ialottery blog

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

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

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

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

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

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

Powerball® Double Play® Tickets Are Your Shot At Seeing NASCAR®, Winning $1 Million

NASCAR® is returning to Iowa this summer, and we’re giving away dozens of prize packages for lottery winners to experience a full weekend of racing at Iowa Speedway®. And that’s not all!

We’re also giving away prize packages of $3,000 cash plus a qualifying entry into the national NASCAR Powerball Playoff™ promotion. One lucky winner in it will ultimately win $1 million in a live drawing before the start of the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race™ this fall in Arizona.

In all, we’re giving away a total of 95 prize packages!

In the images above, you can see the fun our 2024 NASCAR promotion winners had at Iowa Speedway, and it could be your turn this year!

VIP Club members can enter the Iowa Lottery’s NASCAR Race Weekend promotion with any Powerball® Double Play® ticket (minimum $3 play) purchased in Iowa from today through the end of the entry period on the morning of June 23.

Prize Packages To Iowa Speedway

There will be 3 days of NASCAR racing Aug. 1-3 at Iowa Speedway, with the ARCA Menards Series™ Atlas Roofing 150 race on Aug. 1; the NASCAR Xfinity Series™ Hy-Vee Perks 250 race on Aug. 2; and the NASCAR Cup Series™ Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol race on Aug. 3.

All of the ticket prize packages we’re giving away to Iowa Speedway will be for the entire race weekend. Here are the details about those prize packages:

60 people will win a NASCAR Grandstand race weekend prize package, which includes:

• 4 grandstand tickets for all 3 days of NASCAR racing this summer at Iowa Speedway
• exclusive co-branded merchandise
• $1,000 spending money

15 people will win a VIP Suite NASCAR race weekend prize package, which includes:

• 2 suite tickets for all 3 days of NASCAR racing this summer at Iowa Speedway
• complimentary food, water and soda in the suite
• pace car ride
• exclusive meet-and-greet including autograph and photo opportunities with a Cup Series champion driver
• private trailer tour including a guided garage tour
• merchandise prize pack valued at more than $325
• $300 spending money

Prize Packages Of Cash + Entry In National Promo

20 people will win $3,000 cash and become an Iowa qualifier in the national NASCAR Powerball Playoff promotion.

• From among all the qualifiers chosen by lotteries across the country in the NASCAR Powerball Playoff, 16 national semi-finalists will be selected. The semi-finalists each will win even more money.
• Through a series of drawings, the number of national semifinalists will be whittled down from the initial 16 until just 4 finalists remain. The longer a semifinalist stays in the running, the more they’ll win.
• Each of the 4 finalists will win a VIP prize package to 2025 NASCAR Championship Weekend™, Oct. 31-Nov. 2, at Phoenix Raceway®.
• 1 of the finalists will win a $1 million prize in a drawing televised live before the start of the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race™ on Nov. 2.

How You Can Enter

If you want a chance to win, you’ll need to start by becoming a member of the Iowa Lottery’s free VIP Club. That’s where you can enter your eligible winning and nonwinning Powerball Double Play tickets in the promotion.

One ticket equals one entry in the promotion, regardless of how many plays are on that ticket. You’ll be able to enter each ticket into the drawing of your choice.

Here are the important dates to keep in mind:

• March 20: entry period begins at 10 a.m.
• June 23: entry period ends at 9:59 a.m.
• June 24: drawing held, winners announced
• Aug. 1-3: NASCAR races at Iowa Speedway
• Oct. 26: 4 national finalists announced in the NASCAR Powerball Playoff
• Nov. 2: winner of NASCAR Powerball Playoff announced at Phoenix Raceway

Good luck, and we hope to see you at the races!

NASCAR®, NASCAR Cup Series™, NASCAR Xfinity Series™ and ARCA Menards Series are registered trademarks of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC. Copyright© 2025 National Association for Stock Car Racing, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

NASCAR, LLC, Phoenix Speedway, LLC dba Phoenix Raceway, Iowa Speedway, LLC, Comcast Cable, LLC, Menards, Inc. are not sponsors of this promotion.

Phoenix Raceway® is a registered trademark of Phoenix Speedway, LLC. Iowa Speedway® is a registered trademark of Iowa Speedway, LLC and is used with permission.

Questions From the 1st Days Of Easy Play Lottery Sales At The Checkout

Here are the top questions players have had as they’re trying out the new option for lottery sales at the checkout in Iowa Fareway® locations. Don’t see your question here? Feel free to send it our way and we’ll get you an answer!

What is the Easy Play option for buying lottery tickets?

The Easy Play process allows tickets in Powerball® and Mega Millions® to be produced from the cash register on the same paper as store receipts. Customers in a Fareway checkout lane staffed by a cashier can buy quick-pick tickets – where the numbers in the plays are randomly assigned – in Powerball and Mega Millions for the next drawing.

What if I want to buy a lottery ticket at the checkout but I’m paying for my groceries with a credit card?

In that instance, the Fareway point-of-sale system knows to conduct what’s called a split-tender transaction. You can still buy your groceries with your credit card, but since it’s illegal in Iowa for lottery tickets to be purchased with credit, you’ll need to pay for your lottery ticket with cash or a debit card. But if you’re buying your groceries with cash or debit, you’ll just make one payment for everything.

What if I want to choose my own numbers, add the multiplier or Double Play® option to my tickets, or buy tickets in other games?

Think of Easy Play as the express lane with just a couple lottery options available. This new options allows you to buy quick-pick tickets at the check-out, but still keeps the line moving along. Customers who want to buy tickets in the full selection of lottery games at the store, choose their own numbers in a lotto game, or cash a lottery prize, will still go to the lottery terminal where a clerk can help them.

Can I buy Easy Play tickets in a self-check lane?

The Easy Play option is currently only available in checkout lanes staffed by a cashier.

I wish the Easy Play option was available at more stores.

We get it! Easy Play provides a quick way for you to buy tickets and have a chance at those big jackpots. Fareway was the first Iowa Lottery retailer to go live with this new option, and Easy Play will be available by the end of the month at all Fareway locations in the state that sell lottery tickets. We’ll be glad to work with other locations that want to offer it.

Lottery-Ticket Purchases at The Checkout Make Iowa Debut at Fareway Stores

Powerball® and Mega Millions® tickets can now be purchased in checkout lanes at many Fareway® Stores in Iowa, marking the state debut of this new convenience in lottery play.

The new purchase option, called Easy Play, has debuted in select Fareway locations in Iowa. Roll-out is planned by the end of March to all Fareway locations in the state that sell lottery tickets.

The new option allows quick-pick tickets in Powerball and Mega Millions to be printed from the cash register. The tickets are produced on the same paper as store receipts, but printed separately.

Customers in those stores can buy quick-pick tickets – where the numbers in the plays are randomly assigned – in Powerball and Mega Millions at any checkout lane staffed by a cashier.

Before this, Iowa Lottery tickets could only be purchased at a lottery terminal or self-service kiosk in a retail location.

Express Lane vs. Full Selection

Think of Easy Play as an express lane with just a couple lottery options available. Customers who want to cash a lottery prize, choose their own numbers in a lotto game, or buy tickets in the full selection of lottery games available at the store, will still go to the clerk at the lottery terminal.

At the Iowa Lottery, we recognize that consumers value convenience. And we’re glad to help meet that expectation by going live at Fareway with this new way to buy lotto tickets in Iowa.

How It Works

The Easy Play option allows customers at the cash register to buy quick-pick tickets with 1, 2, 3, 5 or 10 plays on them for the next drawing in Powerball and Mega Millions.

