ialottery blog

A Milk Run With More: Errand Ends With $10,000 Lottery Prize

There’s something about the every-day aspect of this story, especially during these unusual times, that brings a smile. A southeast Iowa couple has taken home a $10,000 prize from a lottery scratch ticket purchased during a milk run.

Heather Love of Morning Sun claimed the prize earlier this week. She said that her husband, Nick, bought the ticket when he stopped at a local convenience store for milk on the way home from work. She said that Nick rarely buys scratch tickets but decided to get one that day in the “$100,000 Mega Crossword” game.

Heather said she was the one who scratched the ticket later that night after dinner. She thought they’d won big, but said it didn’t really start to sink in until she scanned the ticket on the lottery’s mobile app and it displayed the message: "Congratulations, you won $10,000!"

She said that she and Nick argued good-naturedly over which one of them would actually claim the prize, but agreed that they would use the winnings to buy new carpet and flooring for their home.

Heather said that winning a big prize “kind of makes your heart flutter.” She said she has often heard about people winning the lottery, but now it’s real to her.

Congratulations, Heather and Nick! Thank you for giving us a smile with your story!

Player Question: What Were The Odds Of Winning In That Promotion?

Here’s a question that often comes our way after the entry period closes in one of our promotions: What were the odds of winning a prize in that promotion’s drawing? The answer involved is entirely dependent upon the number of entries that players made.

The details that apply in our promotions are different than those in our scratch, pull-tab and InstaPlay games, where there are a finite number of tickets, some of which are winners. They’re also different than the details in lotto games like Powerball® and Mega Millions® where the odds of winning are based upon the numbers available to play. (For example, the odds of winning the jackpot in Powerball are about 1 in 292.2 million because that’s how many different ways the numbers in the game can be combined to produce plays.)

But in our promotions, the odds of winning are based upon the number of entries that players make in that particular promotion. Our annual holiday promotions where players can enter nonwinning scratch tickets are generally our most popular and routinely receive more than 1 million entries. Other promotions focusing on specific games can involve a smaller number of entries. An example of that is the Powerball INDYCAR Race Weekend promotion that just ended last week. Players made 38,509 entries in that promotion.

We’re always glad to provide details about our games and promotions, so if you ever have a question about the odds of winning, please feel free to reach out.

THIS Is How You Update Your Email Address In The VIP Club

We’ve added a step-by-step guide to our website to answer one of the questions we get the most about the VIP Club: How do I change my email address?

We get it. Over time, your email can change as you move, switch Internet providers, update your computer and mobile phone, etc. Some folks said they were having trouble finding the spot under their VIP Club profile to change the email address associated with their account.

We now have a page that maps out the process, including screenshots with the instructions.

To help you get started, I’ve included the initial steps of the process in the image you see here. You’ll first need to log in to your VIP Club account. Once you’ve done that, you’ll see the main links along the left side of the page. Click on the “Account Management” link at the top and that will take you to a page with several options.

The first one listed is “Change Email,” which walks you through the remaining steps you’ll follow. But the last link on the list – Update Profile – also will take you to the spot where you will key in your new address and then click the “Submit” button to save your changes.

It’s a quick and easy process with either link. And having the correct contact information in your account is important because if you win a prize in one of our VIP Club drawings, we’ll use the email and telephone number you’ve provided to contact you!

Say What? 6 Lottery Prizes Of At Least $10,000 Are Unclaimed In Iowa

Are we as Iowans becoming really forgetful? Are we just procrastinating? Whatever the reason, six lottery prizes of at least $10,000 are unclaimed right now in the state. This is a reminder to double-check your tickets.

The largest amount on the list – a prize of $25,000 a year for life in the Lucky for Life® game – has been unclaimed for nearly six months.

The winner bought the lucky ticket at Casey’s, 641 Edgewood Road NW in Cedar Rapids, for the Lucky for Life drawing on Nov. 4, 2021. The ticket matched the five white balls but missed the yellow Lucky Ball that night to win the game’s second prize level. The winning numbers in the Nov. 4 drawing were: 6-9-12-23-41 and Lucky Ball 8.

The winner has until 4 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 4, 2022, to claim the prize at Iowa Lottery headquarters.

Here is a list of the other five big unclaimed prizes, and they’re also shown on a map in the video above if it helps to see them visually.

