ialottery blog

The Look Of The Iowa Lottery In Your Local Store Will Change Next Year

One of the biggest projects we undertake here at the Iowa Lottery reached an important milestone today, and it means that the look of the Iowa Lottery will get an update next year.

The lottery itself won’t change, and we’ll still have the products you expect on the market. But much of the equipment now used here in our state to sell and cash lottery tickets will be replaced.

The project was discussed during today’s meeting of the Iowa Lottery Board, a public meeting held via teleconference due to the ongoing public health emergency. The Board voted 5-0 to allow the lottery to proceed with contract negotiations for a new statewide gaming system with Scientific Games International (SGI), a company based near Atlanta. The company was selected following a public and months-long competitive bid process.

Like any technology, lottery equipment needs to be replaced over time. Most of the lottery equipment now in the field in Iowa has been in use since 2011.               

SGI also supplies the Iowa Lottery’s current gaming system, and the lottery’s contract for it expires in July 2021. So during the next 15 months, new equipment for Iowa will be manufactured, and then our existing system will be changed out for a new version.

We’ll flip the switch to Iowa’s new lottery gaming system on July 11, 2021. Like our current system, it will link all 2,400 retail locations in Iowa where lottery tickets are sold. The gaming system includes a central communications backbone as well as the lottery terminals, self-checkers, self-service kiosks, and lighted jackpot signs in the local businesses where you buy lottery tickets.

I’ll emphasize again that with the new system, you’ll still be able to buy lotto tickets in Powerball, Mega Millions and your other favorites. And of course we’ll still sell scratch, pull-tab and InstaPlay games. But the machines that print and cash your tickets will change next year and the lotto and InstaPlay tickets you buy will probably look a little different once the new system begins use.

We’ll have more updates as the go-live date gets closer, but now you know to be on the lookout for cool, new lottery equipment next year!

(And you may have already seen our updates about the Iowa Lottery’s efforts to protect against the spread of COVID-19 illnesses as we continue doing business with safety first, but if not, please check out our Q-and-A here.)

Q&A About Lottery Restrictions To Keep Safety First

This FAQs list has been updated on Friday, March 20, to include new details.   

We've gotten questions about the new restrictions in place here at the Iowa Lottery as we all do our best to put safety first during this public health emergency. To provide the same details to everyone, I'm including a list of those questions and the answers to them here on the blog. 

The lottery is open for business, but we’ve made some changes to our daily operations to help achieve social distancing and slow the spread of COVID-19 illnesses.

Q: Is the Iowa Lottery closed?
A: We're open for business, but we have additional restrictions in place. Our district sales representatives are telephoning retailers rather than visiting businesses in person. And public access to lottery offices has been restricted to email and telephone only. Players are welcome to mail or ship tickets to us to claim most prizes, and we also have a secure dropbox option available exclusively at our headquarters building in Clive.

Q: As a member of the public, how do I reach you?
A: The Iowa Lottery can be reached during its regular office hours by email at wmaster@ialottery.com, using our contact us form, or by phone at 515-725-7900. We also are available on our social media sites.

Q: If I've won a prize, how can I claim it?
A: All lottery prizes won in Iowa of more than $600 must be claimed directly from the Iowa Lottery, but players are welcome to claim a prize of any size directly from us. In most instances*, customers can mail or ship a ticket to us at:
     Iowa Lottery
     13001 University Ave
     Clive, IA 50325-8225

*All prizes of $1 million or more as well as some special merchandise prizes must be claimed in person at Iowa Lottery headquarters in Clive. If you're the lucky winner of one of those prizes, please contact us and we'll make an appointment so you can claim it. For all other prizes, you have the option of bringing your winning ticket and prize-claim documentation to our headquarters location in Clive and putting it in a secure dropbox. If you want to use the dropbox option, please contact us for the details involved.

Q: What if I don't want to mail or ship my winning ticket to you?
A: We are making available a secure dropbox option at our headquarters location in Clive for those who want to bring winning tickets directly to us. We will not be able to meet with you in person, but you can put a packet containing your winning ticket and prize-claim documentation in the dropbox for us to process. Prizes will not be paid immediately, but rather, claims will be processed in accordance with our virus-mitigation procedures. The dropbox is under 24-hour surveillance as part of our security requirements. If you want to use the dropbox option, please contact us for the details involved.         

You also can delay claiming your prize if by doing so the expiration date for it will not pass. If you have a question about when your prize would expire, please email or phone us.

We know this can be frustrating. What once would have been routine and fun, like meeting with our winners and celebrating their wins, now is an interaction that could threaten the health of others. We’re working to best find our way safely forward, as we know you are, too.     

Q: Where can I find the winner claim form?
A: Full details about claiming Iowa Lottery prizes, including links to the Iowa Lottery's Winner Claim Form and required tax documents, are available on the How To Claim A Prize page here on our website.

Q: What if I'm having difficulty with your website?
A: If someone has trouble accessing our website, they are welcome to call or email us and we will answer their questions. We can send prize-claim documentation to you if you're having trouble downloading the information from our website.

Q: With public access restricted at lottery offices, is there a way I can check my ticket without going to a retail location?
A:  The Iowa Lottery has a mobile app you use to check the results of lotto, scratch and InstaPlay tickets from wherever you are. The app is available for both Apple and Android devices. Full details about it are available here.

