ialottery blog

FY 2022 Results: Lottery Proceeds Top $97 Million, Near Previous Year’s Record

The Iowa Lottery’s annual results are out today, with sales, proceeds to state causes, and prizes to players all finishing near the previous year’s record highs despite strong inflationary headwinds in recent months. Fiscal year 2022 ultimately yielded the lottery’s second-highest results in its 37-year history.

The preliminary figures show that the Iowa Lottery generated $97.9 million in proceeds to state causes in the fiscal year that ended June 30. Annual lottery sales in FY 2022 were $432.7 million, while prizes to players totaled $274.2 million. Lottery sales commissions paid to the local Iowa businesses that sell tickets totaled $28.3 million for the year.

FY 2022 is just the second time that annual Iowa Lottery sales topped $400 million and the third time that its total proceeds to state causes exceeded $90 million.

High fuel costs have historically had the most direct impact on the sale of lottery scratch games, and that was evident again in FY 2022. Fuel prices in Iowa began to climb in the spring and by mid-May, the average retail diesel price was above $5 a gallon and retail unleaded gasoline had topped $4 a gallon.

Scratch-ticket sales in May were down 17.5 percent compared to the same month in 2021, and down 14.7 percent in June compared to the same time period the previous year.

Annual scratch-ticket sales were down 7.5 percent in Iowa, with the product category representing about 2/3 of total Iowa Lottery sales.

At the same time, the lotto category was positively impacted by the Powerball® and Lucky for Life® game groups’ decisions to increase the number of weekly drawings in those games. In July 2021, Lucky for Life moved from two drawings per week to daily drawings. In August of that year, Powerball moved to three drawings per week with the addition of Monday drawings.

Both games saw marked sales increases in FY 2022, with Lucky for Life sales increasing 45.3 percent and Powerball sales increasing 22.2 percent.

The biggest prize won in Iowa for the year was a $2 million Powerball prize claimed in January by a New Hampton woman.

The Top 10 retailers for lottery sales were in seven different communities, with the Hy-Vee on Johnson Avenue in Cedar Rapids topping the list. That store sold more than $1.2 million in lottery tickets during FY 2022.   

Another highlight for the year was the $2.5 million the lottery raised for the Iowa Veterans Trust Fund to benefit our state’s veterans and their families. The lottery now has raised more than $34.8 million for the Veterans Trust Fund since it began providing proceeds to that cause in 2008. The lottery also raises proceeds for the Public Safety Survivor Benefits Fund and Department of Corrections Survivor Benefits Fund, which help with insurance costs for the families of Iowa peace officers, fire fighters and corrections employees who die in the line of duty.

Here is a year-to-year comparison of annual sales by lottery product.

Product	FY 2022 Sales	FY 2021 Sales
Scratch games	$293.1 million	$316.9 million
InstaPlay games	$23.4 million	$23.5 million
Pick 3	$9.3 million	$9.5 million
Powerball	$53.1 million	$43.4 million
Mega Millions	$20.4 million	$29 million
Pick 4	$5.6 million	$5.5 million
Lucky for Life	$8.1 million	$5.6 million
Lotto America	$7 million	$6.4 million
Pull-tab games	$12.7 million	$12.8 million

We Hope To See YOU While We’re Out And About This Summer

We’re spending this spring and summer getting out to celebrate Iowa, and we hope to see YOU at one of our stops!

The Iowa Lottery will be at a number of locations around the state in the next couple months. Some of the events will be at retail locations while others are at football games, baseball games, and auto races.

We’ve already been to Des Moines and Mason City. Today we’re in Council Bluffs, and on Sunday, we’ll be in Davenport.

We keep a list of events in the next couple weeks on our website’s Promotions page and we’ll update that list as the summer goes on.

We sell tickets in our Explore Iowa scratch game at each stop, and all lottery products are available at the events at retail locations. And yes, we’ll have our prize wheel at the events! With a qualifying purchase, you can spin the wheel to win lottery merchandise.

Hey, I Didn’t Get My Coupon For A Free Play This Month

It’s a fact of life that email systems these days can block messages from going through, and every month that trips up some members of our players club who are looking for their free-play coupon.

The good news is, there’s an easy work-around in case our email to you ends up getting stuck out there in cyberspace.

When you log into your VIP Club account, you have access to a few months of the VIP Connection, our players club newsletter. The most recent month’s edition will contain your monthly coupon for a free play and you can print it from there. We still send out the newsletter by email as well, but this offers you another option to easily find it. 

As you likely already know, one of the perks of being a VIP Club member is that you get a coupon every month from us here at the lottery. The coupon is good for a free play in one of our lotto games – Powerball, Mega Millions, Lotto America, Lucky for Life or in one of our InstaPlay games.

The VIP Club newsletter that contains the coupon is emailed out on the first business day of each month to VIP Club members who have opted-in to receive electronic communications from the Iowa Lottery.

Some of our VIP Club members have had trouble receiving their newsletter and coupon by email. In some instances, our emails were getting caught in spam filters or being blocked entirely by particular email service providers. (The providers weren’t doing anything wrong – they took the security steps necessary to best protect their members’ accounts from spam or other malicious content. But in some cases, those safeguards also prevented email from getting through that people wanted, including our monthly newsletter with coupon.)

You can access your newsletter and coupon by logging in at ialottery.com, clicking on VIP Connection & Coupon and choosing the current month.

Please note that you must be logged into your VIP Club account to access the newsletter. If you visit the VIP Club site without logging in, you won’t see the member-exclusive areas, including the link to the VIP Connection newsletter.

And remember that each VIP Club coupon has a unique, single-use code, so even if you have multiple images of your coupon, it can only be redeemed once.

You Can Enter For A Chance At Polaris® Vehicles & Cash Prizes In ‘Explore Iowa’

We’re kicking off a summer-long celebration today that focuses on getting outside – and offers you the chance to win some memorable prizes.

The Explore Iowa promotion began this morning and runs through mid-September. Lottery players can enter nonwinning tickets from the $5 Explore Iowa scratch game into the promotion for a chance to win gift certificates for Polaris® recreational vehicles and cash prizes. The promotion will give away a total of $400,000 in prizes.