Game	Prize Drawing	Amount Won	Retailer	Expiration
Powerball	July 21, 2021	$50,000	Casey's, Council Bluffs	July 21, 2022
Powerball	Oct. 23, 2021	$50,000	Kum & Go, Stuart	Oct. 24, 2022
Extreme Green InstaPlay	March 29, 2022	$37,624	River Mart, W. Burlington	June 27, 2022
Word Search InstaPlay	April 14, 2022	$20,000	Casey's, Waukon	July 13, 2022
Extreme Green InstaPlay	March 12, 2022	$10,000	Casey's, Gilbertville	June 10, 2022

The lottery currently offers prize claims by appointment at its offices. If you’re one of the winners and you have questions before coming forward to claim the prize, please give us a shout at 515-725-7900.

In the last fiscal year, more than $1.3 million in lotto and InstaPlay prizes expired in Iowa without being claimed.

Time appears to be a factor. The Iowa Lottery reviewed plays from a sampling of recent lotto drawings and found that the vast majority of prize claims occurred within six months of the drawing date. Less than 3 percent of prizes from those drawings were claimed after that point. The Iowa Lottery will continue to review how it can best encourage and remind players to claim their prizes.

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.

West Burlington Man Says Ticket-Printing Mistake Led To His $1 Million Lottery Win

A southeast Iowa man said a ticket-printing mistake was the lucky break that led to his $1 million Mega Millions® win.

Josh Buster of West Burlington said that when he asked for five easy-pick plays for Friday night’s Mega Millions drawing, the clerk at his local convenience store initially printed just one play from the lottery terminal. The clerk then asked Josh if he could print four more plays for him on another ticket.

Josh said he thinks that having two tickets changed the numbers he would have received if all the plays had been printed at once. Whatever the reason, he’s thankful for the win, saying it will take away a lot of the stress in his life.

Josh, who's 40 and works as a prep chef at a Burlington restaurant, claimed his $1 million prize this afternoon at Iowa Lottery headquarters in Clive.

He said he realized early Saturday that he’d won big. He was up early that day to go to work and got his lottery tickets out of the console in his car to check them using the lottery’s mobile app on his smartphone.

He said when he scanned the ticket with four plays on it, the app showed that it was a $1 million winner. Josh said he was having trouble believing what he was seeing, so he Googled the winning Mega Millions numbers to make sure he had the right ones. Then he spent the rest of the day feeling like he was waiting to wake up from a dream.

Josh bought his winning ticket at MK Mini Mart, 101 E. Mount Pleasant St. in West Burlington. His winning play came within one number of having a share of Friday’s $20 million jackpot, matching the first five numbers but missing the Mega Ball.

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

Josh said he’ll likely will use some of his winnings to pay off his car and the mortgage on his mother’s house, then he’ll put the rest away for retirement.

$1 Million Mega Millions Prize Won In SE Iowa

 

Someone who bought a Mega Millions® ticket at a West Burlington convenience store won a $1 million prize in last night’s drawing. Iowa’s win hits during a very busy week for Mega Millions news: There also were back-to-back jackpot winners in the game.

The $1 million-winning ticket was purchased at MK Mini Mart, 101 E. Mount Pleasant St. in West Burlington. That ticket came within one number of having a share of last night’s $20 million jackpot, matching the first five numbers but missing the Mega Ball. A ticket sold in Tennessee matched all six numbers in last night’s drawing to win the $20 million jackpot.

And the Tennessee win follows a $110 million jackpot winner in Minnesota in Tuesday’s Mega Millions drawing.

Last night’s winning numbers were: 4-17-20-46-64 and Mega Ball 23. The Megaplier was 4. With the jackpot being won in Tennessee, the game’s big prize stays at an estimated $20 million annuity, $11.9 million lump-sum option, for the next Mega Millions drawing on Tuesday.

The West Burlington prize is the second of at least $1 million won this year in Iowa. In January, a New Hampton couple won a $2 million Powerball® prize.

MK Mini Mart will receive a $1,000 bonus from the Iowa Lottery for selling the $1 million-winning Mega Millions ticket.

The $1 million prize needs to be claimed at Iowa Lottery headquarters in Clive. Lottery offices are open Monday through Friday and prize claims are available by appointment. Winners can call the lottery at 515-725-7900 to make an appointment.

2 Big Prizes In 2 Years For This Iowan!

For the second time in two years, a southwest Iowa man has won a big lottery prize.