Q:  How long will it take for me to receive my prize?
A: The answer to that question is dependent upon many different factors, including how long it takes for us to receive your ticket after you’ve sent it to us. We will process all prize claims as quickly as we can, but it’s reasonable to anticipate it will take several days at a minimum for you to receive your prize.  

Q:  If I’m a retailer, how can I reach you?  
A: Lottery retailers are welcome to call the Iowa Lottery regional office that serves your area. Here are the phone numbers for our regional offices:
            Cedar Rapids: 319-395-9313
            Mason City: 641-424-6011
            Clive: 515-725-7884
            Storm Lake: 712-732-6662
            Council Bluffs: 712-242-2161

Q: How long do you anticipate the lottery restrictions will remain in place?
A: The State of Public Health Disaster Emergency declaration is effective until April 16. Our social-distancing restrictions may remain in place until then.

Q:  If I have a COVID-19 question that's not lottery related, where can I find information?
A: The state of Iowa has established a website to answer COVID-19 questions, and a direct link to it is here. The Iowa Department of Public Health also has expert resources concerning COVID-19 on its website. If you have difficulty navigating the Internet, the statewide telephone number you can call with COVID-19 questions is 211.

Safety First: Public Access To Iowa Lottery Offices Limited To Email & Telephone

The Iowa Lottery is now limiting public access to its offices to email and telephone as we do our best to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19 illnesses. We anticipate this will continue until April 16.

We took this step in keeping with the State of Public Health Disaster Emergency that Gov. Kim Reynolds issued yesterday.

If you want to reach us during our regular office hours, our email address is wmaster@ialottery.com and our phone number is 515-725-7900.

If you have an Iowa Lottery prize to claim, in most instances you can mail or ship the ticket to us. We have full details including a link to our Winner Claim Form on the How To Claim A Prize page of our website. If you can’t reach our website, you’re welcome to contact us and we’ll send prize-claim documentation to you. 

All lottery prizes won in Iowa of more than $600 must be claimed directly from us at the Iowa Lottery, but you can claim a prize of any amount directly from us. If you decide to mail or ship your ticket to us, for your peace of mind you may want to send it with tracking and delivery notification enabled.

I’ll note that all prizes of $1 million or more as well as some special merchandise prizes have to be claimed in person at Iowa Lottery headquarters in Clive. If you’re the lucky winner of one of those prizes, please contact us and we’ll make an appointment with you so you can claim it.

Be safe, be well, and let’s keep looking out for each other. We’re all in this together!

Our Weird Week: Spring Forward, A Full Moon & Friday the 13th

This week will likely give us all the opportunity to pause and remember to be kind, even if it’s hard sometimes!

By Friday, we’ll have experienced three different events that each can tend to kick up stress levels. This weekend, we moved our clocks ahead one hour for daylight savings time. Tonight brings us a full moon. And this coming Friday will be Friday the 13th.

Our yearly process of “springing ahead” throws our internal clocks off for a time, and that can take a toll on our overall mood. And we’ve all likely experienced the difference that a full moon can make on humans’ levels of insistence/enthusiasm/noise. Add in Friday the 13th and the beliefs surrounding that particular date, and we’ve got a really interesting week ahead.

So if it seems like your patience is being tried this week, remember that the calendar and Mother Nature are just having their way! Use the moment to remind yourself that you alone control your reactions and emotions. And then choose to be kind.

We’re all in this together, after all, and hopefully others will follow your lead.

And maybe this weird week will end up making YOU a lottery winner. You never know!

Player Question: Can I Win A Jackpot In Iowa If I Don’t Live There?

A man who lives in another Midwestern state recently contacted us to ask if he could win a jackpot in Iowa even if he doesn’t live here. The short answer is yes. Keep reading for further details.

It’s perfectly OK for people from other states and countries to play – and win – the Iowa Lottery. The requirements for them are the same as those for everybody else: They have to be at least 21 years old to buy a ticket and the ticket must be purchased at a lottery retailer here in Iowa.

If you win an Iowa Lottery prize and you’re not a resident of the United States, you may pay a higher amount in withholding than a U.S. citizen would, but you definitely can play and win!

If you’re from another state, you’ll still pay the Iowa withholding rate that applies to your prize, then you’ll file that tax paperwork back in your home state to see if any adjustments should be made due to a difference in the tax rates between the two states.

Our prize winners through the years have of course included lots of Iowans, but also folks from other states and countries. Sometimes we’ll hear grousing that only Iowans should win in Iowa Lottery games, but I would guess the same folks who make that argument also want the chance to play the lottery in other states when they’re traveling. So on that point, as that old saying goes: Turnabout is fair play!

Happy playing to everyone who buys tickets in our games, and we hope to see YOU as a big winner soon.

This Month & All Year, Remember: Help Is Available 24/7 In Iowa

Throughout the month of March, you’ll see messages from the lottery on a variety of platforms to remind us all that it’s National Problem Gambling Awareness Month. We hope that by highlighting this issue, we’ll get the right information at the right time to help someone who needs it.

Whether you’re watching TV, listening to the radio, surfing the web or using a streaming service, you’ll likely soon see one of the public service announcements we produced with the Iowa Department of Public Health.

Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a proclamation earlier this week recognizing March as Problem Gambling Awareness Month in Iowa. And during Sunday’s 10 p.m. local newscasts, our PSA will be shown by television stations statewide. Then the bulk of our messages will run throughout the following week on outdoor billboards, radio stations statewide, local broadcast and cable channels; and digital audio and video platforms. Some messages will continue to air through the end of March.          

Problem gamblers can come from any background. They can be rich or poor, young or old, male or female. Problem gambling can affect people of every race and religion, and every education and income level. The one constant is that problem gambling is treatable.

Signs of problem gambling include:
• thinking a lot about gambling, such as past gambling experiences, future gambling ventures, or ways of getting money for gambling.
• needing to gamble with larger amounts of money or with larger bets in order to get the same feeling of excitement.
• repeatedly trying to cut down or stop gambling without success.
• feeling restless or irritable when trying to cut down or stop gambling.
• gambling to run away from problems or to get relief from feeling depressed, anxious, or bad about yourself.
• often returning after gambling losses to try to win back money.
• lying to family members, friends or others in order to hide gambling activities from them.
• losing or almost losing a significant relationship, job, or an educational or career opportunity because of gambling.
• relying on others to provide money to relieve a desperate financial situation caused by gambling.

If you ever have questions or concerns about problem gambling, visit https://yourlifeiowa.org to reach the help available by phone, in person, or through secure chat or video.

Iowa Lottery Winner Will Be On HGTV Show Tonight

A central Iowa man who won big on an Iowa Lottery scratch ticket will be on the HGTV show tonight that features winners looking for their dream home.

Jon Moss of Altoona won the top prize of $300,000 playing the “$300,000 Platinum Cash” game. He claimed his prize a little more than a year ago, on Jan. 7, 2019.

Jon said that in the months since then, he and his wife, Victoria, decided to invest his winnings in a new home. And that’s where there’s a connection with HGTV.

The couple will be featured on the network’s show called “My Lottery Dream Home.” In each episode, designer and host David Bromstad helps lottery winners find a house they want to buy.

The episode featuring Jon and Victoria is called “More Space to Grow.” It airs for the first time tonight at 8 p.m. (central time) on HGTV, then again at 11 p.m.

Hello, Guvna! (Hey, I Think We Know That Powerball Winner)

When the front desk here at lottery headquarters called up to my department today to tell us that a big winner was in the lobby, we thought they’d gotten the name wrong. But they hadn’t!

Tom Vilsack, former mayor of Mount Pleasant, state senator, Iowa governor, and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, is now also a big Powerball® winner. He admits he never thought he’d see that title.

Vilsack claimed a $150,000 Powerball prize this morning. He said he occasionally plays when the game’s jackpot really gets up there because he likes to dream, just like everyone else. And he said that if he doesn’t win, he knows that his money goes to help the state through the lottery’s proceeds.

Vilsack, who now lives in Waukee, won his prize in the Powerball drawing on Jan. 22, when the jackpot had grown to an estimated $347 million. But he didn’t check his ticket for several days. He said he got up 10 days later and realized he should check how he did.

He found the ticket in his briefcase and checked his numbers on the Iowa Lottery’s website. He said he was initially glad to see that he’d matched the Powerball on one of his plays. But he quickly realized he ultimately was just one number away from winning that night’s jackpot, matching four of the five white balls and the Powerball.

Vilsack said he remembered that when he bought his easy-pick ticket, the store clerk had asked if he wanted to add the Power Play® option for an extra $1 per play, so he did. That option multiplies most prizes in the game by the Power Play number selected in the drawing. The Power Play number was three the night that Vilsack won his prize.
 
After realizing he’d won, he said he shared the news with his wife, Christie, who didn’t believe him.    

“I said, ‘Geez, honey, actually I won $150,000,’” Vilsack recalled. “She said, ‘No you didn’t!’ I said, ‘No, look at this.’ And I gave her the ticket. She looked at the numbers and she said, ‘Go next door to Jess (the couple’s eldest son) and have him read the numbers and make sure you’re looking at this right.’ I said, ‘I put it in the system here! It’s telling me I won $150,000!’”

Jess ultimately confirmed that his dad had won big – and so did we when he came to the lottery this morning.

Vilsack has specific plans for his winnings.

“The church is going to get a little bit of it, St. Boniface, I’m going to send that check out today,” he said. “And the kids are going to get a little bit because you always try to help your kids out. And then the rest is going to go to my banker. And he’s going to be very pleased to get it. Because we still have an outstanding mortgage from many years ago and this will help pay it down to the point where retirement can be a little bit more comfortable than it might have otherwise been.”

Vilsack bought his winning ticket at Hy-Vee, 1005 E. Hickman Road in Waukee. He had some advice for other lottery players, knowing that he almost forgot to check his ticket.

“Sort of a word to the wise: Check your numbers. It matters,” he said. “There are different ways to win. I didn’t realize that. I honestly didn’t realize you could win by not having all of the numbers. And so people sometimes walk away from some resources and some money when they don’t check their ticket.”

As he claimed his prize, Vilsack also took a moment to reflect on the lottery and why he plays.

“I know that this lottery is really important to the state and it’s certainly important to the state budget,” he said. “It’s something that I certainly understand from my experience as a state senator and as a governor and I think it’s great. And as you say, you don’t win if you don’t play.