The point is to keep things moving, so you can’t add the Power Play®, Double Play® or Megaplier® options on an Easy Play ticket. Also note that Easy Play tickets can’t be purchased in self-service lanes.

But Easy Play tickets can be checked or cashed at any lottery retail location in Iowa. The tickets look a lot like those from a lottery terminal or self-service kiosk, but include the Easy Play logo to identify them.

Easy Play tickets comply with the same security standards as any Iowa Lottery ticket. And,
Fareway cash registers have the technology to ensure that customers buy Easy Play tickets with cash or the equivalent, including debit. It is illegal in Iowa for lottery tickets to be purchased with credit.

There IS A Jackpot Game That Costs Just $1 To Play & Has Easier Odds Of Winning

Here’s something that players regularly tell us they want in a lotto game. And in fact, it already exists.

You can play it today, and the game’s current jackpot is the second-highest in its history.

I’m referring to Lotto America®, the multi-state lotto game that costs $1 to play and has easier odds of winning than its larger cousins, Powerball® and Mega Millions®.

The Lotto America jackpot currently stands at an estimated $25.56 million annuity ($12.04 million lump-sum option) for tomorrow night’s drawing. That’s the second-largest jackpot ever offered in the game.

And, did you know that the largest Lotto America jackpot to date was won by an Iowan? That $40.03 million prize was won in April 2023 by a Dubuque man.

Some players tell us they wish there were an alternative to Powerball and Mega Millions, which both cost more than $1 per ticket and have long odds of winning. (You can’t achieve the giant jackpots that those games regularly produce without having a higher price point and longer odds.)

And so we’re left to wonder: If people SAY they want a $1 lotto game with easier odds of winning, are they playing Lotto America, which provides just that?

Things that make you go, “Hmmmm …”

Less Than A Week To Go For An Unclaimed $50,000 Powerball Prize Won In Bettendorf

Head’s up in the Quad Cities! A $50,000 Powerball® prize won months ago in Bettendorf will expire in less than a week if it isn’t claimed in time. 

The $50,000-winning ticket was purchased at Kwik Star, 2283 53rd Ave. in Bettendorf. It matched 4 of the 5 white balls and the Powerball in the game’s July 29 drawing to win a $50,000 prize. The winning numbers that night were: 11-27-30-33-44 and Powerball 16.

The prize will expire next Monday (Jan. 27) if it isn’t claimed in time. So if you've got a ticket you haven't checked yet, the clock is ticking!    

The $50,000 prize can be claimed at any Iowa Lottery office, and our prize-claim hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday. So the functional deadline for this prize to be claimed is before 4 p.m. next Monday.

Players in Iowa have 180 days from the date of the drawing to claim Powerball prizes. If the prize expiration date falls on a weekend or holiday when lottery offices are closed, the winner has until the close of business on the next business day to turn in the ticket.

The money from lottery prizes won in Iowa that expire without being claimed goes into the lottery's prize pools for future games and promotions, so it will be used to pay prizes, just not those prizes that have expired.

In the last fiscal year (FY 2024), nearly $5 million in lotto and InstaPlay prizes expired in Iowa without being claimed.

If you have questions about the unclaimed prize in Bettendorf, please feel free to reach out to us at the lottery at 515-725-7900 or [email protected].

Truth or Myth: Is There A Better Chance Of Winning When The Jackpot Is Smaller?

Here’s another Truth vs. Myth question to test your lottery smarts: Do you have a better chance of winning when the jackpot is smaller?

Some people say they think that’s true. But it’s a myth.

All the plays in a lotto game (including Powerball® and Mega Millions®) have the same odds of winning, no matter the size of the jackpot.

That’s because the odds are based solely upon the numbers available to play in the game. They DON’T change with the size of the jackpot or the number of people playing.

From a practical standpoint, how would lotteries ever be able to tell you the odds if they were based upon the jackpot amount or the number of tickets being purchased? The details would change from minute to minute.

How The Odds Work

Here’s an example of how the odds really work. In Powerball, the odds of winning the jackpot are about 1 in 292.2 million because that’s how many different ways you can combine the numbers available in the game to make a play. You choose 5 numbers from a pool of 1 to 69 for the white balls and another number from a separate pool of 1 to 26 for the red Powerball. There are 292.2 million ways those numbers can be combined.

Each play you buy contains 1 of those combinations. The winning numbers selected in the drawing also are 1 of those combinations. So, there are odds of 1 in 292.2 million that the numbers on your ticket will match all 6 winning numbers in the drawing to win the jackpot.

Those odds never change.

Whether or not you play, the Iowa Lottery wants everyone to have an accurate understanding of how the lottery works. This Truth vs. Myth series is part of that effort.

Unclaimed $50,000 Powerball Prize Has 1 Month Until It’s Gone!

Somebody out there could be the winner of a $50,000 Powerball® prize and not know it!

We’re trying to spread the word because that prize won in Bettendorf now is down to 1 month until it expiration date.

Here’s what you need to know about that unclaimed prize:

• The winning ticket was purchased in Bettendorf at the Kwik Star at 2283 53rd Ave.
• The ticket won a $50,000 prize in the July 29 Powerball drawing.
• The winning numbers in that night’s drawing were: 11-27-30-33-44 and Powerball 16.
• The ticket matched 4 of the 5 white balls and the Powerball.
• The prize will expire on Jan. 27 if it isn’t claimed in time.

When a prize goes unclaimed, we really feel for the winner. Imagine leaving all that money on the table! That’s why we’re trying to jog somebody’s memory. If you know anyone who frequents that Kwik Star in Bettendorf, make sure they see this!

If you’re the winner and you’re reading this, bring that ticket to any Iowa Lottery office before the deadline: Cedar Rapids, Clive, Mason City or Storm Lake. Prize-claim hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday-Friday, with lottery offices closed on state holidays.

There are several other unclaimed prizes set to expire within the next month, including:

• A $2,000 Mega Millions® prize. The ticket was purchased at Casey’s, 1207 State St. in Tama, for the July 2 drawing. It will expire on Dec. 30 if it isn’t claimed in time.
• A $1,000 “Hit the Jackpot!” InstaPlay prize. The ticket was purchased on Oct. 9 at Mini Mart, 709 1st St. SW in Independence. Its expiration date is Jan. 7.
• A $1,250 Pick 4 prize. The ticket was purchased at Yesway, 1976 Franklin St. in Waterloo, for the Oct. 25 evening drawing. Its expiration date is Jan. 23.
• A $3,000 Pick 4 prize. The ticket was purchased at Cork’s, 1956 Lafayette St. in Waterloo for the Oct. 28 evening drawing. Its expiration date is Jan. 27.

If nobody steps forward in time to claim these prizes, the money involved will go back into the lottery’s prize pools for future games and promotions. 

We hope to meet these winners!

The Latest On Tonight’s Giant Mega Millions Jackpot

The giant Mega Millions® jackpot continues to climb, now standing at an estimated $1.22 billion annuity, $549.7 million lump-sum option, for tonight’s drawing.

The Mega Millions jackpot is now the 5th-largest prize in the history of the game and the 9th-largest jackpot in any U.S. lottery game.

The current Mega Millions jackpot has been growing for nearly 4 months. It was last won on Sept. 10. The game’s drawings are held at 10 p.m. on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Winning Numbers, Iowa Sales & Prizes

Iowa Lottery players won a total of 30,927 prizes in Tuesday’s Mega Millions drawing. The winning numbers that night were: 11-14-38-45-46 and Mega Ball 3. The Megaplier® number was 3.