This afternoon, Delbert Littleton of Atlantic claimed the first of eight top prizes of $100,000 available in the Power 10X scratch game. That follows his big win from June 2020, when he won a prize of $25,000 a year for life in the Lucky for Life lotto game. He chose to take the lump-sum option of $390,000 for that prize.

Delbert said that both times, he was in his kitchen when he realized he’d hit big. And both times, he had a little trouble breathing and his heart started racing.

After his 2020 win, he said that he and his wife, Jodi, danced for joy in the kitchen. This time around, he called Jodi to share the news and then had to quickly pull the phone away from his ear when she started yelling in excitement.

Delbert said he bought tickets in the Power 10X game because it was new. He ended up with three winning tickets in a row. The first was a $20 winner that he redeemed for two more tickets in the game. One of those was a $10 winner and the other won the $100,000 prize.

Power 10X is a $10 scratch game that just began sales on April 5. Its tickets feature green-and-yellow graphics of arcing electricity. Prizes in the game range from $10 up to $100,000. Delbert bought his $100,000-winning ticket at Murphy USA, 1903 E. Seventh St. in Atlantic.

Delbert said that he and Jodi followed through on their plans after his 2020 win to buy a new house and get new vehicles. With this win, he has concrete plans again: He’s tired of using a push mower on their corner lot, so he says he’ll get a riding lawnmower. The couple also plans to take a nice vacation this year, and then they’ll invest the rest of the winnings.

Delbert said that this win makes the thought of retirement a little more relaxing.

Hey, He’s Wearing THAT T-shirt!

This photo of a northwest Iowa man who claimed a prize this week made me smile when I saw the shirt he was wearing!

To commemorate the moment, we’ve had T-shirts with the message “You’re lookin’ at a WINNER!” made for those who claim larger lottery prizes in Iowa!

As you can see, John Friedrichsen of Cherokee put his T-shirt on for his photo with a ceremonial check as he claimed the $50,000 prize he won in the “X The Money” scratch game.

That $5 game just debuted on April 5 here in Iowa, and John won its first top prize! There currently are six more prizes of $50,000 that remain unclaimed in the game.   

Thank you for embracing the moment, John! We hope your shirt helps spark conversations as you remember the moment that you took home a big lottery win.

Player Question: Why Do You Need Those Details About Me For The VIP Club?

A member of the lottery’s VIP Club who entered tickets in the recent Lotto America® promotion reached out to ask why we need the information required for membership in the players club. He said he didn’t think the lottery needed all those details.

There are reasons we ask for the information, including that we need to ensure the lottery is following the law, and that we can get any prizes to you if you win.

When players join the VIP Club, the membership form includes details such as your date of birth, mailing address, telephone number and email address. Each of those details has a purpose.

Your date of birth is required so the lottery can verify that you are of legal age to buy Iowa Lottery tickets. (In Iowa, you have to be at least 21 years old to make a lottery purchase.)

Your phone number and email are needed as ways for us to contact you if you win a prize in our promotions. And your mailing address is needed because that’s where we’ll deliver prizes or necessary prize-claim paperwork.

Combined, the information helps establish that it really is you we’re awarding a prize to and not someone trying to claim that they’re you.

Another really important point: The information that the lottery gathers is for its internal purposes only and is not shared with outside parties.

The Message: Call Me. It’s Nothing Bad!

It’s a slice-of-life moment about how a southwest Iowan told his parents he’d won a big lottery prize.

The late-night message he said he left for them went something like this: “Call me when you wake up. I’ve got some major news. It’s nothing bad.”

(Good son points for including that last part!)

Jacob Harper of Glenwood won one of the top prizes this week in the “$100,000 Mega Crossword” scratch game. He laughed as he remembered leaving the message for his parents, saying his mom is a worrier, so he wanted to use the right tone!

When his parents called him back the next morning, he told them the news about his $100,000 prize. He said his mom started screaming and his dad was laughing in the background, and there may have been some jumping around on all their parts.

Jacob said he bought his ticket at a local Casey’s store but didn’t play it until later that night after a get-together with some friends. He said that when he realized he’d completed six words on his ticket to win one of the game’s top prizes, he counted again and again in case his eyes were playing tricks on him.

Jacob says his win comes at a great time – he plans to begin work full time at a computer business that he and his friends have started.

What’s The Breakdown On Every $1 Spent On Lottery Tickets?