The Explore Iowa scratch game is easy to identify: Its tickets show a Polaris® recreational vehicle on the front!

The lottery will hold initial drawings in the promotion on June 9, July 21 and Aug. 18 with the grand-prize drawings on Sept. 15. Each of the initial drawings will award three $25,000 Polaris® gift certificates and five cash prizes of $5,000. The grand-prize drawings on Sept. 15 will award a $50,000 Polaris® gift certificate and a $50,000 cash prize. (Each Polaris® gift certificate prize will include state and federal withholding taxes paid on behalf of the winner.)

Entries will not carry over from one drawing to the next, except for the grand-prize drawings. Here’s how that works: All entries for a Polaris® gift certificate that aren’t selected as a winner in the initial drawings will be eligible for the grand-prize drawing for a $50,000 Polaris® gift certificate. And, all entries for a cash prize that aren’t selected as a winner in the initial drawings will be eligible for the grand-prize drawing for the $50,000 cash prize.

Polaris is an official licensed product of Polaris Inc. All rights reserved. POLARIS and the star design are trademarks of Polaris Inc.

What’s The Breakdown On Every $1 Spent On Lottery Tickets?

Here’s a player question that came our way, wondering about the breakdown of the money from every $1 spent on lottery tickets in Iowa.

We keep a chart showing that on our website. The money breaks down into four categories, the biggest of which is prizes! (Without prizes to players, there obviously wouldn’t be a lottery for long!)

Prizes are followed by proceeds to state programs, commissions to the local businesses that sell lottery tickets, and the daily costs of running the lottery.

In addition to that bigger picture, we also pinpoint the state programs that currently receive lottery proceeds, and how those proceeds have been used over time. The use of the money raised by the lottery for state causes has changed several times since the Iowa Lottery’s start back in 1985, so we keep a historical list as well as a current list on our website.

We do our best to break things out into clear categories with easy-to-navigate graphics and direct links where you can learn more. The details involved are interesting, and it’s our job to provide transparency about the lottery enterprise that has raised more than $2.2 billion -- and counting.

Evidence That Iowans Believe In Luck

Here’s a fun look at the passage of time, proving that Iowans really do believe in luck.

In 2015, metal sculptures in the shape of four-leaf clovers were installed around the Iowa Lottery’s headquarters building in Clive as part of the Art in State Buildings program. The sculptures are a light-hearted representation of lottery luck and people have had fun posing next to them through the years.

One clover in particular gets a lot of attention from visitors to the lottery. It’s a copper clover near the front doors of the building, and many people touch it for luck as they go by.

One of the clover leaves demonstrates that Iowans are hoping they can borrow some of its luck! The front edge of the leaf shows the impact of lots of hands reaching out to it.

So in this month when we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, here’s hoping that luck comes YOUR way. (And the clover will be here on your next visit!)

I’m Worried My Ticket Is Ruined. Can It Still Be Cashed?

A player just emailed us with a question that comes up from time to time about tickets that have been damaged. Specifically, can a ticket still be checked or cashed even if the code on it is damaged? Many times, yes. But there are limits.

The player said he scratched one of his tickets too hard and damaged the code on it that normally would be scanned to check the results. He wondered if he could still claim the prize he thought he'd won.

Often there is a way for that to happen.

Each lottery ticket has identifying numbers on it that can manually be entered into a lottery terminal to check the results of the ticket. It’s not something you as a player can do using a self-checker in a store or the lottery's mobile app on your smartphone – the ticket code is required in those instances.

But if the code can’t be read and the rest of the ticket is still in good condition, the clerk at a lottery retail location or a staffer at one of our lottery offices can manually key in the identifying numbers from the ticket to check its results. If the clerk at your local store doesn’t know how to do that, they can always call the Iowa Lottery’s retail hotline for help.

But if a ticket is too badly damaged, not even we’ll be able to determine its results. Through the years, we’ve seen tickets that had disintegrated after mistakenly being sent through the wash-and-dry cycle a few times. Other tickets had been torn, and the player involved had only a small section without any identifying numbers on it.

There also was a player who spilled water on her lotto tickets and put them in the microwave to dry them out. Lotto tickets are printed on heat-sensitive paper, so microwaving them turned them completely black. There was no way to determine the information that had been printed on them.

We’ll always do our best to help, but as with any paper product, lottery tickets can be damaged. It’s important to keep your tickets in as good of shape as possible so you can claim any prize you’ve won!

You Can Enter Lotto America Tickets For A Chance To Win Up To $20K In Cash

The Lotto America® game is in the spotlight right now in a promotion that gives you the chance to enter tickets for a shot at $100,000 in prizes, including a $20,000 top prize.

The Lotto America Promotion began at 10 a.m. this morning, allowing VIP Club members to enter eligible Lotto America tickets for a chance at one of 33 cash prizes. In the promotion, the lottery will award:
        • one prize of $20,000
        • two prizes of $10,000
        • five prizes of $5,000
        • 10 prizes of $2,000
        • 15 prizes of $1,000.

The three-week entry period runs through 9:59 a.m. March 29. Only recent tickets can be entered – any Lotto America tickets purchased on or after March 1, 2022, are eligible for entry. And in keeping with past lotto promotions, each ticket entered will equal one entry in the drawing regardless of the ticket value or the number of plays on the ticket.

A player can win only one cash prize in this promotion. To give all tickets the maximum chance of winning, the winner of the highest cash prize will be selected first, with the second-largest second and so on until all cash prizes have been awarded.

The lottery will announce the winners after the drawing on March 31.

Good luck with your promotion entries!

Most Iowa Lottery Self-Service Kiosks Will Now Have Debit Card Readers

Here’s an update that should mean more convenience for you as a player: The Iowa Lottery is deploying new self-service kiosks that include debit card readers.

We’ve had touch-screen kiosks in the field since 2017, but until now, the machines have only accepted cash as payment. The kiosks are in the lottery’s busiest locations to give players there another option for making lottery purchases. The machines dispense tickets in scratch games, lotto games and InstaPlay games.

