ialottery blog

Player Mail: Important Details Some Get Wrong About Pick 3 & Pick 4

A player who reached out to us with questions about the Pick 3 and Pick 4 games unfortunately had a few details wrong about how the drawings work in those games, and I’m sharing the clarifications we provided here on the blog in case you’ve ever wondered the same thing.

The player thought that the combination of 1-4-5 in Pick 3 is the same as the combination of 5-1-4. We explained that they’re completely different. Here’s why:

Three separate drawing machines are used in each Pick 3 drawing, so the selection of each winning number has no impact on the other numbers selected. 

For example, if 1 is selected as the first number in a drawing, it also can be selected as the second and third numbers in that same drawing. Each of the machines used in a Pick 3 drawing has its own set of drawing balls numbered 0-9, and that machine operates independently from the other two.

That’s different from the way the drawings work in games like Powerball and Mega Millions.
I’ll use Powerball as an example here: The first machine in a Powerball drawing contains white balls numbered 1-69 and the second machine contains red balls numbered 1-26. When one of the machines selects one of the numbers it contains, that number can’t be selected again by that machine during the drawing because that number already been taken out of play for the remainder of that machine’s part in the drawing.

That’s not how Pick 3 and Pick 4 work. They’re specifically designed to allow for winning combinations of identical numbers like 3-3-3 or 4-4-4-4. But they also allow combinations like 1-7-4 and 2-3-6-7 where each number is different.

Something would be wrong in the games if numbers couldn’t be selected more than once in a drawing. It’s a twist that makes Pick 3 and Pick 4 so unique and interesting to play!

If you’re a visual learner and it helps you to see how the drawings work, click here to see video of a Pick 3 drawing.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Player Mail: Hey! They Carded Me!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Player Mail: Do I Need To Keep The Tickets I Enter In The Holiday Promotion?

As the entries continue to climb in the “Ho Ho Dough” promotion, we’ve gotten the same question from numerous players: Do I need to keep the tickets after I enter them in this promotion? The short answer is no, you don’t need to keep them.

When you successfully enter an eligible ticket in the holiday promotion, the entry itself provides the information we’ll need in the Ho Ho Dough drawings. And if one of your entries is selected as a winner in a Ho Ho Dough drawing, you won’t need to present the ticket you entered in the promotion to claim your prize. The entry itself will serve as the record involved.

Years ago, people did have to keep the actual tickets they entered into our promotions, but with advances in technology, we’ve been able to update our process to make it easier.

Good luck in the promotion to everyone who has entered!

What Player Mail Do YOU Have For Us?

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

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

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

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

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

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

We do care.

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

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

The Latest Player Mail Questions About Our $1 Million Promotion

Entries have been coming in for a little more than a week now in our “Woo Hoo A Million For You Giveaway,” and players have been asking some really good questions about the promotion, too. I’m sharing the Q-and-A here on the blog so you’ll have the same info.!

Q: Why can’t I enter a ticket from the May 29 Powerball drawing?

A: The ticket must have been purchased on May 29 or after to be eligible for entry into the promotion. A ticket from the May 29 Powerball drawing may have been purchased on an earlier date, so double-check the details on your ticket.  

Q: If I have a winning Powerball ticket, doesn’t the retail location keep the ticket after it is cashed?

A: Yes, that’s what happens. Iowa Lottery retail locations keep the winning tickets they cash for accounting and security purposes. So if you want to enter a winning Powerball ticket into the promotion, be sure to do that BEFORE you claim the prize.    

Q: Do I need to keep my Powerball tickets after I enter them into the promotion?

A: No. The entry itself provides the information we’ll need in the promotion drawing. (Just be sure to keep the ticket until after the Powerball drawing you bought it for so you can check to see if you won a prize in that drawing.)

Q: I want to enter the promotion, but I can’t access your website.

A: Were you at work when you tried to log onto the lottery’s website? Many employers block access through their networks to any gambling-related website, and that applies when you’re using your own device through the company’s wifi or you’re on a computer directly connected to the company network. You may get several different error messages in that situation. Try accessing our website from home, where you’ll be using your own Internet connection.

Q: Can I enter tickets from other lotto games in the promotion? What about Powerball tickets from other states?

A: Tickets in any game other than Powerball are ineligible, and will be disqualified from the promotion drawing. Powerball tickets from other states also aren’t eligible. Only Powerball tickets purchased IN IOWA during the promotion’s entry period from May 29 through 8:59 a.m. on June 18 are eligible.

Q: If I bought a Powerball ticket in Iowa, does that mean I’m automatically entered in the promotion?

A: No. You have to be a member of the lottery’s free VIP Club and enter your ticket into your VIP Club account to be entered. If you’re not already a member, click here to join.

Q: My Powerball ticket was good for more than one drawing. Does that mean I’ll get multiple entries in the promotion?

A: No. Each eligible ticket entered counts as one entry into the promotion, regardless of the number of plays on it or the number of Powerball drawings for which the ticket is eligible. To put it another way, 1 ticket = 1 entry.

I Don’t Want To Buy Tickets In A Lottery Game If Players In Other States Are Part Of It, Too…

An email from one of our players highlights the balancing act that goes into the design of our lottery games.

 

In her email, the woman said she wants to see a game that’s only offered in Iowa because she doesn’t like playing our multi-state games, knowing that the jackpot could be won by someone in a different state. The woman’s perspective made us smile because on some level, we’d like it if ALL the winners were from Iowa. But that wouldn’t make players in other states very happy, would it?

 

This player’s viewpoint is why we do our best to have a variety of games available in the market. What appeals to one person may not appeal to someone else, so we keep lots of choices out there.

 

Games like Powerball and Mega Millions are sold by lotteries all across the country because that’s how they purposefully were designed. It takes a big population base playing those games to produce the giant jackpots involved, and you can’t have one without the other.

 

But we also have games that are exclusive to Iowa. Our Pick 3 and Pick 4 games are Iowa-only, as are our scratch games, pull-tab games and InstaPlay games.

 

We hope our game selection achieves the goal of different strokes for different folks. So, if you don’t want to play a multi-state game, you do have other choices!