Here’s a player question that came our way, wondering about the breakdown of the money from every $1 spent on lottery tickets in Iowa.

We keep a chart showing that on our website. The money breaks down into four categories, the biggest of which is prizes! (Without prizes to players, there obviously wouldn’t be a lottery for long!)

Prizes are followed by proceeds to state programs, commissions to the local businesses that sell lottery tickets, and the daily costs of running the lottery.

In addition to that bigger picture, we also pinpoint the state programs that currently receive lottery proceeds, and how those proceeds have been used over time. The use of the money raised by the lottery for state causes has changed several times since the Iowa Lottery’s start back in 1985, so we keep a historical list as well as a current list on our website.

We do our best to break things out into clear categories with easy-to-navigate graphics and direct links where you can learn more. The details involved are interesting, and it’s our job to provide transparency about the lottery enterprise that has raised more than $2.2 billion -- and counting.

Evidence That Iowans Believe In Luck

Here’s a fun look at the passage of time, proving that Iowans really do believe in luck.

In 2015, metal sculptures in the shape of four-leaf clovers were installed around the Iowa Lottery’s headquarters building in Clive as part of the Art in State Buildings program. The sculptures are a light-hearted representation of lottery luck and people have had fun posing next to them through the years.

One clover in particular gets a lot of attention from visitors to the lottery. It’s a copper clover near the front doors of the building, and many people touch it for luck as they go by.

One of the clover leaves demonstrates that Iowans are hoping they can borrow some of its luck! The front edge of the leaf shows the impact of lots of hands reaching out to it.

So in this month when we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, here’s hoping that luck comes YOUR way. (And the clover will be here on your next visit!)

Tell Me Who Won That Prize …

This is a question that just came our way but it’s also a common inquiry, so I’ll provide some direct links to the details involved.

The person who reached out wanted a list of recent Iowa Lottery winners but also wondered who won the very biggest lottery prize in Iowa.

Under state law, information about lottery winners is public, so we keep a millionaire’s list on our website that shows all the prizes of at least $1 million won in Iowa and a list of all winners of $600 or more within the past 12 months.

And if you’re looking for details about the winners in our latest promotions and contests, you can find that here.

As you’ll see, lottery players in this state have won five prizes of at least $100 million. And the very biggest amount claimed so far in Iowa was a $343.9 million Powerball® prize won in late 2018.

I know some folks won’t ever truly be satisfied until their name is on the list, but Iowans have taken home a lot of significant prizes through the years!

I’m Worried My Ticket Is Ruined. Can It Still Be Cashed?

A player just emailed us with a question that comes up from time to time about tickets that have been damaged. Specifically, can a ticket still be checked or cashed even if the code on it is damaged? Many times, yes. But there are limits.

The player said he scratched one of his tickets too hard and damaged the code on it that normally would be scanned to check the results. He wondered if he could still claim the prize he thought he'd won.

Often there is a way for that to happen.

Each lottery ticket has identifying numbers on it that can manually be entered into a lottery terminal to check the results of the ticket. It’s not something you as a player can do using a self-checker in a store or the lottery's mobile app on your smartphone – the ticket code is required in those instances.

But if the code can’t be read and the rest of the ticket is still in good condition, the clerk at a lottery retail location or a staffer at one of our lottery offices can manually key in the identifying numbers from the ticket to check its results. If the clerk at your local store doesn’t know how to do that, they can always call the Iowa Lottery’s retail hotline for help.

But if a ticket is too badly damaged, not even we’ll be able to determine its results. Through the years, we’ve seen tickets that had disintegrated after mistakenly being sent through the wash-and-dry cycle a few times. Other tickets had been torn, and the player involved had only a small section without any identifying numbers on it.

There also was a player who spilled water on her lotto tickets and put them in the microwave to dry them out. Lotto tickets are printed on heat-sensitive paper, so microwaving them turned them completely black. There was no way to determine the information that had been printed on them.

We’ll always do our best to help, but as with any paper product, lottery tickets can be damaged. It’s important to keep your tickets in as good of shape as possible so you can claim any prize you’ve won!

For Ticket Entry In The Current Promotion, It’s The Purchase Date That Matters

Here’s a clarification we’ve shared with some players this week who didn’t know why they couldn’t enter their tickets into the Lotto America® Play It Again Promotion® with a total of $100,000 in prizes on the line. It’s the purchase date that determines a ticket’s eligibility for entry, not the drawing date.

