A human reporting error caused the winning numbers for last night’s Lucky for Life drawing to initially be reported incorrectly here in Iowa and then delayed the drawing results in the state entirely for several hours.
We were able to correctly enter the official drawing results this evening and have resumed paying prizes from that drawing.
The Lucky for Life drawing was conducted correctly as scheduled last night and official results were produced. But our redundant reporting procedures here in Iowa failed after the drawing. It takes time to correct an error like that on our statewide gaming system. We worked through those complexities as quickly as possible. We know that as long as human beings are involved in any process, mistakes can happen. But we sincerely apologize for today’s interruption.
We are reviewing our procedures with an eye toward improvements and enhancements as we move ahead. And, we want to hear from any Iowa Lottery players who have questions or concerns about this situation. We’ll be glad to help.
The mistake impacted only the Iowa Lottery’s reporting of the official results for last night’s Lucky for Life drawing. All other lottery tickets could be purchased, checked and cashed as usual at lottery terminals across the state and the results for all other lottery drawings were recorded correctly here in Iowa.
The CORRECT winning numbers in last night’s Lucky for Life drawing were: 10-15-21-23-34 and Lucky Ball 1. That is the winning combination for which we'll pay prizes.
As part of our procedures, two different people in two different locations both enter the results from lotto drawings before they are officially recorded on the lottery’s statewide gaming system that connects the lottery terminals in retail locations all across the state. But when the winning numbers from last night’s Lucky for Life drawing were being inputted, one of the numbers was mistakenly entered as “24” rather than “34.”
The incorrect results were available about 10 p.m. yesterday. Lottery staffers noticed the error shortly after 7 a.m. today, corrected the drawing results on the lottery’s website and disabled the results for the drawing on lottery terminals, knowing that correcting the lottery’s statewide gaming system would take longer. We continued to work through the situation today and were able to go live with corrected official results about 6 p.m. tonight.
Our records show that a total of 3,318 Lucky for Life plays here in Iowa won prizes ranging from $3 up to $200, for a total of $17,672 in winnings in last night’s drawing. Under the incorrect results initially reported, 96 plays would have won differing amounts for a total difference of $223 in prizes.
We know that the number of folks potentially impacted by the situation is small, but we also want to hear from anyone who may have a question or concern. Any player with a Lucky for Life ticket from last night’s drawing can now check and cash the tickets with the official numbers drawn.