Three Iowa tickets were just 1 number away from having at least a share of that night’s jackpot and won $10,000 each. They matched 4 of the 5 white balls and the Mega Ball.

The $10,000-winning tickets were purchased at:

• Smokin’ Joe’s, 1606 W. Locust St. in Davenport
• Hy-Vee, 812 S. First Ave. in Iowa City
• Casey’s, 516 Rossville Road in Waukon.

Iowa players bought more than $1.7 million in Mega Millions tickets for Tuesday’s drawing. But the average Mega Millions purchase in Iowa for the drawing remained about 3 plays, or $6 per ticket. Lottery officials were pleased that a lot of people had fun playing and didn’t go overboard.

Easy Picks vs. Your Own Numbers

The vast majority of tickets in games like Mega Millions are easy-pick plays, meaning that the lottery terminal assigns the numbers printed on the ticket. About 94 percent of the Iowa plays for Tuesday’s Mega Millions drawing were easy picks.

But players also can choose their own numbers. They choose five numbers from a pool of 1 to 70 for the white balls and 1 number from a separate pool of 25 for the yellow Mega Ball.

It HAS Been A While Since The Last $1 Billion+ Jackpot

If it seems like it’s been a while since we’ve seen a jackpot of more than $1 billion, that’s correct.

Prior to the current Mega Millions jackpot, it had been 8 months since the last time a U.S. jackpot topped the $1 billion mark. That Powerball® jackpot of $1.33 billion was won on April 6. The last Mega Millions jackpot to climb higher than $1 billion was a $1.13 billion prize won on March 26.

There were 4 U.S. jackpots of more than $1 billion in calendar year 2023, but the current jackpot is just the 3rd in 2024. And that’s the random nature of the games: You never know when the next big winner will hit!

12 U.S. Jackpots Of More Than $1 Billion

With the current Mega Millions jackpot included, there now have been a dozen U.S. jackpots of more than $1 billion, all in the Powerball and Mega Millions games.

The Deadline To Buy

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

Play Healthy

At the Iowa Lottery, we remind everyone to play just for fun. You are gambling when you buy a lottery ticket and there is no guarantee that you’ll win.

As an additional resource, we keep Play Smart, Be Informed details on our website to help everyone have an accurate understanding of how the lottery works.

A Coin Flip, Rolling The Dice, Shuffling The Cards: A Look At What The Odds Mean

Maybe the best way to explain the odds of winning in a lottery game is to compare them to something else entirely. So we made some new videos to do just that.

Let’s start with scratch games. The odds of winning on a scratch ticket are a lot like the outcome of shuffling a deck of cards. There are 4 suits in the deck, but after the cards are shuffled into random order, you can go a lot more than 4 cards in a row without finding a particular suit.

For InstaPlay games, think of the odds like flipping a coin. You’ve got a 50/50 chance that the outcome will be heads or tails, but we all know you can flip a coin several times in a row with only one outcome.

For pull-tab games, the odds can be compared to rolling a dice. You’ve got a 1 in 6 chance of rolling one of the numbers on the dice, but you can roll it time after time without landing on the number you want!

For lotto games – including Powerball® and Mega Millions® – the odds of winning come from the numbers available to play, and all the different ways you can combine them.

We used each of those concepts for the new videos that went live today to explain the odds of winning in our games. Each video is only about a minute long to quickly provide the details involved.

You can find the videos through the links in this blog entry, and we'll also post them on our website.  

Whether you play the lottery or not, we want everyone to have an accurate understanding of how our games work. These new videos are part of that effort.

Iowa Had 2 Big Winners In Last Night’s Lottery Drawings!

Update on Friday, Oct. 25: We're still waiting to meet the Lucky for Life winner, but the Powerball prize has been claimed! Anita Kent of Burlington claimed her $100,000 Powerball prize yesterday at our Cedar Rapids office. 

Iowa saw 2 big winners in last night’s lottery drawings. A Lucky for Life® prize of $25,000 a year for life was won in Des Moines and a $100,000 Powerball® prize was won in Burlington!

Details About The Winning Lucky for Life Ticket

The Lucky for Life ticket in Des Moines won Iowa’s 21st big prize in that game since its January 2016 debut in our state. The ticket matched the first 5 numbers but missed the Lucky Ball in last night’s Lucky for Life drawing to win at the game’s second prize of $25,000 a year for life.

The winning ticket was purchased at Hy-Vee, 2540 E. Euclid Ave. in Des Moines. Last night’s winning Lucky for Life numbers were: 9-12-22-25-44 and Lucky Ball 9.

Hy-Vee will receive a $500 bonus from the lottery for selling the winning ticket.

Details About The Winning Powerball Ticket

The Powerball ticket in Burlington initially matched 4 of the white balls and the Powerball in last night’s drawing to win $50,000. But whoever bought the lucky ticket added the Power Play® option to it, which doubled the prize to $100,000.

The winning ticket was purchased at Liquorland, 600 S. Main St. in Burlington. Last night’s winning Powerball numbers were: 2-15-27-29-39 and Powerball 20. The Power Play number was 2.

Liquorland will receive a $100 bonus from the lottery for selling the winning ticket.

Prize Claim Details

Lucky for Life and Powerball prizes won in Iowa have to be claimed within 180 days of the drawing.

The Lucky for Life prize won in Des Moines needs to be claimed at lottery headquarters in Clive, while the Powerball prize won in Burlington can be claimed at any of the lottery’s offices.

If the winners have questions before claiming their prizes, they’re welcome to reach out to us at the lottery at 515-725-7900 or [email protected].

Why It Matters: The Drawing Date Vs. The Purchase Date On Your Ticket

Here’s a tip we shared with a player this week who thought we’d reported the wrong winning numbers in Powerball®.

It turns out he was looking at the wrong date on his ticket.

In a game like Powerball, the date of the drawing where your ticket could win a prize is printed in large font right in the center of the paper, just above the plays you bought.

The date that you bought your ticket is in the upper right corner of the ticket, in a year-month-day format. You also can see the exact time that the ticket was printed. We provide those details as a security feature to help track and identify the ticket.

The player mistakenly thought that the purchase date on his ticket was the date of the drawing in which it could win a prize.

And when he went to our website to check the results of his ticket, he thought it should have won a prize. But when he scanned the ticket with the lottery’s mobile app on his phone, he got a message saying it wasn’t a winner.

We all can probably imagine ourselves in that situation. The man said he scanned his ticket several times, thinking that the results would change. He even took his ticket to a store to have it checked on the lottery terminal to double-check the results provided by the mobile app. Every time, the results showed that his ticket had not won a prize.

The man then emailed us to ask if something had gone wrong with the results we reported for the drawing.

We were able to figure out that he was looking at the wrong date on his ticket, and then he understood the difference!

The same details apply to tickets in any of our lotto games, not just Powerball. (The others are Mega Millions®, Lotto America®, Lucky for Life®, Pick 3 and Pick 4.)

So now you’ll get it right when you check the tickets you buy!

A New Face For That BIG Sign We’ll Bet You’ve Seen

A big sign that so many of us will recognize has gotten a new look and technology upgrade. And now it will provide details about TWO jackpots rather than just one! 

You’ll definitely notice it the next time you go by!

We’re talking about the iconic lottery billboard along I-235, just east of the state Capitol as the freeway heads into downtown Des Moines. For a lot of folks, that's always been a lottery billboard because Iowa Lottery messaging has been on it since April 1999.