Since Monday morning, lottery players in Iowa have been able to enter eligible Lotto America tickets into the promotion where we’ll give away a total of 33 prizes, including a top prize of $20,000. That promotion drawing will be held on March 31.

(And you likely already know this, but the promotion drawing is separate from the Lotto America game drawings, which are held each Wednesday and Saturday.)

We’ve been contacted by some players who thought they should be able to enter their tickets in the promotion and were confused by the “ineligible” messages they received.

It turns out that they were referencing the wrong date.

In a game like Lotto America, the drawing date you’ve purchased the ticket for is in large font in the center, just above the plays you bought. And while players sometimes buy their tickets on same day as the game drawing involved, that’s not always the case. Many times, they buy their plays in advance – and the purchase date is what applies for the promotion.

The purchase date is in the upper right corner of the ticket, in a year-month-date format. You can also see the exact time that the ticket was printed. Lotto America tickets purchased on or after March 1 are eligible for entry into the promotion.

Be sure to double-check the purchase date on any tickets you want to enter in the promotion!

You Can Enter Lotto America Tickets For A Chance To Win Up To $20K In Cash

The Lotto America® game is in the spotlight right now in a promotion that gives you the chance to enter tickets for a shot at $100,000 in prizes, including a $20,000 top prize.

The Lotto America Promotion began at 10 a.m. this morning, allowing VIP Club members to enter eligible Lotto America tickets for a chance at one of 33 cash prizes. In the promotion, the lottery will award:
        • one prize of $20,000
        • two prizes of $10,000
        • five prizes of $5,000
        • 10 prizes of $2,000
        • 15 prizes of $1,000.

The three-week entry period runs through 9:59 a.m. March 29. Only recent tickets can be entered – any Lotto America tickets purchased on or after March 1, 2022, are eligible for entry. And in keeping with past lotto promotions, each ticket entered will equal one entry in the drawing regardless of the ticket value or the number of plays on the ticket.

A player can win only one cash prize in this promotion. To give all tickets the maximum chance of winning, the winner of the highest cash prize will be selected first, with the second-largest second and so on until all cash prizes have been awarded.

The lottery will announce the winners after the drawing on March 31.

Good luck with your promotion entries!

Most Iowa Lottery Self-Service Kiosks Will Now Have Debit Card Readers

Here’s an update that should mean more convenience for you as a player: The Iowa Lottery is deploying new self-service kiosks that include debit card readers.

We’ve had touch-screen kiosks in the field since 2017, but until now, the machines have only accepted cash as payment. The kiosks are in the lottery’s busiest locations to give players there another option for making lottery purchases. The machines dispense tickets in scratch games, lotto games and InstaPlay games.

During the next handful of weeks, most lottery self-service kiosks in Iowa will be replaced with new machines that include a debit card reader. (There are some machines that won’t be retrofitted due to the age of those devices. You can still use those kiosks, you’ll just need to have cash when buying tickets at them.)

The first of the new kiosks have been installed this week in the Des Moines area. The new machines accept cash, debit cards and gift cards, but not credit cards. It’s illegal in Iowa for lottery tickets to be purchased with credit.

Below are some Q-and-As to help answer questions about the card readers on the new kiosks.

Q: Can the card readers on lottery self-service kiosks accept credit cards?

A: No. It’s illegal in Iowa for lottery products to be purchased with credit. Credit blocking is in place to prevent the kiosks from accepting a credit card for a lottery purchase.

Q: Can the lottery self-service kiosks accept gift cards and debit cards?

A: Yes, but as is the case with any electronic payment system, the kiosks may not accept all cards due to the specific computer processing involved in that transaction.

If your gift card or debit card can’t be read by the lottery kiosk, you’re welcome to contact the financial institution that issued your card. Or, you can use a different form of payment at the kiosk.

Q: Can the lottery self-service kiosks accept mobile wallet payments like Apple Pay and Google Pay?

A: In many instances, yes.

Electronic wallet apps including Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay use wireless communications between the user’s mobile device and the self-service kiosk to access the card information stored in the user’s mobile wallet. If you’ve stored a debit card in your mobile wallet and selected that card for the transaction on the lottery kiosk, the transaction should complete successfully. But if you’ve selected a credit card by default in your mobile wallet, the transaction will fail.