During the next handful of weeks, most lottery self-service kiosks in Iowa will be replaced with new machines that include a debit card reader. (There are some machines that won’t be retrofitted due to the age of those devices. You can still use those kiosks, you’ll just need to have cash when buying tickets at them.)

The first of the new kiosks have been installed this week in the Des Moines area. The new machines accept cash, debit cards and gift cards, but not credit cards. It’s illegal in Iowa for lottery tickets to be purchased with credit.

Below are some Q-and-As to help answer questions about the card readers on the new kiosks.

Q: Can the card readers on lottery self-service kiosks accept credit cards?

A: No. It’s illegal in Iowa for lottery products to be purchased with credit. Credit blocking is in place to prevent the kiosks from accepting a credit card for a lottery purchase.

Q: Can the lottery self-service kiosks accept gift cards and debit cards?

A: Yes, but as is the case with any electronic payment system, the kiosks may not accept all cards due to the specific computer processing involved in that transaction.

If your gift card or debit card can’t be read by the lottery kiosk, you’re welcome to contact the financial institution that issued your card. Or, you can use a different form of payment at the kiosk.

Q: Can the lottery self-service kiosks accept mobile wallet payments like Apple Pay and Google Pay?

A: In many instances, yes.

Electronic wallet apps including Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay use wireless communications between the user’s mobile device and the self-service kiosk to access the card information stored in the user’s mobile wallet. If you’ve stored a debit card in your mobile wallet and selected that card for the transaction on the lottery kiosk, the transaction should complete successfully. But if you’ve selected a credit card by default in your mobile wallet, the transaction will fail.

If your mobile wallet app does not work at the lottery kiosk, you’re welcome to use a different form of payment.

Better Days Are Possible: Help Is Available In Iowa For Problem Gambling

At this time each year, we pause to highlight National Problem Gambling Awareness Month and the help available here in Iowa for those who are struggling.

During the next few weeks, you’ll see this video and other reminders from us across the state. At the Iowa Lottery, we hope that by getting the message out, we’ll provide the right information at the right time to someone who needs help.

Whether you’re buying a lottery ticket at a store, watching TV, listening to the radio, using a streaming service or going online, you’ll likely see one of the public service announcements we produced along with the Iowa Department of Public Health. Remember that problem gamblers can come from any background – young or old, male or female, rich or poor. The universal detail for all of them is that problem gambling is treatable.

If you ever have questions about problem gambling, know that help is available 24/7 in Iowa by visiting yourlifeiowa.org or calling 1-800-BETS OFF. The free and confidential help is available there through text, secure chat, video, email, telephone or in person.

The hashtag you’ll see during the next month is #PGAM2022, with messages from public health officials, treatment providers and lotteries across the country. By working together, we’re emphasizing awareness plus action to offer help to those who need it.

Our Quick Reminder: Lottery Tickets Are For The Grown-Ups

Here’s a thought we hope you’ll keep with you as you’re shopping for gifts in the next few weeks.

Lottery tickets are popular as presents and stocking stuffers, and here at the Iowa Lottery, we want you to have fun while you're playing. But we also recognize that our tickets may not be something you want to give to those underage.

The same concept applies to other products as well. Some video games and movies aren’t appropriate for all ages due to their content. Alcohol and tobacco-related products have their own age restrictions. Even toys come with age-recommendation guidelines.

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

The Iowa Lottery offers these reminders to minimize the risks associated with youth gambling:
    • Be sure to give youngsters age-appropriate gifts.
    • When you give lottery tickets as presents, please keep the person's age in mind.

And as always, if you or someone you know has questions about problem gambling, know that help is available 24/7 by text, live chat or telephone through the Your Life Iowa website or the 1-800-BETS OFF helpline. In addition, there are quick tips on the lottery website to help you play smart and be informed.  

Iowa’s Got 2 Of The 5 Finalists For $1 Million Prize In Pball New Year’s Drawing

Here’s some exciting and unexpected news: Iowa has two of the five nationwide finalists for a $1 million prize that will be awarded in a special Powerball® drawing just after midnight in the New Year.

The winner will be announced live on air just after midnight EST during ABC’s broadcast of Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2022 from New York’s Time Square.

This is the third year for the Powerball First Millionaire of the Year® promotion, and the first time that a single state has had more than one of the finalists for the $1 million prize.

Iowa’s finalists have two very different stories. Shari Beenken of Titonka, a Kossuth County community of about 500, entered Powerball tickets in the promotion she purchased on her own, while Rob Long of Waterloo entered tickets he bought on behalf of a group of his co-workers, friends and family who pool their money to buy tickets. He calls the group Lotto 22.
              
With two players in the running, Iowa has a 40 percent chance of having the $1 million winner. The other finalists for the prize are from Illinois, Louisiana and Pennsylvania.

Shari, 57, is an office administrator at an Algona business. She said her heart was pounding, she had tears in her eyes and she was a bit in shock when she learned she was one of the finalists.
 
Rob, 50, is a warehouse associate in Waterloo, He said he also was shocked by the news, but then had fun sharing the details with his group. A lot of them didn’t know he’d entered their tickets in the promotion, and he said he loved seeing the surprise on people’s faces.

Iowa and 28 other lotteries in the Powerball game participated in this year’s edition of the First Millionaire of the Year promotion, which gave players the chance to enter their Powerball tickets for a shot at more winnings. Iowa Lottery players could enter tickets into the promotion back in September, and on Sept. 30, the Iowa Lottery selected 20 of them (including Beenken and Long) as semi-finalist winners of $2,500 each. 

Those 20 Iowa winners along with the semi-finalists from the other states in the promotion were all then entered into a random drawing to determine the five finalists for the $1 million prize. And Iowa ended up with two of the five!

For being selected as a finalist, Shari and Rob each will receive a $10,000 cash prize and a home party package also valued at $10,000, including a 70-inch LED TV, karaoke system, premium laptop computer, and deluxe dinner for eight.