Commuters in the area see the billboard every day. And if you’re from another part of Iowa, you’ve likely seen it when you’re in Des Moines for a state tournament, a concert, or another visit.

For the past handful of years, the billboard has shown the current Powerball® jackpot amount. Over time, the sign had taken some hits from the weather, and we knew it needed an overhaul. But we had to line up new technology for that process.

It all came together yesterday! Crews brought in a crane so they could switch out the graphics on the sign and put in upgraded mechanical boxes to display the jackpot amounts. With the update, the billboard now provides the latest jackpot amounts in Powerball AND Mega Millions®.

(At the time the picture was taken yesterday, it showed the jackpot amount for last night’s Mega Millions drawing. Now that the drawing has happened, the sign’s digits have updated to show the $185 million estimated Mega Millions jackpot for Friday night’s drawing.)

The numbers on the billboard may not seem all that big as you drive by, but look at the image below of the sign crew at work. The digits in the display are MUCH bigger than them!

Say hello to this new look for the jackpots! The finished billboard is in the image above, and the shots of it under construction are below!

Her Bestie Was Right! Webster City Woman Wins $1 Million Powerball Prize

It was a normal day at work for a Webster City woman until she saw a message from her best friend, saying that someone in her community had just won $1 million in Powerball®.

Lynne Kannuan admits she usually waits for weeks before she checks the results of her lottery tickets. But after hearing from her friend, she got out her ticket, logged onto the Iowa Lottery website, and checked the winning numbers. She says she had to check the results twice before she started to believe she’d won big.

Then she went straight to her boss’s office. But when she got there, all she could say was, “Um …”

She finally got the words out that she may have won $1 million. Her boss also went to the lottery website to check the winning numbers, and she agreed!

Pausing To Make A Plan

Lynne says she immediately told her husband, Pat, and their adult sons, but then the couple stayed quiet for about six weeks while they consulted a financial planner and lawyer. Lynne claimed her prize today at Iowa Lottery headquarters in Clive through the Lynne Kannuan Living Trust.

She says she and her husband plan to pay bills, invest, and share some of the winnings with family. And Lynne says she’ll get a newer car.

The couple, who both immigrated as children to the United States from Laos, talked about how far they’ve come, literally and figuratively. But they plan to just go about their normal days. Lynne describes her winnings as the perfect amount: “Not too much, not too little, just right.”

A Small Prize Led To Something BIGGER

Lynne bought her winning ticket at Fareway, 942 Second St. in Webster City, while stopping for groceries on her way home from work. She says she had a $5-winning scratch ticket in her purse, so she used a portion of that prize to buy a Powerball ticket. And her next win was MUCH bigger!

The winning numbers in the Aug. 5 Powerball drawing were: 29-42-44-51-54 and Powerball 12. The Power Play® number was 2. Lynne’s ticket was the only one in the country to win a $1 million prize that night.

Fareway received a $1,000 bonus from the Iowa Lottery for selling the $1 million-winning ticket.

A Stop In Mason City With 1 Month Until Expiration For $500,000 Unclaimed Prize

There’s just one month left for someone to claim a $500,000 Powerball® prize won in Mason City and the Iowa Lottery was at the store today where the winning ticket was purchased to remind players to double-check their tickets.

The $500,000-winning ticket was sold at Kwik Star, 1502 S. Federal Ave. in Mason City. The prize will expire on Sept. 12 if it isn’t claimed by the deadline. Click on the video above to see what went on at the store today!

The prize wasn’t won in a regular Powerball drawing, but rather, in the Powerball Double Play® drawing on March 16. The winning Double Play numbers that night were: 9-11-13-29-69 and Double Play Powerball 12.

The Mason City ticket matched the first five numbers but missed the Double Play Powerball to win a $500,000 prize.

The Double Play® option debuted in November for Powerball in Iowa. For an extra $1 per play, Powerball players can add the Double Play option to their tickets. The numbers on that ticket are then eligible to win twice – once in the regular Powerball drawing, and once in a separate Double Play drawing that same night.

Prize Claim Details

The $500,000 prize has to be claimed at Iowa Lottery headquarters in Clive. Anyone with questions about the prize or how to claim it is welcome to reach out to us at 515-725-7900 or [email protected].

What Happens To Unclaimed Prize Money In Iowa?

In the last fiscal year (FY 2024), nearly $5 million in lotto and InstaPlay prizes expired in Iowa without being claimed.

That money goes into the lottery's prize pools for future games and promotions, so it will be used to pay prizes, just not those prizes that have expired.

Get Free Powerball Tix & Enter Contest For Prize Packages At Mason City Event Today

There’s just one month left for someone to claim a $500,000 Powerball® prize won in Mason City and the Iowa Lottery will have an event there today to remind players to double-check their tickets.

The $500,000-winning ticket was sold at Kwik Star, 1502 S. Federal Ave. in Mason City. The prize will expire on Sept. 12 if it isn’t claimed by the deadline.

The lottery will be at the Kwik Star from 10-11:30 a.m. today, calling attention to the unclaimed prize, giving away free Powerball plays to store customers, and asking them to check the results of any tickets they have. We'll also hold a contest you can enter for a chance to win a scratch-ticket prize package. We hope we’ll jog the winner’s memory in time for the $500,000 prize to be claimed!

The prize wasn’t won in a regular Powerball drawing, but rather, in the Powerball Double Play® drawing on March 16. The winning Double Play numbers that night were: 9-11-13-29-69 and Double Play Powerball 12.

The Mason City ticket matched the first five numbers but missed the Double Play Powerball to win a $500,000 prize.

The Double Play® option debuted in November for Powerball in Iowa. For an extra $1 per play, Powerball players can add the Double Play option to their tickets.

The numbers on that ticket are then eligible to win twice – once in the regular Powerball drawing, and once in a separate Double Play drawing that same night.

Prize Claim Details

The $500,000 prize has to be claimed at Iowa Lottery headquarters in Clive. Anyone with questions about the prize or how to claim it is welcome to reach out to us at 515-725-7900 or [email protected].

Players in Iowa have 180 days from the date of the drawing to claim prizes in Powerball.

What Happens To Unclaimed Prize Money In Iowa?

In the last fiscal year (FY 2024), nearly $5 million in lotto and InstaPlay prizes expired in Iowa without being claimed.

That money goes into the lottery's prize pools for future games and promotions, so it will be used to pay prizes, just not those prizes that have expired.

Powerball Ticket Purchased in Webster City Wins $1 Million Prize

Someone who bought a Powerball® ticket in Webster City won a $1 million prize in the game’s drawing last night!

The $1 million-winning ticket was purchased at Fareway, 942 Second St. in Webster City. It matched the first five numbers but missed the Powerball to win a $1 million prize.

Last night’s winning numbers were: 29-42-44-51-54 and Powerball 12. The Power Play® number was 2. No one matched all six numbers to win the jackpot, so the big prize climbs to an estimated $185 million annuity ($92.1 million lump-sum option) for the game’s next drawing tomorrow.

The Webster City ticket was the only one in the country to win a $1 million prize in last night’s drawing.

Fareway will receive a $1,000 bonus from the Iowa Lottery for selling the $1 million-winning ticket.

The $1 million prize has to be claimed at Iowa Lottery headquarters in Clive. The lottery’s offices are open Monday through Friday, and an appointment is strongly encouraged.

To make an appointment or ask questions about claiming a prize, winners are welcome to call the lottery at 515-725-7900 or email to [email protected].

Powerball prizes won in Iowa have to be claimed within 180 days of the drawing.

