 numbers that have been good to him.

Daniel plays the numbers 2-3-2-3 in Pick 4 drawings. Why that particular combination? He works at the Des Moines Public Schools’ administration office, which is at 2323 Grand Ave. in Des Moines. Loyal blog readers will also know that location used to be home to the lottery’s headquarters office before we moved to Clive in December.

We learned about Daniel’s lucky set of Pick 4 numbers yesterday when he claimed a $3,500 prize from a recent drawing. Daniel said in addition to that big prize, the 2-3-2-3 combination has also netted him several smaller prizes in recent Pick 4 drawings.

If Daniel’s name has a familiar ring to it, it’s because you’ve heard it in connection with the lottery before. Back in January 2004, he claimed a $1.65 million Hot Lotto jackpot. Daniel picked his own numbers in that drawing, too, playing a combination of family and friends’ birth dates and ages.

Congrats on your win, Daniel! Glad to know our old headquarters location continues to be a lucky place!

Your Clock Is 4 Minutes Fast!

I just learned some interesting behind-the-scenes information about our lottery system after a question from a player, so I’m sharing the details with you here on the blog. 

A man who was buying tickets in the Des Moines area contacted us because he thought the time on our lottery terminals was fast, which he believed had caused him to miss the sales cut-off time for that night’s Hot Lotto® drawing. (I blogged last week about sales cut-off times before our drawings and why we have them.)

In Hot Lotto specifically, the sales cut-off time here in Iowa for a particular drawing is about 1 hour and 20 minutes beforehand. Drawings in that game are at 9:40 p.m. on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Tickets can be purchased in Iowa until 8:18 p.m. on the night of the drawing. If you buy a ticket after that, it will be for an upcoming drawing, and not the one occurring that night.

The player who contacted us said he was in a store in Ankeny on a Saturday at 8:17 p.m., but the sales cut-off time had already occurred, so he missed having a ticket for that night’s drawing. He said the time on our lottery terminal was 4 minutes fast.

I find that interesting, simply from the sheer number of devices we can use to check the time these days – and they likely all show a slightly different time. In my office right now, I have a watch on my wrist and there are clocks on my computer, office telephone and mobile phone. If I walk down the hall, there also are clocks on the wall. They’re all pretty close, but they don’t show exactly the same time.

We double-checked the information about our gaming system’s clock after we got the player’s email. Our lottery terminals are all tied to one central communications system. Each time a retailer logs on to the system, the terminal that is being used updates its parameters – including its time setting – from the central system.

The time on the central system is synced to an atomic clock, which is one of the most accurate time-keeping devices in the world. The system is periodically resynced to that atomic clock to adjust for time drift. When we checked the system time a few days ago, it was just 8 or 9 seconds off from the atomic clock, so no adjustment was needed.  The system time is in fact quite accurate.

In the case of the player who contacted us, he said that the receipt he got from the cash register in the store showed 8:17 p.m. But our lottery terminals are separate from the cash register, so the times that each machine shows is likely a little off from the other.

To avoid running into the time cut-off for a particular drawing, we always suggest that players buy their tickets well in advance of the cut-off time. And remember that you can buy plays in our games for multiple drawings at a time – that that’s another convenience we’re happy to offer to our customers.

 

Player Mail: Why Is There A Sales Cut-Off Before A Drawing?

One of our followers on Twitter asked a question that we said we’d answer here on the blog because it takes a little more explanation than we can fit in a 140-character message. The question came from a man named David who said: “Why is there a cutoff time for when you can buy lottery tickets? I don’t get it.”

Our initial answer back was: “The cut-off time is in place to stop sales before a drawing is held – there has to be a point when sales stop b 4 draw.” And that’s true. But here’s the rest of the story:

I’ve blogged before about the many layers of security that go into a lottery drawing. One of the steps required is for the lottery to verify that all sales figures balance before the drawing can begin. We’re helping to ensure that all plays for a particular drawing are accounted for and that everything is ready to go. 

As computer speeds and technology have increased, it requires less time than it used to for that to occur. Today, you can generally purchase tickets here in Iowa up until about an hour before the drawing in one of our lotto games. Several years ago, the sales cut-off time was two hours before the drawing, but we’ve been able to reduce that, which we hope has been a convenience for our players and retailers.

I would imagine there will always be some time required for balancing and verification before a drawing can happen, but maybe someday the time involved will be even shorter than it is now.

The exact sales cut-off times vary from state to state, depending upon the requirements in that particular state. Check your state lottery’s website for the information that applies in your area.

We’ll continue to do our best to keep the time period involved for that here in Iowa as short as possible.

Code Green! Code Green!

Remember, that’s code for something really good! The Iowa Lottery declares a “Code Green” when the jackpot is really getting up there in one of our lotto games. And right now, the jackpots are climbing higher in both Powerball® and Mega Millions®!

The Mega Millions jackpot is at an estimated $194 million annuity ($117 million cash option) for tonight’s drawing, while the Powerball jackpot has climbed to an estimated $138 million annuity, $86.3 million cash option for tomorrow’s drawing. The Hot Lotto® jackpot also is nothing to sneeze at, reaching $8.28 million for tomorrow’s drawing. And remember, that jackpot is cash only with withholding taxes paid.

We got the memo and all wore our Code Green shirts today! (And yes, we took this picture using a selfie stick. Sorry, we couldn’t help ourselves. #funfriday)

National News Coverage Of Hot Lotto Case

"CBS This Morning" took at look today at the Hot Lotto investigation from here in Iowa.

http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/lottery-security-head-accused-of-scam-to-claim-16-5-million-prize/

Hey, Can You Show Me Those New Emails?

 

After I blogged last week about the new look for the emails you can get from us with the latest results in our lotto drawings, some folks asked if we could SHOW what the make-over looks like and how to sign up.

Your wish is our command! Click on the video above to learn all about it.