“Obviously, the whole issue of gaming has been somewhat controversial in every state,” he said. “But as long as we are providing assistance to those who over-extend themselves, which is unfortunate and tragic, and as long as we use these resources in a way to build our state and make it stronger and better, then I think it’s a good thing.”

Two Different Looks At Some Of Iowa’s Latest Big Winners

As we worked on our latest map of the biggest lottery prize claims in Iowa, we decided to look at the details two different ways to dig deeper into a question we often consider: Should lottery winnings be tracked by the retail location where the ticket was purchased, or by the place where the winner lives?

We know a lot of people buy lottery tickets while they’re out running errands or on their lunch hour, so the place where they make their purchases likely isn’t where they live. It’s a real-life factor when it comes to lottery tickets, so we made two different versions of our winner map for December.

One shows prizes by the spot where the winning ticket was purchased, the other shows the same list by the city where the winner lives. As you can see, that difference comes through in the dots on the map!

Our December images wrap up our mapping project for calendar year 2019. Iowa Lottery players claimed 444 prizes of $600 or more in December, making that the highest monthly prize total for the year.

And our players claimed a grand total of 4,478 prizes of $600 or more in 2019!

As you can see from the patterns involved, something that we’ve often said about prize wins holds true: In bigger cities, more people are buying tickets and winning prizes. That’s not a matter of luck, it’s a matter of population.

Another way of putting it is that if 5 percent of lottery tickets are sold in a particular area, you'll expect to find about 5 percent of the overall winners there. Everyone has the same chance of winning, but there will be more winners in places where more tickets are sold.

There are links for both versions of the December map. Click here for the map by retailer in an interactive format, and click here for the map by winner location. 

And as always, remember that our maps only show those big prizes that have been claimed. They don’t include those prizes that have been won but aren’t claimed yet.

What You’ve Asked For: Join the VIP Club & Change Your Password From The App

You’ve been asking about it, and we’re excited to share this update today: Now you can join the lottery’s VIP Club and change the password for your VIP account password from our mobile app.

We all live a lot of our lives on mobile devices these days, and these changes will make it easier for you to access the lottery info. you need while you’re on the go.   

We debuted our app for both Apple AND Android devices back in 2017, and like any technology, we’ve updated it over time. If you already have our app (it’s called the Iowa Lottery’s LotteryPlus) on your device, there’s nothing you need to do to receive this update. It happens automatically, so you already have the new feature available. If you don’t yet have the app, feel free to install it from the Google Play Store® or Apple iTunes Store® as applicable for your particular device.

The most popular way that people use our app is to check the results of their lottery tickets. You can check lotto, scratch and InstaPlay tickets on the app, so you don’t have to visit a store or a lottery office to see if you’ve won. Two other popular ways that people use the app is to enter their tickets into our VIP Club drawings and to check the winning numbers in recent lotto drawings.

Thank you for playing the lottery, and we hope this update makes it even easier for you to reach us!

We'll Mail 2019 Tax Forms To Winners By The End Of This Month

If you claimed an Iowa Lottery prize of more than $600 in calendar year 2019, check your mailbox in the next couple weeks for a form you’ll need as you file your income taxes.

The document is called a W-2G form and it lists the total prize amount as well as any federal and state withholdings from your prize. If you claimed multiple Iowa Lottery prizes of more than $600 in 2019, you’ll receive multiple W-2G forms from us, one for each prize claimed. (And congratulations on your wins, by the way!)

We’re required to mail all W-2G forms by Jan. 31, but we always do our best to have them processed before that date if possible.

In the image here, you can see the envelopes we’ll use to send the tax forms, so check your mailbox for them.

If you think you should have received a W-2G form from us for calendar year 2019 and you've moved since you claimed your prize, please let us know your new address as soon as possible, or your form may end up at your old address. You can contact us at 515-725-7900 or email us at wmaster@ialottery.com.

Be sure to include your name, old address, new address, and phone number in case we need to contact you.

Post-Holiday Question: Can I Use A Gift Card To Buy Lottery Tix In Iowa?

Now that holiday celebrations are winding down for a lot of us, we’re hearing from folks asking if they can use gift cards to buy lottery tickets in Iowa. The quick answer is: Yes. But there are more details involved, so please keep reading. 

From a legal perspective, a gift card is the same as cash, so under Iowa law, it can be used to purchase lottery tickets.

But some retail locations may have policies that bar the use of gift cards for lottery purchases, just as they may ban personal checks for any purchase. Stores can and do develop their own policies for what’s allowed in their place of business, and we understand that.

The same thing applies to the use of debit cards to buy lottery tickets. While it’s legal for debit cards to be used to buy lottery products in Iowa, some stores may have policies against that. To be sure, please check with the business involved.

(Here are some further notes about the use of debit cards: In Iowa, state law prohibits the use of credit when making a lottery purchase. But a debit transaction is always tied to available funds, so as long as the card says DEBIT on the front, it’s OK to use it for a lottery transaction so long as the store involved allows that. If it’s a CREDIT card, it’s illegal to use it to buy lottery tickets in Iowa.