Truth or Myth: Do Easy Picks Improve Your Luck?

Here’s another truth vs. myth question to test your lottery smarts: Are easy picks luckier?

A lot of people seem to think so, but it’s a myth. Every play in our lotto games (Powerball®, Mega Millions®, etc.) has the same odds of winning, whether you choose your own numbers or buy an easy pick.

You’re likely already familiar with the terms, but just to cover the bases, in lotto games, you have the option of choosing the numbers printed on your ticket or letting the lottery terminal randomly choose the numbers for you. A play with numbers selected by the lottery terminal is called an easy pick. A ticket with numbers you choose yourself is called a manual play. 

Today, more people choose easy picks. A lot more people. In some drawings, more than 90 percent of the plays purchased in Powerball and Mega Millions are easy picks.

With that huge percentage of easy pick tickets being purchased, more winners also come from easy picks. That does not mean they’re luckier, it just means there are a lot more of them.

Whether you buy an easy pick or choose your own numbers, the odds of winning are the same for every ticket in a lotto game. That’s because the odds are based upon all of the possible combinations of numbers available to play in the game.

In Powerball, for example, the odds of winning the jackpot are always about 1 in 292.2 million because that’s how many different ways you can combine the numbers available in the game to make a play. The numbers on your play are one of those 292.2 million combinations. The winning numbers selected in the drawing also are one of those combinations. That’s why there are odds of 1 in 292.2 million that the numbers on your ticket will match the winning numbers in the drawing.

Those odds never change, no matter how many people are playing.

So, if you want to choose your own numbers, go ahead. If you’d rather ask for an easy pick, that’s fine, too. Your odds of winning a prize will be the same no matter which way you go.

Where People Are Buying The Most Tickets: Is Your Store On the List?

Here are a couple interesting lottery numbers in Iowa, both in terms of where people are buying tickets and the prizes being won. Is YOUR favorite lottery spot on the list?

The store in Iowa that sold the most lottery tickets during the past year was a Hy-Vee supermarket in Cedar Rapids. And 14 Iowa players won prizes of at least $500,000 in fiscal year 2024, with a $2 million Powerball® prize at the top of the list!

We’ve gathered these details as we work toward announcement later this month of the Iowa Lottery’s latest annual results. Here is the Top 10 list of retail locations in Iowa for lottery sales in FY 2024. Do you shop at one of these stores?

Top 10 Ranking	Store and Address	FY 2024 Lottery Sales
No. 1	Hy-Vee, 1843 Johnson Ave. NW, Cedar Rapids	$1,340,574.00
No. 2	Hy-Vee, 5050 Edgewood Road NE, Cedar Rapids	$1,044,789.00
No. 3	Hy-Vee, 2323 W. Broadway, Council Bluffs	$960,645.50
No. 4	Albia Road BP, 1340 Albia Road, Ottumwa	$939,354.50
No. 5	Hy-Vee, 3235 Oakland Road NW, Cedar Rapids	$936,142.00
No. 6	Porters Convenient 66, 1512 Lincoln Way, Clinton	$910,507.50
No. 7	Hy-Vee Drugstore, 1520 Sixth St. SW, Cedar Rapids	$903,385.00
No. 8	Hy-Vee, 2540 E. Euclid Ave., Des Moines	$867,583.50
No. 9	Hy-Vee, 1107 E. Army Post Road, Des Moines	$847,289.00
No. 10	Hy-Vee, 410 N. Ankeny Blvd., Ankeny	$832,441.50

And with lottery sales come lottery prizes! The biggest prize won in Iowa last fiscal year was $2 million. Three players won at that level in Powerball.

Another two players won prizes of $1 million in Powerball and Mega Millions®. And nine Iowans won prizes of $500,000 in FY 2024!

Here are the 5 biggest lottery prizes won in Iowa in the past year:

Prize Amount	Game	Winner	Date Claimed
$2 million	Powerball	Mega Balmer, Garwin	July 11, 2023
$2 million	Powerball	Danny Buckelew, Treynor	Jan. 17, 2024
$2 million	Powerball	Mark Krogman, Clinton	April 16, 2024
$1 million	Powerball	Trent Baker, Newton	April 8, 2024
$1 million	Mega Millions	Michael Hoogerwerf, Davenport	July 17, 2023

$500,000 Powerball Double Play Prize In Mason City Still Unclaimed

A $500,000 Powerball® prize won in Mason City has reached the halfway point in its claim period, so if you’ve got a ticket you haven’t checked, now is the time!

The prize is a little unusual because it was won with Powerball’s Double Play® option, which just was added to the game in November in Iowa.

The $500,000-winning ticket was purchased at Kwik Star, 1502 S. Federal Ave. in Mason City. The prize will expire on Sept. 12 if it isn’t claimed in time.

What Is Double Play & How Does It Work?

Here’s a quick recap of Double Play: For an extra $1 per play, players can add the Double Play option to their Powerball tickets. (A Powerball play costs $2, and with Double Play added, a ticket costs $3.) The numbers on that ticket are then eligible to win twice – once in the regular Powerball drawing, and once in a separate Double Play drawing that same night.

It’s possible for a player to win a prize in the regular Powerball drawing and the Double Play drawing on the same night.

In the case of the Mason City ticket, it matched the first five numbers but missed the Double Play Powerball in the Double Play drawing on March 16 to win a $500,000 prize.

That night’s winning Double Play numbers were: 9-11-13-29-69 and Double Play Powerball 12. The Mason City ticket was the only one in the country to win a $500,000 prize that night.

Other Big Unclaimed Prizes

The Mason City prize is among four lottery prizes of at least $20,000 in Iowa that will expire by early October if they aren’t claimed in time. Here are details about the other three (listed by prize amount):

Game	Drawing Date	Amount Won	Retailer	Expiration
Powerball	Dec. 16, 2023	$50,000	Casey's, Des Moines	June 13, 2024
Powerball	April 10, 2024	$50,000	Hy-Vee, Des Moines	Oct. 7, 2024
Mega Millions	March 26, 2024	$20,000	Kum & Go, Ankeny	Sept. 23, 2024

While all of the prizes need to be claimed at an Iowa Lottery office, the $500,000 prize in particular has to be claimed at lottery headquarters in Clive. Prize-claim hours at lottery offices are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday, with offices closed on state holidays.

If you’ve got a question about how to claim an Iowa Lottery prize, please feel free to reach out to us at [email protected] or 515-725-7900.

The money from lottery prizes that expire in Iowa without being claimed goes into the lottery's prize pools for future games and promotions, so it will be used to pay prizes, just not those prizes that have expired.

Player Question: The Megaplier seems to come up a lot as 3. Is something wrong?

A player who called us this week thought something had gone wrong with the Megaplier® option in the Mega Millions® game. The short answer is: Nothing is wrong. But here’s the background involved, in case you’ve ever wondered about the same thing.

The man said he noticed that the Megaplier number has come up as 3 a lot in recent drawings, and he wondered if that meant something is wrong. In reality, the Megaplier number is being randomly selected as usual in each Mega Millions drawing. But it is likely that the Megaplier will come up as 2 or 3 more often.

How The Megaplier Works

You may already know that you can add the Megaplier option to your play in the Mega Millions game for an extra $1, and it will multiply any prize you win, except the jackpot.

So, for example, if your ticket matches the five white balls but misses the yellow Mega Ball, you’d win a $1 million prize. But if you’ve added the Megaplier option to your ticket and the multiplier number that night is 3, your prize will be tripled to $3 million.