Rob held a drawing with the help of a member of his group and his wife to determine how the Lotto 22 would split up the home entertainment package. They put all the group members’ names in a bowl and selected winners of the merchandise prizes. The group is evenly splitting the $10,000 cash prize.

Shari said that if she’s the $1 million winner, she and her husband, Rod, plan to invest a majority of the winnings. But she said she’d spend a little of the money as well. She said she’s not extravagant, but she needs a new dishwasher.

If Rob is the $1 million winner, the prize will be split amongst his group, with each member receiving about $45,500 before taxes. Rob said that his wife, Heather, would like a newer vehicle, so his share of the winnings will likely go towards that. But he also has a purchase of his own in mind.

Rob said he’s an ‘80s guy who has always loved arcade games, and he wants his own Donkey Kong machine.

Shari, Rob and the other three finalists for the $1 million prize will be in their hometowns on New Year’s Eve. The national television broadcast will check in with them throughout the night. Then just after midnight EST, the $1 million winner will be announced!

For those wondering, here are the members of the Lotto 22:

From Clarksville: Scott Herrmann and Victor Herrmann
From Denver: Bruce Gonnerman
From Dunkerton: Michael Nicolaus and Nancy Smock
From Independence: Bryan Cain and Kristen Kayser
From Jesup: Ronald Kester
From La Porte City: Bruce Long
From Oelwein: Ellyn Perkins
From Plainfield: Valeria Marks
From Raymond: Randy Ruehs
From Shell Rock: Grant Clark
From Waterloo: Trish Bandfield, Mark Burke, Steven Foster, Kelvin Holmes, Rob Long, Nesffy Molina, Mike O’Connor, Martin Van Horn, Eric Woodward.

Scheduling Note: Iowa Lottery Offices Closed Until Monday For Thanksgiving

A quick scheduling reminder for the next few days: Iowa Lottery offices are closed until Monday for the Thanksgiving holiday.

I hope that you have a chance to unwind this weekend, spend time with family and friends, and just enjoy the moment.

If you have a ticket winning a prize of more than $600 or need our assistance with anything else, our offices will be open again for business at 8 a.m. Monday (Nov. 29).

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Central Iowa Ticket Wins $25,000 A Year for Life

 

Someone who bought a lottery ticket at a central Iowa convenience store won a prize of $25,000 a year for life last night in the Lucky for Life game. 

The lucky ticket was purchased at Kum & Go, 409 Nile Kinnick Dr. S. in Adel. It matched the first five numbers but missed the Lucky Ball in Wednesday's drawing to win Lucky for Life's second prize of $25,000 a year for life.

It is Iowa's 12th big winner in the game since it debuted in January 16 in our state.

The winning numbers in last night's drawing were 13-16-18-23-33 and Lucky Ball 17. Kum & Go will receive a $500 bonus from the lottery for selling the winning ticket.

Players in Lucky for Life choose five numbers from a pool of 48 for the white balls and 1 out of 18 numbers for the Lucky Ball. Players can win the game’s top prize of $1,000 a day for life by matching all six numbers selected in one of its drawings. The game’s second prize – for matching the first five numbers but missing the Lucky Ball – is $25,000 a year for life. Other prize levels in the game range from $3 up to $5,000.

Prizes at the top two levels in Lucky for Life must be claimed at Iowa Lottery headquarters in Clive. The lottery currently offers prize claims by appointment at its offices. Full details are available on the lottery’s website here.

Lottery Equipment & Ticket Checking On Mobile App Will Be Offline For A Time This Weekend

Update on Sunday, Sept. 26: The Iowa Lottery's new statewide gaming system went live a little before 3 p.m. today. You can now buy and check tickets in all Iowa Lottery games, and most functions are working again on the lottery's mobile app. Thank you again for your patience during this once-a-decade project! It's a huge undertaking every time, and we do our best to keep interruptions at a minimum for our players and retailers.      

A head’s up as we head into the weekend: Lottery terminals, self-service kiosks, self-checkers and ticket-checking on our mobile app will be down from 11:59 p.m. Saturday through about noon on Sunday. During the outage, players won’t be able to purchase lotto or InstaPlay tickets, check any tickets, or claim any prizes. 

The downtime will occur as the Iowa Lottery transitions to a new central gaming system, which links lottery equipment in the state in real time. That kind of system upgrade only happens about once every 10 years here in Iowa.    

Like any other electronic system, the equipment used to sell and cash lottery tickets needs to be replaced over time. The central gaming system here in Iowa has been in use since 2011 and the lottery’s contract for it expired this year. We’ve been working on the new system for about 2½ years.

At the store level, the change-over means that the previous red lottery terminals have been replaced with new black-and-white terminals. This weekend, the communications backbone that links all the lottery terminals, self-service kiosks and self-checkers in Iowa will be updated.

Any major system project involves occasional outages – think of the updates to your Internet service or mobile phone. But the end result will be the latest technology with faster processing speeds to help your lottery transactions be completed as smoothly as possible.   

We apologize in advance for our construction dust! We’ll have our new system up and running as soon as we can.

See You Next Monday At The State Fair!

We’ll be at the Iowa State Fair next Monday, and hope to see you there!

The first Monday of the Fair is known as Veterans Day at the State Fair, and it will be our chance to join all Fair-goers in honoring veterans while we spread the word about one of the most important beneficiaries of Iowa Lottery proceeds: the Iowa Veterans Trust Fund.

The Veterans Trust Fund is truly an Iowa success story, and not every state has something like it. The Trust Fund was established here in Iowa to provide state help to veterans and their families over and above the federal veterans benefits. Iowa veterans and their families who can’t find help through other programs can apply for help through the Trust Fund for things like dental care, job training, individual or family counseling, and emergency housing and car repairs.   

To date, the lottery has raised nearly $32.4 million for the Veterans Trust Fund. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of all Iowa Lottery tickets is dedicated to the Trust Fund, and that’s money specifically for Iowa veterans and their families. 

The Iowa Lottery will be at the State Fair on the Grand Concourse on Monday, Aug. 16, in the big white exhibition tent in front of the Service Center. Our booth will be open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. that day, and we’ll be selling and cashing tickets in our scratch games, lotto games like Powerball and Mega Millions, and InstaPlay games. If you buy at least $10 in tickets that day, you can spin the prize wheel to win merchandise prizes.