When you’re using a DEBIT card, even if it’s run on the credit setting, the money involved is still coming from available funds, so it is still a DEBIT transaction. A debit card never involves anything other than available funds, meaning cash. We had wondered about that particular detail ourselves, so we checked with the network folks who process the transactions. They confirmed that DEBIT always = available cash.)

Player Mail: Hey! They Carded Me!

With the holiday rush underway, I’m sharing a conversation here on the blog that we had with a player in case you encounter the same thing while you’re out shopping and running errands.

The player reached out to us after being carded at a convenience store as he was buying lottery tickets.

“They made me show my I.D,” he wrote. “The clerk said anyone who looks under 40 must show I.D. I’ve been buying lottery tickets there for several years and never heard this before. I am 55 years old. Is this a thing?”

Now, some people might interpret that situation as a huge compliment to their youthful good looks (insert smile emoji here), but the fact that stores ask customers to verify their age before buying certain products is a reality, and it’s a step they take to protect their business.

Lottery tickets are an age-controlled product, meaning that you must be a certain age before you can purchase them. Here in Iowa, the minimum purchasing age for lottery tickets is 21.

Retail locations receive licenses to sell age-controlled products, and one of the ways they can violate the terms of their lottery license is by selling tickets to those who are too young to legally purchase them. The business’ license will be suspended or even revoked if that happens, so we explained to the player that some stores have adopted the policy that they will I.D. anyone, not just those they think may be under 21.

We understand the businesses' concerns and support our retailers’ decisions to ensure that laws and regulations are being followed.

So if you’re asked for an I.D. when you buy lottery tickets, know that the store is doing the right thing. (And if you suspect that you definitely do not look 21, maybe choose to have fun in that moment!)

(Literally) Mapping Out Iowa’s Big Winners

It’s time for the latest map in our project this year to track the spots where the biggest lottery prizes have been won in Iowa!

Iowa Lottery players claimed 316 prizes of $600 or more in November, bringing the grand total so far to 4,034 for calendar year 2019.

As you can see from the patterns involved, something that we’ve often said about prize wins holds true: In bigger cities, more people are buying tickets and winning prizes. That’s not a matter of luck, it’s a matter of population.

Another way of putting it is that if 5 percent of lottery tickets are sold in a particular area, you'll expect to find about 5 percent of the overall winners there. Everyone has the same chance of winning, but there will be more winners in places where more tickets are sold.

Click here for a direct link to this map in an interactive format where you can see the details involved. Each dot shows the retail location where the winning ticket was purchased, the prize won, the game involved, and the date the prize was claimed.

The dots are in different colors for the four types of lottery games here in Iowa: scratch games, lotto games, InstaPlay games and pull-tab games. Scratch tickets have always been the Iowa Lottery’s leading product and they’re represented on the map by red dots, so there are a lot of them!

And as always, remember that our maps only show those big prizes that have been claimed. They don’t include those prizes that have been won but aren’t claimed yet.

Gift-Giving Reminder: Think About Age Restrictions & Content

With the arrival of the holidays, please consider this gentle reminder as you’re shopping for gifts in the days ahead.

We know that lottery tickets will be among the items that people give as presents and put in stockings this year. And at the Iowa Lottery, we’re glad that our products can be part of the fun! But remember that our tickets may not be something you want to give to those underage.

That holds true for lots of products: The content of some video games and movies may not be appropriate for all ages. Alcohol and tobacco-related products have their own age restrictions. Even toys have age-recommendation guidelines. 

In Iowa, you have to be at least 21 years old to buy lottery tickets, and we’ve always considered our products as something reserved for adults. Remember that you are gambling when you play the lottery. 

Be sure to give youngsters age-appropriate gifts in general, and when you give lottery tickets specifically, please keep the person's age in mind to minimize the risks associated with youth gambling.

We also echo the message from the Iowa Department of Public Health about the help that’s available in our state for problem gambling. If you’re concerned that someone you know is struggling with their gambling or if it is an issue for you, there are resources that can help day or night. You can call 1-800-BETSOFF (1-800-238-7633) or go to the Your Life Iowa website to reach help through secure chat or text.

Thanksgiving Thought: We’re Thankful For The Chance To Make A Difference In Iowa

During this week of Thanksgiving, we’re taking a moment to thank YOU for helping the lottery to make a difference in Iowa.

You likely already know that total lottery proceeds to state causes have topped the $2 billion mark. And during the past couple weeks, we’ve had fun celebrating that as we recognized one of today’s most important recipients of lottery proceeds: the Iowa Veterans Trust Fund.

Members of the Iowa Commission of Veterans Affairs joined the lottery in on-field presentations at the Texas-Iowa State game and the Illinois-Iowa game to highlight the nearly $30 million that the Iowa Lottery has raised for the Veterans Trust Fund since lottery proceeds were first dedicated to that cause in 2008.

The money that the lottery raises for the IVTF provides state support to Iowa veterans and their families above and beyond the federal benefits that are available to them. Not every state has something like the Veterans Trust Fund, and we’re thankful that this home-grown success story is working here in Iowa!

So, if you play the Iowa Lottery, thank you. Every time you buy one of our tickets, it makes a difference right here at home.

A quick housekeeping reminder that our offices will be closed tomorrow and Friday for the Thanksgiving holiday, so we’ll see you again when business hours resume on Monday, Dec. 2!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today’s News: Happy Blasé Day (Or Can We Even Say That?)