That’s similar to the Power Play® option in Powerball® and the All Star Bonus® option in Lotto America®. The details for each multiplier option are in the game rules available on our website.

But when it comes to Mega Millions specifically, why can 2 or 3 be chosen more often as the multiplier? It’s due to the universe of numbers available to be selected as the Megaplier option.

There are 15 numbers in the Megaplier pool. Of them, 5 are 2s, 6 are 3s, 3 are 4s and 1 is a 5. Here’s what that looks like in table form:

15 Total Numbers In Megaplier Pool
2X = 5
3X = 6
4X = 3
5X = 1

So, does it stand to reason that the Megaplier number will come up more often as 2 or 3? Yes. But the other numbers also have a shot.

The Power Play option in Powerball and the All Star Bonus option in Lotto America work in a similar way.

43 Total Numbers In Power Play Pool
2X = 24
3X = 13
4X = 3
5X = 2
10X = 1

32 Total Numbers In All Star Bonus Pool
2X = 15
3X = 10
4X = 4
5X = 3

Whether you play the lottery or not, we want everyone to have an accurate understanding of how the lottery works. Details like the ones we've provided here can help make that happen.

Check Your Tickets! Only 1 Month Left for $50,000 Powerball Prize

A $50,000 Powerball® prize won in Des Moines will expire in a month if it isn’t claimed in time, and at the Iowa Lottery, we’re reminding players to double-check their tickets!

The Des Moines prize is among five lottery prizes of at least $20,000 that are currently unclaimed in Iowa. They’ll all expire by early October if they aren’t claimed in time.

The $50,000 Powerball prize has the earliest expiration date on that list. It was won in the Powerball drawing on Dec. 16 and is set to expire on June 13. The winning ticket was purchased at Casey’s, 3725 Beaver Ave. in Des Moines, for the Powerball drawing on Dec. 16. It matched four of the first five numbers and the Powerball to win a $50,000 prize.

The winning Powerball numbers in that night’s drawing were 3-9-10-20-62 and Powerball 25. The Power Play® number was 3.

What’s the largest current unclaimed prize in Iowa?

The largest prize currently unclaimed in Iowa is a $500,000 Powerball Double Play® prize won in March in Mason City. That particular prize is a little more unusual because Double Play is a new option in the Powerball game.

The Powerball Double Play option made its Iowa debut in November. For an extra $1 per play, players can add the Double Play option to their Powerball tickets. (A Powerball play costs $2, and with Double Play added, a ticket costs $3.) The numbers on that ticket are then eligible to win twice – once in the regular Powerball drawing, and once in a separate Double Play drawing that same night.

It’s possible for a player to win a prize in the regular Powerball drawing and the Double Play drawing on the same night.

In the case of the Mason City ticket, it matched the first five numbers but missed the Double Play Powerball in the Double Play drawing on March 16 to win a $500,000 prize. It was the only ticket in the country to win a $500,000 prize that night.

The lucky ticket was purchased at Kwik Star, 1502 Federal Ave. in Mason City. It will expire on Sept. 12 if the prize is not claimed in time.

Here are details about the other two sizeable lottery prizes in Iowa that remain unclaimed (listed by prize amount):

Game	Drawing Date	Amount Won	Retailer	Expiration
Powerball	April 10, 2024	$50,000	Hy-Vee, Des Moines	Oct. 7, 2024
InstaPlay	May 10, 2024	$38,851.35	Kwik Star, Davenport	Aug. 8, 2024
Mega Millions	March 26, 2024	$20,000	Kum & Go, Ankeny	Sept. 23, 2024

While all of the prizes need to be claimed at an Iowa Lottery office, the $500,000 prize in particular has to be claimed at lottery headquarters in Clive. Prize-claim hours at lottery offices are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday, with offices closed on state holidays.

What happens to unclaimed prize money in Iowa?

In the last fiscal year (FY 2023), more than $1.7 million in lotto and InstaPlay prizes expired in Iowa without being claimed.

The money from lottery prizes that expire in Iowa without being claimed goes into the lottery's prize pools for future games and promotions, so it will be used to pay prizes, just not those prizes that have expired.

Clinton Man Claims $2 Million Powerball Prize He Won In November

A Clinton man has claimed a $2 million Powerball® prize he won in November.

Mark Krogman, 72, who is retired, claimed his prize today. He says he felt shock and joy when he realized he’d won big.

Krogman’s ticket was purchased at Clinton Liquor, 1641 S. Bluff Blvd. in Clinton, and came within one number of winning the $337.9 million jackpot in the Powerball drawing on Nov. 25.

His ticket initially matched the first five numbers but missed the Powerball to win a $1 million prize. But Krogman added the Power Play® option to his purchase, which multiplies the prize at the Match 5 level to $2 million.

Krogman’s ticket was the only one in the country to win a $2 million prize in that night’s drawing.

The winning numbers in the Nov. 25 drawing were: 27-33-63-66-68 and Powerball 9. The Power Play number was 2.

Clinton Liquor received a $2,000 bonus from the Iowa Lottery for selling the $2 million-winning ticket.

Krogman has specific plans for his winnings: He wants to pay off his house and possibly add onto it, help his family with needed finances, and just enjoy life.

Newton Firefighter Claims $1 Million Powerball Prize During Total Eclipse

Iowa’s newest Powerball® millionaire claimed his prize today as the total eclipse of the sun was reaching its zenith in the Midwest. He says he knows the timing of it all is something to be remembered!

Trent Baker said he’d been joking that there was a lot going on in the last few days: an earthquake in New York, a total eclipse of the sun, and he won the lottery. He says he maybe shouldn’t ask what’s going to happen next!

Baker, 37, a firefighter, claimed his $1 million Powerball prize this afternoon at Iowa Lottery headquarters in Clive with a ticket he’d bought for Saturday’s drawing.

While Saturday’s $1.326 billion Powerball jackpot was won in Oregon, Baker’s ticket was one of seven across the country that were just one number away from having a share of the giant prize. Those $1 million-winning tickets each matched the first five numbers but missed the Powerball to win at the game’s second prize level.

How He Found Out He Won

Baker said he was up early for work yesterday when he decided to use the Iowa Lottery app on his mobile phone to check the results of the five Powerball tickets he’d bought the night before. His phone dinged on the second ticket he checked, indicating that it was a winner.

He said he saw a 1 and a bunch of zeroes and wasn’t sure what it meant – if he’d won $1 million or $1 billion.

Baker said he couldn’t report for a shift at the fire station without having another verification of his win, so he took his easy-pick ticket to a local convenience store and had it checked on the lottery terminal there. The clerk at the store confirmed it was a $1 million winner.

Baker said he made it to work on time and shared the news with his co-workers at the fire station. But after working for a few hours and worrying that his scattered thoughts could cause him to make a critical error, he took the rest of his shift off, using the time to research his next steps.

His Plans For The Future, Including Ice Cream

By the time he claimed his prize this afternoon, he’d already spoken with a financial planner, identified the total he needed to pay off his student loans, and made plans to invest the bulk of his winnings. He said he knows that winning the lottery is a once-in-a-lifetime thing, and he wants to make his winnings last as long as possible.

Baker bought his lucky ticket at Hy-Vee, 1501 First Ave. E. in Newton. Hy-Vee will receive a $1,000 bonus from the Iowa Lottery for selling the $1 million-winning ticket.

And while Baker has made long-term plans for his winnings, he also knows he has an immediate purchase in his future that’s a tradition at his fire station. He says that he and his fellow firefighters have an unwritten rule that if they end up in pictures or video in the media, they owe the department ice cream.

