ialottery blog

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!