Today, if you didn’t know, is National Blasé Day. So basically, it’s okay to be indifferent/unimpressed/bored with anything you’d like.

That’s according to the zany folks at the National Day Calendar, the website that tracks unusual and unique national days and has a day for just about everything.

The calendar points out that the word blasé comes from the French language. We, of course, have many other terms to express the same thing: Meh. Yawner. Bor-ing.

But, just throwing this out there: I’m pretty sure that winning the lottery could overcome even the most hard-core case of blasé. So my question is: What prize amount would make you feel like you’d officially won the lottery?

Some of the people we see smiling the biggest are those who have won $100 to $1,000. The folks who win millions are happy, too, but sometimes they seem pretty stunned as well.

Is there an amount that’s “just right” for you?

P.S. I wish you a very "meh" Blasé Day. :)

Billions For Iowa, And A Special Thank You To Our State's Veterans

Sometime in the past month, a lottery player in Iowa purchased the ticket that pushed total Iowa Lottery proceeds to state causes over the $2 billion mark. (And yes, that’s billion with a “B!”) The lottery is still finalizing its results for October, but it’s already clear that we’ve topped that significant new threshold!

Lottery tickets in Iowa made their debut back on Aug. 22, 1985. In the 34 years since then, lottery players have won $4.5 billion in prizes while more than $2 billion in proceeds has been raised for state programs. Lottery sales in Iowa through the years total $7.9 billion.

Lottery proceeds have helped our state in a variety of ways over time, but today, they have four main purposes. They provide support for our state's veterans and their families through the Iowa Veterans Trust Fund; support through the Public Safety Survivor Benefits Fund for the family members of Iowa peace officers and fire fighters who die in the line of duty; help for a variety of significant projects through the state General Fund; and backing for the Vision Iowa program, which was implemented to create tourism destinations and community attractions in the state and build and repair schools.

To highlight the impact of lottery proceeds in Iowa and help spread the word about the help available to our state’s veterans in need, the lottery worked with the Iowa Commission of Veterans Affairs to produce a new video highlighting the Iowa Veterans Trust Fund. The video has just gone live as we head into the Veterans Day holiday weekend and you can see it by clicking on the link above.

It’s a powerful piece that touches on the impact that war has on our veterans, and why it’s so important that help be available to them. Two Iowa veterans who serve on the commission share their own stories and talk about the unique role of the Veterans Trust Fund.

So to everyone who has played a role in the Iowa Lottery’s success through the years, we appreciate your support. And to all Iowa veterans this holiday weekend: Thank YOU!

What Player Mail Do YOU Have For Us?

You’ve seen me blog through the years about lots of the questions we get from players, and as we head into the weekend, consider this is an open-door invitation for you to reach out to us if you ever want to know something about the Iowa Lottery.

While the Internet has certainly given us all new ways to communicate, the amount of MIS-information out there these days is staggering. So if you have a question about the lottery or the tickets we sell, we’d really like the answers you get to come straight from us, rather than some random source online.

Feel free to reach out to us here on the blog or on any of our social media pages, check out our website, or email us at Wmaster@ialottery.com. We’d love to hear from you, and if you have a lottery question you’d like to see answered, leave a comment here!

Holiday Promo Starts Today! 93 Cash Prizes Totaling $200,000 On The Line

You’ve asked us to give you plenty of time to have a shot at winning cash for the holidays, so our holiday promotion this year is starting today! We’ll give away 93 cash prizes totaling $200,000 in our “Ho Ho Dough” promotion, with six drawing dates between now and early January.

We’re applying the “max bet” concept to this year’s promotion, meaning that the size of the prize you can win will increase along with the purchase price of the scratch ticket you’ve entered.

You can enter the promotion using nonwinning tickets in the 11 holiday-themed scratch games we’ll have available this year. Tickets in nine of those games are already in stores, and the final two games debut Nov. 4. 

The promotion’s entry period began at 9 a.m. today and the first drawing date is two weeks from now, on Oct. 24. We’ll hold three prize drawings that day: one for five prizes of $1,000, one for five prizes of $1,500, and one for five prizes of $2,500.

The drawing for the $1,000 prizes can be entered with nonwinning tickets in our $1 and $2 holiday games, while nonwinning tickets in our $3 and $5 games can be entered in the $1,500 prize drawing, and nonwinning tickets in our $10 holiday games are eligible for the $2,500 prize drawing.

That same process will apply to the rest of the promotion’s preliminary drawings, through Jan. 9. Any entries that don’t win a prize in the preliminary drawings will remain eligible for the grand-prize round.

The Ho Ho Dough grand-prize drawings will be held on Thursday, Jan. 9. Again, the max-bet approach will be involved, with grand prizes of $10,000, $15,000 and $25,000 on the line in the applicable categories.

To enter the promotion, you’ll need to join or already be a member of our free VIP Club. And remember that you can enter by scanning your tickets on our app or through the VIP Club website. 

Here’s the entire Ho Ho dough drawing schedule and the prizes that will be awarded:

We Mean It: If Playing Stresses You Out, Don’t Do It

A recent conversation has stuck with me, and I’m sharing the background from it here on the blog in the hope it can help anyone who’s struggling with gambling.