And he says he’s going to owe a lot of ice cream now!

$1 Million Powerball Prize Won In Newton

The jackpot hub-bub is over for now – until the next big one comes along!

While the jackpot in last night’s $1.326 billion Powerball® drawing was won in Oregon, an Iowa ticket was just one number away from having a share of the grand prize. That Iowa ticket, purchased in Newton, won a $1 million prize.

The Powerball jackpot had climbed for more than 3 months and tied the game’s record for the longest string of consecutive drawings without a winner before it was won last night. The jackpot had been won on New Year’s Day, then rolled for 41 drawings in a row without a winner. That had only occurred twice before, in 2021 and 2022.

Last night’s jackpot was the 4th-largest Powerball prize and the 8th-largest U.S. lottery prize. The jackpot now returns to $20 million annuity, $9.4 million lump-sum option, for Powerball’s next drawing tomorrow night.

Iowa Sales and Total Prizes Won

Iowa Lottery players won a total of 45,721 Powerball prizes last night ranging from $4 up to $1 million. A total of about $2.4 million in Powerball tickets for last night were purchased in Iowa.

One Iowa ticket was just 1 number away from having a share of last night’s jackpot, matching the first 5 numbers but missing the Powerball to win a $1 million prize. That winning ticket was purchased at Hy-Vee, 1501 First Ave. E. in Newton.

It was one of 7 tickets across the country to win a $1 million prize in last night's drawing.

Last night's winning Powerball numbers were: 22-27-44-52-69 and Powerball 9. The Power Play number was 3.

The $1 million prize must be claimed at Iowa Lottery headquarters in Clive. If the winner or winners have questions before claiming the prize, they’re welcome to call us at the Iowa Lottery at 515-725-7900 or email us at [email protected].

Details About ‘Coverage’ & Easy Picks

Two details get a lot of attention in Powerball drawings: the coverage estimate and the percentage of easy picks.

By tracking sales, lottery officials can estimate how many of all the possible combinations in the game have been purchased for a particular drawing. It’s called coverage – how many of the combinations have been purchased, or “covered.”

The coverage estimate for last night’s Powerball drawing was about 31.1 percent. A higher coverage percentage can mean it’s more likely there will be a jackpot winner, but it’s not a definite.

Sales details also show how many of the tickets purchased are easy picks, meaning that the lottery terminal randomly selected the numbers printed on the ticket, as compared to manual plays, where the player selected their own numbers.

Nearly 92 percent of the tickets purchased in Iowa for last night’s Powerball drawing were easy-pick tickets.

With that huge percentage of tickets purchased being easy picks, more of the winners will come from easy-pick tickets as well. That does not mean those tickets are luckier, it just means there are a lot more of them.

Powerball Jackpot Climbs To $1.3 Billion, Iowa Ticket Was 1 Number Away Last Night

Update on April 5: Strong sales in Iowa and across the country have pushed the Powerball jackpot even higher for Saturday's drawing! The jackpot for Saturday now stands at an estimated $1.3 billion annuity, $608.9 million lump-sum value.   

Powerball® has tied the game’s record for the most drawings in a row without a grand-prize winner.

The jackpot was last won on New Year’s Day. Saturday’s drawing will be the 41st in the current jackpot run. The Powerball jackpot has only ever rolled this long without a winner twice before, in 2021 and 2022.

The current jackpot is the 4th-largest Powerball prize and the 8th-largest U.S. lottery jackpot.

Total Iowa Prizes Won In Last Night’s Drawing

Iowa Lottery players won a total of 30,704 prizes in last night’s Powerball drawing ranging from $4 up to $150,000.

One Iowa ticket was just 1 number away from having a share of the jackpot, matching 4 of the first 5 numbers and the Powerball to initially win a $50,000 prize. But the player who bought the ticket added the Power Play® option to the purchase, which tripled the winnings to $150,000.

The $150,000-winning ticket was purchased at Casey’s, 916 E. Main St. In Marshalltown.

The winning numbers in last night’s Powerball drawing were: 11-38-41-62-65 and Powerball 15. The Power Play number was 3.

The $150,000 prize can be claimed at any Iowa Lottery office. If the winner has questions before claiming the prize, they’re welcome to call the Iowa Lottery at 515-725-7900 or email us at [email protected].

A Note About ‘Coverage’

By tracking sales, lottery officials can estimate how many of all the possible combinations in a game have been purchased for a particular drawing. It’s called coverage – how many of the combinations have been purchased, or “covered.”

The coverage estimate for last night’s Powerball drawing was about 22.6 percent. The coverage estimate for Saturday’s drawing is currently about 25.5 percent and could climb higher as ticket sales increase.

A higher coverage percentage can mean it’s more likely there will be a jackpot winner, but it is not a definite.

Play Healthy

At the Iowa Lottery, we ask our players to remember that you are gambling when you buy a ticket -- there’s no guarantee you’ll win. Please be sure that playing the lottery is something you do just for fun. Set a limit and stay within it for how much you’ll spend as you play.

Powerball Jackpot At Est. $1.09 Billion For Tomorrow Night’s Drawing

The Powerball® jackpot continues to climb, making it through its latest drawing and becoming the 2nd U.S. lottery prize in a week to top the $1 billion mark.

The jackpot for Powerball’s next drawing tomorrow night now stands at an estimated $1.09 billion annuity, $527.3 million lump-sum option.

It follows a Mega Millions® jackpot of $1.13 billion won in that game’s March 26 drawing.

While the current Powerball jackpot is huge, it has room to grow before approaching record territory. Powerball holds the world record for a lottery jackpot, a $2.04 billion prize won in November 2022.

The current jackpot is the 4th-largest Powerball prize and the 9th-largest U.S. lottery prize.

Total Prizes Won in Iowa in Last Night’s Drawing

Iowa Lottery players won a total of 20,995 prizes in last night’s Powerball drawing ranging from $4 up to $100,000.

Two Iowa tickets were just 1 number away from having a share of the jackpot, matching 4 of the first 5 numbers and the Powerball. One of those tickets won a $50,000 prize, while the other won a $100,000 prize. The player who bought the $100,000-winning ticket added the Power Play® option to the purchase, which doubled the prize.

The winning numbers in last night’s Powerball drawing were: 19-24-40-42-56 and Powerball 23. The Power Play number was 2.

The $50,000-winning ticket was purchased at Kimmes Carroll Country Store, 422 W. Sixth St. in Carroll.

The $100,000-winning ticket was purchased at Kwik Star, 111 E. Donald St. in Waterloo.

Those two prizes can be claimed at any Iowa Lottery office. If the winners have questions beforehand, they’re welcome to call us at the Iowa Lottery at 515-725-7900 or email us at [email protected].

Play Healthy

At the Iowa Lottery, we offer this reminder amid the giant jackpots: You are gambling when you buy tickets and there’s no guarantee you'll win. Playing the lottery is something you do just for fun.

Powerball Jackpot Becomes 2nd In A Week To Reach $1 Billion

This is no April Fool’s joke: For the 2nd time in a week, a lottery jackpot of $1 billion is on the line.

This time, it’s in Powerball®, where the jackpot for that game’s drawing tonight now stands at an estimated $1 billion annuity, $483.8 million lump-sum option. It follows a Mega Millions® jackpot of $1.13 billion won in that game’s March 26 drawing.

The two jackpots climbed together for nearly three months, simultaneously topping $800 million for the first time in late March.