We’ll have all 15 scratch games available that are eligible for our Million Dollar $ummer promotion, which has a top prize of $1 million, just like the name says! We’ll also have the games eligible for our Prize Zone promotions for a Brett Young concert package or tickets at the Iowa Lottery Ironmen Patio for the Hawkeye football game Oct. 9 vs. Penn State or Nov. 13 vs. Minnesota.  

We’ll be able to help folks that day who want to enter the promotions through our VIP Club.

And if you’re an Iowa veteran or the family member of a veteran looking for more information about the Veterans Trust Fund, here is quick background about how the Trust Fund process works: The Iowa Lottery raises proceeds for the Trust Fund, but it’s the Iowa Commission of Veterans Affairs that makes decisions about the grants that are given out from the fund.

Anyone who wants to apply for help from the Trust Fund will need to fill out an application at their county Veterans Service Office (there’s a service office in each of Iowa’s 99 counties).

You can learn more by going to va.iowa.gov, the website for the Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs, and clicking on the “Benefits” tab. Or you can call the VA in Johnston at 800-838-4692.

We Really Mean It: If Playing The Lottery Makes You Unhappy, Take A Break Or Stop

You’ve heard us say this before, but it bears repeating: If playing the lottery is making you unhappy or causing you stress, please take a break or stop completely.

We’ve heard from a few folks recently who are really unhappy with their lottery play and have definitely let us know that. Their inquiries were a reminder for me to revisit the issue here on the blog.      

We want you to know your limits, both monetarily and emotionally. Buying lottery tickets should never be a way to fulfill a financial need. Winning AND not winning are both part of playing the lottery. It’s not a source of income or an investment.

Lottery tickets are something you should buy just for fun from your discretionary spending. That's the money you have left to spend, invest or save after you've paid for necessities like food, clothing, and housing. From your disposable income, you can choose to buy things like movies, books, exercise gear – or lottery tickets.

The definition of "playing within your means" varies from person to person along with their income and circumstances. If you decide to play the lottery, determine in advance how much you want to spend and then follow that plan. When you do that, you're more likely to stay within your set limit and not overspend.

We keep a lot of tips and reminders under the “Play Smart, Be Informed” player’s guide on our website. Check out the details there to see how you’re doing in knowing lottery facts.

Software Error Led To Incorrect Results For Handful Of Lottery Tickets At 2 Stores

An isolated software error recently caused lottery terminals at two Iowa stores to misread a small number of tickets that won a total of $51 in prizes, and we at the Iowa Lottery ask any customers with questions to contact us.

The issue was quickly resolved. The hard drives in the lottery terminals were replaced and a software update was made to prevent the error from re-occurring.

A review of the Iowa Lottery’s statewide gaming system confirmed that the error occurred during two days in late May at just two stores: Hy-Vee, 1630 E. Seventh St. in Atlantic; and Casey’s, 26701 Scott Park Road in Eldridge.

Retail staff at one of the locations contacted the Iowa Lottery on May 25 to report that they were having difficulty cashing tickets in lotto games: Powerball®, Mega Millions®, Lotto America®, Lucky for Life®, Pick 3 and Pick 4. A review that same day pinpointed the software error and confirmed that it was limited to the lottery terminals in the two locations. The error, which began occurring on May 23, caused the lottery terminals at the stores to read all lotto tickets scanned as nonwinners even if they had won a prize. 

From May 23 to May 25, a total of 47 lotto tickets were scanned on the lottery terminals at the two stores. Of those, 15 had won a total of $51 in prizes, with individual winnings per ticket ranging from $2 up to $6. The lottery terminals indicated at the time that all 47 tickets were nonwinners.

Some of the customers involved later checked their winning tickets at other locations and were able to claim their prizes there. Of the 15 winning tickets that were misread at the two stores, 11 remain unclaimed for a total of $35 in prizes, the largest of which is $4.

Players who still have any of the 11 tickets can cash them at a lottery retail location. Any players with questions are welcome to contact Iowa Lottery Security at 515-725-7900 or Wmaster@ialottery.com.

Can Lottery Prize Winners Remain Anonymous In Iowa?

I definitely think that Iowans like to plan ahead based upon the number of questions we receive about the process involved when you win a big prize. Or maybe we’re just a bunch of eternal optimists?

A common thread in that conversation is whether lottery prize winners in Iowa can remain anonymous. The short answer is no. But here are the details:

Under Iowa law, lottery winner’s information is public. It’s possible for individuals, groups of winners or a trust to claim a lottery prize in our state, and all those scenarios have happened through the years. In the case of groups or trusts, the members’ names are released in addition to the name of the larger entity involved.

A recent example is a group of friends from western Iowa who called themselves The Misfits and split a $100,000 prize earlier this month. Their ceremonial check was written out to The Misfits, but the three members of the group also were identified.

The Iowa Lottery will redact sensitive information such as your Social Security number before we release the details, but all other information from the winner claim form is considered public information in our state.

How Many Big Lottery Prizes Have Been Won In Iowa?

Here’s a question that comes our way and appears to have origins in the urban myth that “no one from here ever wins”: How many big lottery prizes have been won in Iowa?

The first hurdle that likely needs to be cleared is how you define the term “big lottery prize.” For simplicity’s sake, I started out with the threshold of $5 million, and then looked at our winners’ lists to determine how many of those prizes have been won through the years here in Iowa. The answer? Iowa Lottery players have won 25 prizes of at least $5 million.

If that level isn’t considered big enough by someone’s definition, we can jump up to the $10 million level. The answer there: Iowa Lottery players have won 13 prizes of at least that amount.

If you keep going up, lottery players in this state have won five prizes of at least $100 million. And the very largest lottery prize claimed to date in Iowa is a $343.9 million Powerball® jackpot that was won in late 2018.

I know some folks won’t ever truly be satisfied with our “big winner” definitions until their name is on the list, but the specifics I’ve shared here show that Iowans have taken home a lot of significant prizes through the years.