A man reached out to us to say he’s unhappy that he hasn’t won many lottery prizes, and he expressed concern about how much he plays. He wondered if we’d care about what he had to say.

We do care.

I shared with him something we absolutely mean here at the Iowa Lottery: If playing the lottery is stressing you out or causing you to worry, then don’t do it. We never want anyone to play beyond what they can afford. You’ve heard us say, “Playing smart is a lot more fun,” as a quick way to signify that.

Just like the image above of people coming together to support each other, know that help is always available here in Iowa if you or someone you know is struggling with gambling. The Your Life Iowa program is always just a click away, and 1-800-BETSOFF, the statewide hotline for problem gambling, is available through live chat, texting or telephone.

Mapping It Out: More Winners Are In Areas Where More People Live

We came across a map this week that drives home something we’ve talked about for years when it comes to where you’ll find lottery winners in Iowa.

The map is from the folks at the World Population Review, and in Iowa’s case, the group’s analysis shows that more than a quarter of the state’s population lives in a seven-county area in central Iowa. Polk County is at the center of that region and is Iowa’s largest county, with more than 480,000 people living there.

The other counties in the area that accounts for 26 percent of the state’s population are: Dallas, Warren, Marion, Jasper, Marshall and Story.

Another 23 percent of Iowa’s population lives in six counties in eastern Iowa (Linn, Johnson, Muscatine, Scott, Clinton and Dubuque).

In general, you’ll find that the number of lottery winners follows population patterns. Where more people live, there will be more people buying lottery tickets and winning prizes. It doesn’t mean they’re luckier, it just means that there are more of them.

Another way of putting that is that if 5 percent of lottery tickets are sold in a particular area, you expect to find about 5 percent of the overall winners there. Everyone has the same chance of winning but there will be more winners in places where more tickets are being sold.

The image for this blog entry shows World Population Review’s map of Iowa at the top, and our latest monthly map of big lottery winners at the bottom. You can definitely see the areas with higher populations on both maps!

A Football Celebration With A Meaningful Twist

Rockwell City got its celebration on as RVTV stopped by, but the northwest Iowa town’s fun also included a meaningful moment as community leaders highlighted a local initiative that has created additional help for the families of firefighters and peace officers who die in the line of duty.

Click on the video above to check out the festivities, including a bird’s-eye view of the town!

Why Are There So Many Winners From (Insert Store Here)?

One of our players emailed to ask why there seem to be so many lottery winners from certain retail chains in our state. The answer comes down to number density and foot traffic.
 
For example, Casey’s General Stores sells Iowa Lottery tickets at 527 locations in Iowa. When you consider that a total of about 2,400 retailers statewide sell lottery tickets, you can see why a lot of Iowa winners would come from Casey’s. Hy-Vee, meanwhile, sells lottery tickets at 204 locations in Iowa. And because so many of those stores are large supermarkets with heavy foot traffic, you’ll see a lot of Iowa Lottery winners from Hy-Vee, too.

That’s the case for any of our retailers: Those with multiple locations and higher foot traffic will see higher lottery sales overall, and that in turn, will mean more winners from that company’s stores.

But as consumers we all have our favorite spots, so if you like to buy your lottery tickets at one particular store, know that it’s just as lucky as any other. Winning comes down to random luck, and you never know when – or where – the next big one will hit!

Player Mail: It's Gotta Have Scotcharoos!

One of our players wrote to us on Facebook to ask about how we come up with game ideas here at the lottery, and we LOVE the idea he offered up after we answered his question!

The player asked how the Iowa Lottery comes up with the names and themes of its scratch games, and who designs them.   

The short answer is that it’s often a team effort to find just the right game. There are times when just one of us at the Iowa Lottery comes up with something good, and other times we borrow from popular culture. The companies that print our scratch games also offer suggestions for games and ticket designs. Those companies print tickets for lotteries all around the world, so we’re glad that they share their expertise with us.

There actually is quite a science to choosing lottery game names, themes and colors. Part of it is common sense: If every scratch game for sale is green, people could have trouble telling them apart. So, we want to have a mix of game colors on the market at any one time.The same goes for the themes of our games. It’s good to have a few seasonal games each year, some holiday games, some gaming themes and maybe the theme of a popular movie, too.

But when it’s all said and done, people just like what they like. That’s why we have lots of different games for sale at any one time so you’ll have choices.

Over the years, a couple themes have always done well here in our state: Iowa and animals. The Iowa part is easy to understand: We like Iowa and we’re proud of our state! As for the animal part, maybe it’s because pets are such a big part of our lives, or because Iowa has a strong agricultural heritage.

The player who contacted us then gave his own suggestion for an Iowa-themed game. He said it would need to include artwork of corn stalks, pigs, the Eastern Goldfinch and Scotcharoo bars. Hey, we think Scotcharoos make everything better, so why not lottery tickets, too?

In any case, we’ll keep coming up with new game ideas, and we invite you to keep letting us know how we’re doing!

Player Mail: What About The Withholding On Lottery Prizes?

One of our recent big winners had some follow-up questions for us this week about taxes, and it’s a topic I’ll cover here on the blog today to share the background involved. Taxes may not be anyone’s favorite topic, but it’s important that we understand the details! 