With Mega Millions being won, the bulk of the jackpot attention is now on Powerball as it continues to grow. The Powerball jackpot was last won on New Year’s Day. And while the jackpot is huge, it has a lot of room to go before it would hit record territory. Powerball holds the world record for a lottery jackpot, a $2.04 billion prize won in November 2022.

Withholding Rates In Iowa For A Jackpot Prize

At the Iowa Lottery, we’ve been fielding tax-related questions about the giant jackpots. We can answer some of them, but others would need to be addressed by a tax expert. That’s just one of the reasons we always encourage our winners to consult a lawyer or financial planner who can help them put together a plan for their winnings.

Here are the specifics the lottery can provide: For any jackpot prize claimed in Iowa, 24 percent federal withholding applies along with 5 percent state withholding. Those amounts are automatically deducted before the prize is paid and can’t be modified or waived.

The withholdings are designed to cover a prize winner’s tax liability from claiming a large lottery prize. But the total taxes that a winner would owe are dependent upon that person’s financial circumstances outside of winning the lottery.

In some instances, the withholdings may not be enough, in other instances, they may be too much. The details would be sorted out in the winner’s income-tax filing for the year.

Scammers Unfortunately Notice Big Jackpots, Too

Scam attempts have been at all-time highs in recent years, and while the criminals behind them run cons of all types, they turn their attention to impersonating lotteries when jackpots are high.

Scammers have fraudulently used the names and logos of lotteries and well-known lottery games, along with the names of lottery winners and lottery officials in an attempt to steal people’s money.

The scams can involve persistent telephone calls and official-looking emails, text messages, social media postings and letters. They promise big prizes and will try to lure you into thinking you’ve won. But it’s a scam. A common thread is that the unsuspecting “winner” is asked to pay money up front for things like taxes, processing fees or delivery charges.

The scammers can sound really convincing. But it’s important to remember this simple truth: There is never a fee to claim a real lottery prize. If you’re asked to pay money up front, it’s a scam.

When you win a prize in a game like Powerball or Mega Millions, you notify the lottery that you’re the winner, not the other way around. The Iowa Lottery has records about the winning ticket and where it was purchased, but we don’t know the winner’s identity until that person comes forward to claim the prize.

The Iowa Lottery keeps these and other security reminders as a permanent feature on its website to help consumers stay safe.

Play Healthy

At the Iowa Lottery, we want our players to enjoy the moment when it comes to big-jackpot fun, but remember that you are gambling when you buy tickets. There is no guarantee you'll win. Playing the lottery is something that should be done just for fun.

Giant Jackpot Run Ends In Mega Millions, Powerball Still Going

Update on March 28: The Powerball jackpot has made it through another drawing, now standing at an estimated $935 million annuity, $449.7 million lump-sum option for the game's next drawing on Saturday. That's still the 5th-largest jackpot in the history of the game.

An Iowa ticket came within 1 number of last night's jackpot! It matched 4 of the first 5 numbers and the Powerball to win a $50,000 prize. That ticket was purchased at Casey's, 1125 N. Hickory Blvd. in Pleasant Hill.   

  

The Mega Millions® giant jackpot run has ended, while Powerball® is still going. Three Iowa tickets were just 1 number away from having a share of last night’s Mega Millions jackpot that topped $1 billion.

The $1.13 billion jackpot in last night’s Mega Millions drawing was won with a ticket in New Jersey.

With that game’s grand prize now returning to its starting amount, the bulk of the jackpot attention turns to Powerball, where its jackpot stands at an estimated $865 million annuity, $416.1 million lump-sum option for the game’s next drawing tonight. That’s the 5th-largest jackpot in the history of that game.

This week marked the first time that the Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots had simultaneously topped $800 million.

Total Prizes Won Last Night In Iowa

Iowa Lottery players won a total of 25,018 prizes in last night’s Mega Millions drawing ranging from $2 up to $20,000.

Three Iowa tickets were just 1 number away from having a share of the jackpot, matching four of the first five numbers and the Mega Ball in last night’s drawing. One of those tickets won a $10,000 prize, while two won a $20,000 prize. The players who bought the $20,000-winning tickets added the Megaplier® option to their purchase, which doubled their prize.

The $20,000-winning tickets were purchased at: Kum & Go, 165 SW Magazine Road in Ankeny and Amoco Jet Stop, 2760 Mount Pleasant St. in Burlington.

The $10,000-winning ticket was purchased at: Kwik Star, 2685 Dodge St. in Dubuque.

Those three prizes can be claimed at any Iowa Lottery office. If the winners have questions before claiming their prize, they’re welcome to call us at the Iowa Lottery at 515-725-7900 or email us at [email protected].

The winning numbers in last night’s Mega Millions drawing were: 7-11-22-29-38 and Mega Ball 4. The Megaplier number was 2.

Could One Person Win Both Jackpots?

With one of the giant jackpots being won but the other still going, this question has come up: Could one person win the jackpot in both games?

The short answer is: Yes. But the odds of that occurring are extremely long.

The odds of winning the jackpot in Mega Millions are about 1 in 302.6 million. The odds of winning the jackpot in Powerball are about 1 in 292.2 million. (Those figures are based upon the total number of combinations available to play in each game.)

To calculate the odds of winning both jackpots, you multiply 302.6 million by 292.2 million.
There are a lot of zeroes involved in the outcome! The odds of winning both jackpots are about 1 in 88.5 quadrillion (that’s 88,500,000,000,000,000).

Winning both jackpots is something fun to daydream about, but it’s perhaps the ultimate long shot. That’s why the Iowa Lottery emphasizes healthy play. Have fun playing the lottery, but remember to play with your head, not over your head.

A Note About ‘Coverage’

By tracking sales, lottery officials can estimate how many of all the possible combinations in a game have been purchased for a particular drawing. It’s called coverage – how many of the combinations have been purchased, or “covered.”

The coverage estimate for Tuesday’s Mega Millions drawing was about 25 percent. The coverage estimate for Wednesday’s Powerball drawing is currently about 13.5 percent.

A higher coverage percentage can mean it’s more likely there will be a jackpot winner, but it is not a definite.

New Threshold: First Time the Jackpots Simultaneously Hit $800 Million Or More

The giant Mega Millions® and Powerball® jackpots have reached another new threshold: This is the first time they’ve simultaneously been at or above $800 million.

The Powerball jackpot faces the next big test in that game’s drawing tomorrow night. The jackpot for that drawing now stands at an estimated $800 million annuity, $384.8 million lump-sum option. That’s the 6th-largest jackpot in Powerball history.

The Mega Millions jackpot is currently the bigger of the two, now standing at an estimated $1.1 billion annuity, $525.8 million lump-sum option for that game’s next drawing on Tuesday night. That’s the 5th-largest jackpot in Mega Millions history and the 8th-largest U.S. lottery jackpot.

How Have The Jackpots Grown So Large?

Time and ticket sales are why the jackpots have grown so large.

The Mega Millions jackpot now has been growing for nearly four months, last won in the drawing on Dec. 8. The Powerball jackpot has been growing for nearly three months, last won on New Year’s Day.

The jackpots grow from drawing to drawing when there is no grand prize winner, and sales generally increase as the jackpots climb. Higher sales, in turn, push the jackpots even higher.

The Deadline To Buy

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

Play Healthy

The Iowa Lottery reminds players to enjoy the moment but remember that you are gambling when you buy tickets and there is no guarantee that you’ll win. Playing the lottery is something that should be done just for fun.

The Iowa Lottery keeps these and other Play Smart, Be Informed details on its website to help everyone have an accurate understanding of how the lottery works.