Under state law, the Iowa Lottery winners’ lists are public, so we keep a millionaire’s list on our website that shows all the prizes of at least $1 million won in Iowa as well as a list of all winners of $600 or more within the past 12 months.

Awareness + Action = Help Is Available In Iowa For Problem Gambling

During the next few weeks, you’ll see this video and other reminders across the state for National Problem Gambling Awareness Month. At the Iowa Lottery, we put these messages out there in the hope that we’ll get the right information at the right time to someone who needs help.

Whether you’re in line to buy a lottery ticket, 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 along with the Iowa Department of Public Health. Remember that problem gamblers can come from any background – young or old, male or female, rich or poor. The one constant is that problem gambling is treatable.

The hashtag you’ll see during the next month is #AwarenessPlusAction, emphasizing the way we all can pull together to make a difference.

If you ever have questions about problem gambling, know that help is available 24/7 in Iowa by calling 1-800-BETS OFF or visiting yourlifeiowa.org, the website of the Your Life Iowa program. You can reach someone there through text, secure chat, video, email, telephone or in person.

Scam Reminder: Stay Vigilant, Protect Yourself!

We saw a warning on social media this week about scams, and decided it’s time for another reminder from us, too. (Shout out to the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office for its Facebook post!)

The sheriff’s office started its post this way: “Scams, scams, scams. Every day, we hear of new scams.”

And unfortunately, it’s the same thing here at the Iowa Lottery. As annoying as it is to even write this, scam operations are a common part of our world today. And some of them drag lotteries’ names and products into the mix.

We’ve seen scam attempts that claim to be from the Iowa Lottery and some of us who work here or allegedly are from the organizers of our biggest games, like Powerball® and Mega Millions®.

We’ve warned about lottery-related scams for years, noting that they come in any different forms: letters, telephone calls, emails, text messages, and social media messages. We’ve heard lately from Iowans who say they’re getting phone calls from someone with a definite Caribbean accent. The scammer wants those contacted to pay a “processing fee” up front to receive their promised winnings.

It’s a scam. And anyone who sends money to the scammers will never see those funds again, nor will they ever receive the promised winnings.

We know it can be tempting to go along with it. Who doesn’t want to dream that they’ve won a big prize? But please keep these details in mind if you’re ever contacted about winning the lottery: 

• If someone says that you've won a big prize, stop and ask yourself this question: Did I buy a ticket or enter that contest? If you didn't, it's likely a scam.
• Never pay processing fees, insurance or commissions to claim a lottery prize. Legitimate lotteries do not require winners to pay anything up front to receive a prize.
• Never believe a letter, phone call or Internet message from someone who claims they can guarantee you a prize. Legitimate lotteries do not guarantee that you will win and do not require you to join a prize pool to play.
• And remember that in here in our state, the Iowa Lottery is the only lottery authorized under state law. 

The Iowa Attorney General’s Office advises you to report suspected scam calls to the FCC Consumer Complaint Center. The AG also says to consider using call-blocking apps and other services to reduce the number of robocalls you receive.

The best thing any of us can do is to be vigilant and continue to protect ourselves.

2 Sets Of Winning Numbers In Pick 3 Evening Drawing on Saturday (Jan. 30)

UPDATE on Tuesday, Feb. 2: Further details regarding the prize-claim process for the secondary Pick 3 evening drawing on Jan. 30 are now available and noted in red here.

After a technical difficulty with ball-drawing equipment in the Saturday evening Pick 3 drawing, the Iowa Lottery will pay prizes on two sets of winning numbers for that drawing.

The winning numbers originally reported in the Pick 3 evening drawing on Saturday (Jan. 30) will be honored along with those selected in a secondary drawing.

The two sets of official winning numbers for the drawing are: 9-0-2 and 5-7-6.

The results were initially reported as usual for Saturday’s evening Pick 3 drawing. However, subsequent reviews revealed a difficulty with one of the ball-drawing machines.

The winning numbers in Pick 3 drawings are selected using three mechanical ball-drawing machines, each of which contains a set of white lottery balls numbered 0-9. Reviews of Saturday’s evening Pick 3 drawing revealed that as one of the machines was selecting a number, a door on its drum holding drawing balls came open. A drawing ball was still selected by the machine and the exact timing of the difficulty was not initially apparent.

After conducting the review, lottery officials determined that in an abundance of caution, they would hold a secondary drawing, with those results also reported for Saturday’s evening Pick 3 drawing. The secondary drawing was held at 7 p.m. Sunday.

In the initial Pick 3 evening drawing on Saturday, Iowa players won 49 prizes totaling $2,950 in winnings. They won 123 prizes totaling $12,240 in winnings in the secondary drawing.

Here are the prize results for each set of winning numbers.

While prizes in the initial Saturday evening Pick 3 drawing can be claimed through the Iowa Lottery’s usual procedures, any Iowa prizes won in that night’s secondary Pick 3 drawing need to be claimed directly from the lottery and processed at lottery headquarters in Clive. Players should follow the instructions on the “Claiming Prizes” page of the lottery website. The mailing address for the Iowa Lottery is:

Iowa Lottery
13001 University Ave.
Clive, IA 50325-8225.

Players also can visit any of the lottery’s regional offices to present Pick 3 tickets they believe won prizes in the secondary drawing. In some instances, the claim involved may require additional documentation and review, so the prizes may not immediately be paid.

Players who believe they may have discarded a ticket that won a prize in the secondary drawing or who have other questions regarding the status of a Pick 3 ticket should contact the Iowa Lottery directly at 515-725-7900 or Wmaster@ialottery.com.

Pick 3 prizes in Iowa must be claimed within 90 days of the drawing for which they were eligible.

Pick 3 has been offered in Iowa since 1998. It features a top prize of $3,000 and odds of just 1:1,000 of winning it. Another intriguing aspect of the game comes in the variety of ways players can choose to play it. Plays in Pick 3 range from 50 cents up to $5 for the chance to match a three-digit combination of numbers from 000 to 999.

