ialottery blog

Yes, Iowa Hearts Bacon – And We’re Seeing A BUNCH Of Lucky for Life Winners!

We never had any doubt, but you just proved it: Iowa really DOES heart bacon!

In January, we released a bacon-themed scratch game. Tickets in the $1 “I Heart Bacon” game of course prominently feature artwork of strips of bacon. And you win a prize by finding a bacon symbol in the play area on your ticket. The game’s top prize is $1,000.

The folks at our main warehouse in Ankeny let us know yesterday that they’d sent out our last pack of tickets in that game. Tickets are likely still available in most retail locations, but those are all we have left. We’re getting close to a sell-out!

Mmmmm … bacon!

And in news about another game, what’s up with Lucky for Life here in Iowa? The lotto game with drawings on Mondays and Thursdays debuted here in Iowa in late January. Late last month, Roy King of Sioux City became our first winner of $25,000 a year for life in the game. And as of last night, we’ve had three $5,000 winners in the past week!

Two tickets – one in Des Moines and the other in Jefferson – each won a $5,000 prize in Monday’s Lucky for Life drawing. And a ticket sold in Webster City won a prize of $5,000 in last night’s drawing.

We’re on a roll! I wonder when we’ll see our first top-prize winner of $1,000 a day for life here in Iowa?

Sioux City Man Claims Iowa’s First Big Prize In Lucky for Life

 

Roy King of Sioux City is Iowa’s first big winner in Lucky for Life. And he won his prize of $25,000 a year for life with just the fourth ticket he bought in the new game. Click on the video above to see Roy’s story!

Sioux City Gets Iowa’s First Big Winning Ticket In Lucky For Life

Someone who bought a lottery ticket at a Sioux City supermarket has won Iowa’s first big prize in the new Lucky for Life game that just debuted here in January.

The Sioux City ticket matched the first five numbers but missed the Lucky Ball in last night’s drawing to win the game’s second prize of $25,000 a year for life. The lucky ticket was purchased at Hy-Vee, 4500 Sergeant Road in Sioux City. Hy-Vee will get a $500 bonus from the lottery for selling the winning ticket at one of its stores.

Lucky for Life is a $2 game with drawings twice a week, at 9:38 p.m. on Mondays and Thursdays. Players 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 $4 up to $5,000.

Iowa became the 18th state to offer Lucky for Life when sales started here in late January.

The game’s top two prize levels are described as “lasting as long as you do,” meaning they are truly for life. The minimum guaranteed payout for those two prize levels is 20 years, and there’s a lump-sum option for those who would prefer that.

The top two prize levels in Lucky for Life have to be claimed at Iowa Lottery headquarters in Clive. If the winner or winners of the Sioux City ticket need information before coming forward to claim the prize, they’re welcome to call us here at the lottery at 515-725-7900.

Listen for Your Chance To Win Lottery Swag From Radio Stations Around The State!

We told you last week about the Power for Life® promotion that’s underway to celebrate the start of the Lucky for Life® game here in Iowa, and now we’re amping up the fun with some radio giveaways.

The Iowa Lottery has teamed up with 11 radio stations across the state to give away some prize packs. Each pack includes coupons for free lottery plays plus the merchandise you can see in the photo here.

Click here for the full list of stations that are part of this month’s giveaways!

 

 

How You Can Get A Discount On Powerball, Lucky for Life

For the next four weeks, you can get a discount by buying tickets together in the Powerball^® and Lucky for Life^® games. It’s a promotion we’re calling Power for Life.

The promotion got underway yesterday. We’re offering a $2 discount on the bundled purchase of one Powerball with Power Play^® ticket and one Lucky for Life ticket for the next two drawings. Those plays regularly would cost $10, but they’ll be just $8 during the promotion, which runs through 11:59 p.m. on Saturday, March 12.

To get the discount, just ask the clerk at your local lottery retailer for the Power for Life promotion. You'll hear a "Woo hoo! It's your lucky day!" sound from the terminal and it will print two tickets, one for each game for the next two consecutive drawings.

All plays will be easy-pick, and only for the next two drawings. There will be one set of numbers printed on your Powerball ticket and one set of numbers on your Lucky for Life ticket.

Thanks for playing, and enjoy this discount!

 

New Lotto Game Starts Sunday In Iowa: Lucky for Life!

A new lotto game debuts this weekend here in Iowa, and it comes with a twist on big lotto prizes.

Iowa sales in the Lucky for Life^® game begin Sunday. It offers 10 ways to win, including a top prize of $1,000 a day for life, and a second prize of $25,000 a year for life.

Iowa will be the 18th state to offer the Lucky for Life game, which got its start in Connecticut in 2009 before becoming a New England-wide game three years later and adding even more lotteries in the past year.

We’ve been looking for some time at game ideas that would complement Powerball® and our other lotto games and bring a different look and feel to that product category. We think Lucky for Life will be a great fit in our line-up of games.

Lucky for Life is a $2 game with drawings twice a week, at 9:38 p.m. on Mondays and Thursdays. Players choose five numbers from a pool of 48 for the white balls and 1 out of 18 numbers for the Lucky Ball. You can win the game’s top prize of $1,000 a day for life by matching all six winning numbers selected in one of it 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 $4 up to $5,000.

The game’s top two prize levels are described as “lasting as long as you do,” meaning that they’re truly for life. The minimum guaranteed payout for those two prizes is 20 years, and there is a lump-sum option for players who want that rather than lifetime annuity payments.

The odds of winning Lucky for Life’s top prize are about 1 in 30.8 million. That compares to odds of about 1 in 292.2 million of winning the Powerball jackpot; and odds of about 1 in 259 million of winning the Mega Millions® jackpot.