The player’s questions have to do with the withholdings that apply to lottery prizes. Here in Iowa, a state withholding rate of 5 percent is applied to all lottery prizes of more than $600. And for prizes of more than $5,000, federal withholding of 24 percent also applies.

This particular winner has done exactly what we always suggest by consulting a tax advisor to help her map out the tax implications of her winnings.

The winner said that the withholdings applied to her prize won’t be enough to cover her full income-tax implications. She wondered why we couldn’t have withheld more.

A big part of the answer is that state and federal withholding rates are established by law. So, we can’t withhold at a different rate -- we have to follow the law.

In general, withholdings are designed to help cover the tax implications you may have from gambling winnings, but the precise taxes that you will have as an individual are dependent upon your circumstances outside of winning the lottery.

In some cases, the withholdings may not be enough and in other cases they may be too much. We don’t know each of our winner's individual circumstances, so that’s why we always suggest that they consult a financial planner or lawyer who can help them determine their full tax implications.

Two Gifts, A LOT Of Winnings

Two of our biggest winners this month both got their lucky ticket as a gift from a family member!

First up was Terry Dennis of Boone, who claimed the eighth and final top prize of $100,000 in the “Diamond 9s” scratch game. Terry says her son, Troy, bought the ticket when he took her out for coffee. While they were out, they stopped at a local convenience store, where Troy bought some tickets and gave one to his mom.

Terry said she played it and quickly realized she’d won the game’s top prize. She says she was very shaken and very excited, and her son ran back in the store to give the clerk a big hug for selling him the $100,000-winning ticket. They drove straight to Iowa Lottery headquarters to claim the prize.

Next up was Keesha Parker of Sioux City, who claimed the first top prize in the “Wild Bingo” scratch game. Keesha says she got her $25,000-winning ticket from her husband, Kevin. He bought a pair of tickets at a local convenience store and they both scratched one later that night.

Keesha said she initially thought she’d won $500, but they went back to the store to check the ticket and learned the prize was a lot more than that! She said she plans to save part of her winnings, donate some, and buy back-to-school supplies for her grandchildren.

Thoughtful family members for the WIN, indeed!

Iowa’s Biggest Lottery Winners Were Here (And Here, And Here …)

Another month of 2019 is in the books, so it’s time to look back at the biggest lottery winners in Iowa during July. 

The map here shows all the Iowa Lottery prizes of $600 or more that were claimed in July. There are a total of 390 dots this time, compared to 315 on the June map.

In the first seven months of the year, Iowa Lottery players claimed a total of 2,717 prizes of $600 or more. 

Click here for a direct link to this map in an interactive format where you can see the details involved. Each dot shows the retail location where the winning ticket was purchased, the prize won, the game involved, and the date the prize was claimed.

The dots are in different colors for the four types of lottery games here in Iowa: scratch games, lotto games, InstaPlay games and pull-tab games. Scratch tickets have always been the Iowa Lottery’s leading product and they’re represented on the map by red dots, so there are a lot of them!

As always, remember that our maps only show those big prizes that have been claimed. They don’t include those prizes won but not claimed yet.

He’s Already Won, Whether Or Not His Ticket Wins A Prize

A northwest Iowa man has had some good luck all because he signed his lottery tickets.

The story comes from the manager of the Iowa Lottery’s Storm Lake regional office. His name is Bill and while he was at a local gym there this week, one of his friends told him that he’d recently had to go to the hospital for a medical procedure. The friend said that when he got home, he realized he was missing his money clip that had more than $200 in it.

The next day, the friend got a call from the hospital, asking if he’d lost something. He said he had: his money clip. Someone at the hospital had found it, and the only way they knew it belonged to him was because he also had a couple lotto tickets in the clip, and he’d signed his name on the back of them. That’s an easy security procedure we always suggest players follow to identify their tickets as belonging to them.

So in the end, Bill’s friend got back his money clip, his cash AND his lotto tickets! And it proves two things in my book: 1.) There still are honest people in this world; and 2.) Even if his tickets don’t win a prize, his friend is already a winner!

34 Years In The Making: Iowa Lottery Sets Records

The Iowa Lottery has just posted the best annual results in its 34-year history.

Lottery sales, proceeds to state causes, prizes to players, and retail commissions all set records in fiscal year 2019, which ended June 30. We think the results deliver on our promise to responsibly raise revenues for the state causes that are important to us all.

Click on the video above to see our thank-you message to our players, our retailers, and really, anyone who has an interest in the Iowa Lottery.

Our preliminary figures out today show that the Iowa Lottery generated a record $92.8 million in proceeds to state causes in FY 2019. Annual lottery sales were a record $390.9 million, while prizes to players totaled a record $241.9 million. Lottery sales commissions to the local businesses across Iowa that sell our tickets totaled $25.4 million, also a record.

Scratch games have always been the lottery's leading product category and led the way again in FY 2019, with those games accounting for a record $250.6 million in sales in Iowa. 

The lottery retailer with the most sales in Iowa was again the Hy-Vee store at 20 Wilson Ave. in Cedar Rapids. That location has been the No. 1 lottery retailer in Iowa for five straight years, and it sold nearly $950,000 in lottery tickets in FY 2019.

The largest prize won by an Iowa Lottery player in FY 2019 was a $343.9 million Powerball jackpot, and six other prizes of at least $1 million also were won in the state during the year.