There are several ways to win in Pick 3. Players can choose a straight play, meaning that if the winning numbers are 1-2-3, they win a prize for matching that combination exactly: 1-2-3. Another option is to choose a box play, which allows players to win for matching the winning numbers but not in the exact order drawn (if the winning numbers are 1-2-3, you win for any play with those numbers, such as 3-2-1). Players also can choose a straight/box play, which allows them to win for matching the numbers in the exact order drawn or in any order.

Tax Forms For 2020 Winners Are Being Printed And Mailed Now

If you claimed an Iowa Lottery prize of more than $600 in calendar year 2020, check your mailbox in the next week or so for a form we're sending that you’ll need as you file your income taxes.

The document for most winners is called the W-2G form and it lists the total prize amount as well as any federal and state withholdings from your prize. (Lottery winners who are not U.S. citizens receive a document called Form 1042S.)

If you claimed multiple Iowa Lottery prizes of more than $600 in 2020, you’ll receive multiple 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, and they are being printed and mailed this week. In the image I included with this blog entry, you can see the form itself, so be on the lookout for it if you're expecting one from us!

If you think you should have received a tax form from us for calendar year 2020 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 call the Iowa Lottery at 515-725-7900 or email us at wmaster@ialottery.com.

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

Mega Millions & Powerball Jackpots Combined Are Pushing $1 Billion

The jackpots in Mega Millions® and Powerball® continue their way up and are both now in the Top 10 for each game. The two giant jackpots combined are pushing $1 billion, with the Mega Millions prize amount raised earlier today.

The estimated Mega Millions jackpot for that game’s next drawing tomorrow night now stands at an estimated $520 million annuity, $383.4 million lump-sum option. That’s the 8^th-largest jackpot in the history of the game.

Powerball is nearly as big. Its next drawing is Saturday night, and the jackpot currently stands at an estimated $470 million annuity, $362.7 million lump-sum option. That makes it the 10^th largest jackpot in the history of the game.

Both jackpots have been growing for nearly an identical length of time. Powerball was last won in its drawing on Sept. 15, while Mega Millions was last won on Sept. 16. And now that the prizes are really getting up there, sales are picking up across the country.

This is only the third time that the two jackpots have topped $450 million at the same time.

But like so much else these days, the jackpots have been impacted by the COVID-19 emergency. The jackpots are primarily sales driven, and for months now, folks in wide swaths of the country haven’t been able to run errands or buy everyday items (including lotto tickets) like they normally might in a non-pandemic time. That’s kept the jackpots in both games tamped down. And when the jackpots are lower, sales overall in the games are lower. It can become a bit of a repeating cycle.

So, it’s interesting that both jackpots are on a roll right now, and they’re really close in amount. Hopefully this can be something lighthearted to help give everyone a break to just daydream for awhile. And as we’ve said so many times through the years, remember to play responsibly. It only takes one ticket for a chance to win.

Remember that the deadline in Iowa to buy tickets for the Mega Millions and Powerball drawings is at 8:59 p.m. the night of the drawing. If you buy a ticket after that deadline, it will be for an upcoming drawing and you won’t be in the running for that night’s giant prize.

For Only The Third Time: Jackpots Simultaneously Top $400 Million

UPDATE on Wednesday, Jan. 6: With no jackpot winner in Tuesday's Mega Millions drawing, that giant prize has risen further. Powerball's drawing is tonight! The new details are included here.

Something pretty rare is happening right now in Powerball® and Mega Millions®. For just the third time ever, the games' jackpots have simultaneously topped $400 million.

The Mega Millions jackpot now stands at an estimated $490 million annuity, $372.3 million lump-sum option for its drawing on Friday. The game’s jackpot was last won on Sept. 15 with a ticket purchased in Wisconsin, and it hasn’t been this big for six months. It had reached $410 million in the drawing on June 9 when it was won with a ticket in Arizona.

The next Powerball drawing happens at 9:59 p.m. Wednesday. The Powerball jackpot currently stands at an estimated $410 million annuity, $316.4 million lump-sum option. The game’s top prize was last won on Sept. 16 with a ticket purchased in New York. And it hasn’t been this big for nearly a year. The jackpot had reached $396.9 million when it was won in the drawing on Jan. 29 with a ticket in Florida.

Like so much else these days, the jackpots in both games have been impacted by the COVID-19 emergency. The jackpots are primarily sales driven, and for months now, folks in wide swaths of the country haven’t been able to run errands or buy everyday items (including lotto tickets) like they normally might in a non-pandemic time. That’s kept the jackpots in both games tamped down. And when the jackpots are lower, sales overall in the games are lower. It can become a bit of a repeating cycle.

So, it’s interesting that both jackpots are on a roll right now, and they’re really close in amount. Hopefully this can be something lighthearted to help give everyone a break to have some fun daydreaming during this trying time. And as we’ve said so many times through the years, remember to play responsibly. It only takes one ticket for a chance to win.

Here’s something we’re still watching during the current jackpot run: Human beings procrastinate about lots of things, and that applies to lottery tickets, too. The day of the drawing in Mega Millions and Powerball always sees the highest sales, and in Iowa, the busiest stretch has usually been from about 4 to 6 p.m. that day as folks left work and ran errands on the way home. But with so many people working from home right now, we’re still tracking the numbers to see if purchasing patterns will have changed this time around. The commute home from work just doesn’t exist in many instances now.   

Remember that the deadline in Iowa to buy tickets for the Mega Millions and Powerball drawings is 8:59 p.m. the night of the drawing. If you buy a ticket after that deadline, it will be for an upcoming drawing and you won’t be in the running for that night’s giant prize.

I Scratched My Ticket Too Hard, What Should I Do?

In the holiday and post-holiday rush this month, we’ve heard from a couple lottery players who both made the same mistake and wondered what to do next. 

The players had scratched their tickets a little too hard and in the process, they damaged the code on the ticket that normally would be scanned to claim a prize. They were worried that without the code, the ticket couldn’t be redeemed. But there’s another way that the information can be entered!

Each lottery ticket that we sell here in Iowa has identifying numbers on it that can manually be entered into a lottery terminal to check the results of the ticket. It’s not something you as a player can do using our mobile app – the ticket code is required on the app.

But if the code can’t be read for some reason, a clerk at a lottery retail location or a staffer at one of our lottery offices can key in the identifying numbers from the ticket to determine its outcome. If the clerk at your local store isn’t sure how to do that, they can always call the Iowa Lottery’s retail hotline for help.

If you’d prefer to have us at the lottery check your ticket for you, please make an appointment to visit one of our offices, or in most cases, you can mail the ticket to us if that would be easier.

I’ll add this caveat to the details here: If your ticket is really badly mangled or damaged, it might not be possible for anyone to figure out the identifying numbers from it. And in that case, we might not be able to determine its outcome. As an example, a player who had spilled water on their Powerball tickets once microwaved them to try to dry them out. The tickets are printed on heat-sensitive paper, and you can probably guess what happened: Microwaving the tickets turned them solid black. There was no way for anyone to determine the details that had once been printed on them.

We’ll always do our best to help, but it’s important to keep your tickets in as good of shape as possible so you can claim any prize you’ve won!

Our Reminder Note: Lottery Tickets Are For The Grown-Ups

Here’s a reminder note we hope you’ll think back to as you’re shopping for gifts in the next few weeks.

Lottery tickets are popular as presents and stocking stuffers, and we’re all for having fun! But here at the Iowa Lottery, we’re also cognizant that our tickets – while colorful, entertaining and affordable – may not be something you want to give to those underage.

That same thing holds true for a wider range of products, too. Some video games and movies may not be appropriate for all ages due to their content. 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 that our products are for adults. Remember, you are gambling when you play the lottery.

The Iowa Lottery offers these reminders to minimize the risks associated with youth gambling:

• Be sure to give youngsters age-appropriate gifts.
• When you give lottery tickets as presents, please keep the person's age in mind.

And as always, if you or someone you know has questions about problem gambling, know that help is available 24/7 by text, live chat or telephone through the Your Life Iowa website or the 1-800-BETS OFF helpline.

Recognizing, Remembering & Helping Veterans Through The Veterans Trust Fund

As we recognize Veterans Day this week, we also can take heart in the extra help Iowa makes available to our state’s veterans and their families through a special program that isn’t available in a lot of other places. 

It’s the Iowa Veterans Trust Fund, and we at the Iowa Lottery are proud that a portion of the proceeds raised from the sale of lottery tickets in Iowa goes to the Veterans Trust Fund each year. We just made our latest annual transfer of $2.5 million to the IVTF, and that brings the lottery’s total proceeds through the years to that program to nearly $32.4 million.

That’s help right here at home for those who have given so much for our country. The IVTF was started years ago to help fill in the gaps in federal veterans benefits by adding state help to the mix. It feels good to know Iowa has a solution like that in place, and we get to be a part of it.  

If you’re an Iowa veteran or the family member of an Iowa veteran and you’re looking for more information about the IVTF, you can visit va.iowa.gov and click on the “Trust Fund” link under the “Benefits” tab. There, you’ll find the categories for assistance from the fund as well as a copy of the application form. If you’d prefer an option to speak with someone, you can call the Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs toll-free at 800-838-4692 or contact your local County Veterans Office. (There is a veterans office in every county in Iowa, but please be aware that office hours and other operating details may have changed right now during the COVID-19 emergency.)

While the Iowa Lottery raises money for the Veterans Trust Fund, it’s the Iowa Commission of Veterans Affairs that approves applications for assistance through the fund. Perhaps more than any other, it’s commision members' perspective that matters in terms of the impact that the Trust Fund has had in Iowa. Click on the video below to hear two members of the commission share the story of their own service to our country and why the IVTF matters so much to them.

In Plain Speak: New Tools To Help You Play Smart & Be Informed About The Lottery

We’ve been working for a while now on two new tools that have just gone live to help you best understand the details about playing the lottery.

Think of it this way: You wouldn’t buy a new vehicle or even a phone without first doing your research. So just like you gather information in other areas of your life, you can choose to be informed when you play the lottery by using the new tools.

One of them is a new section that just debuted today on the Iowa Lottery website. The eight-page section, called “Play Smart, Be Informed,” is a player’s guide to help you make informed decisions when you play the lottery.

The section includes details about how to play within your means, understand the odds in lottery games, and be a responsible winner. It also includes a list of common myths vs. the facts about lotteries and an interactive quiz you can take to see how you’re doing in understanding the details. We designed the quiz so that after taking it, you’ll receive a score like those from the classroom: 100 percent, 80 percent, etc. You can translate your numerical score into a corresponding grade (A-F), and decide if you need to keep studying. 

The section concludes with a page that focuses on what you can do if you think your lottery play has gotten beyond your control. The page includes this central statement: “If you’re worried that you’re spending too much on lottery tickets, or feel like playing the lottery is causing you stress or making you unhappy, don’t do it.”

A link to the new Play Smart, Be Informed section is in the grey footer area at the bottom of all pages on our website.

The other new tool designed to encourage informed decisions is on our lottery self-service kiosks and terminals in the 2,400 businesses in Iowa where lottery
tickets are sold. It’s a new “Play Responsibly” icon. By touching the icon, you can print a message about the help available in Iowa for problem gambling.

We recognize that it can be hard to have a conversation about problem gambling. So, by using the icon on a lottery self-service kiosk, you can print out a message that describes the many ways that help can be accessed in Iowa. The message states: “If you worry that you’re playing beyond your means or just have questions about problem gambling, help is available 24/7 here in Iowa through live chat, text, email or phone. Visit yourlifeiowa.org or call 1-800-BETS OFF. At the Iowa Lottery, we mean it: Playing smart is a lot more fun.”

The new Play Responsibly icon also has been added to the screens of Iowa Lottery terminals, and retail employees can use it to print out the same message.

Knowing that some people might worry whether use of the new icon is being monitored, we specifically programmed it so it can’t be tracked. We will not know how many times the icon is utilized, or from where that happens. We hope that decision can help clear the way for the information to make it at the right time to someone who needs it.