If your mobile wallet app does not work at the lottery kiosk, you’re welcome to use a different form of payment.

Better Days Are Possible: Help Is Available In Iowa For Problem Gambling

At this time each year, we pause to highlight National Problem Gambling Awareness Month and the help available here in Iowa for those who are struggling.

During the next few weeks, you’ll see this video and other reminders from us across the state. At the Iowa Lottery, we hope that by getting the message out, we’ll provide the right information at the right time to someone who needs help.

Whether you’re buying a lottery ticket at a store, watching TV, listening to the radio, using a streaming service or going online, you’ll likely see one of the public service announcements we produced along with the Iowa Department of Public Health. Remember that problem gamblers can come from any background – young or old, male or female, rich or poor. The universal detail for all of them is that problem gambling is treatable.

If you ever have questions about problem gambling, know that help is available 24/7 in Iowa by visiting yourlifeiowa.org or calling 1-800-BETS OFF. The free and confidential help is available there through text, secure chat, video, email, telephone or in person.

The hashtag you’ll see during the next month is #PGAM2022, with messages from public health officials, treatment providers and lotteries across the country. By working together, we’re emphasizing awareness plus action to offer help to those who need it.

Player Question: Why Do Larger Prizes Have To Be Claimed at Lottery HQ?

Here’s the background we shared with a player this month who claimed a sizeable prize and wondered why they needed to come to Lottery headquarters for their winnings as opposed to one of our regional offices in Cedar Rapids, Mason City or Storm Lake.

The quick answer is that there are more security protocols involved when larger prizes are claimed. 

But here are the additional details about where you can claim lottery prizes of different amounts:

Prizes of more than $600 have to be claimed directly from the Iowa Lottery. Our offices can provide greater security when you’re claiming a larger amount of money, and there are tax forms you’ll need to fill out when you’re claiming a prize of that size.

The lottery requires that its retailers pay prizes of up to $100. We ask that they pay prizes of up to $600, but not all stores keep that amount of cash on hand, and we understand the reasons why. Safety is a top priority at retail locations for staff and customers, and available cash routinely is kept at a minimum, especially during business hours after dark.

If the retail location you've visited isn't able to pay your prize, you have a couple options: You can try to claim it at a larger store that sells lottery tickets, such as a supermarket. Or, you can visit one of our offices or send the ticket to us at the Iowa Lottery so we can validate it. (Our very biggest prizes, meaning those of more than $250,000, as well as some merchandise prizes, have to be claimed in person at Iowa Lottery headquarters in Clive.)

We keep all the details about the claims process, including the documentation you'll need to have with you, on our website’s How To Claim A Prize page.

Good luck as you play your lottery tickets and we hope to meet you as a winner soon!

What The Odds Mean – And What They DON’T

A question that just came our way is a reminder that sometimes, you can’t touch on a topic enough. I’m talking about the odds of winning in our games – what they mean and what they don’t.

A player reached out to us after buying two tickets in the Lucky Numbers Game Book and not winning a prize. The player noticed that the game’s overall odds of winning are 1 in 2.51 and apparently thought that meant one of their tickets was guaranteed to win. But that’s not correct.

Think of it like a deck of cards: With four suits in a deck (spades, clubs, diamonds, hearts), there’s about a 1 in 4 chance that the next card up will be in a specific suit. But once you shuffle the deck, you can go through a lot of cards in a row before you find a card in a specific suit.

It’s the same thing in our scratch games: Winning tickets are randomly distributed throughout the game so no one – not even those of us who work at the lottery – knows when or where the next big winner will hit.

We’re not joking, we’re not lying, and our odds aren’t wrong.

We made the video below to explain the odds. I hope its visuals help tell the story.

Three Months In & Big Lucky for Life Prize Is Still Unclaimed

We’ve just passed the three-month mark for a big lottery prize here in Iowa that’s still unclaimed.

The prize of $25,000 a year for life was won in the Lucky for Life drawing back on Nov. 4. Someone bought the winning ticket at Casey’s, 641 Edgewood Road NW in Cedar Rapids. The ticket matched the first five numbers but missed the Lucky Ball in that night’s drawing to win Lucky for Life’s second prize of $25,000 for life.

The winner has the option of claiming the prize in payments of $25,000 a year for life or as its lump-sum value of $390,000.

The winner still has plenty of time to claim this prize – players in Iowa have up to 365 days from the date of the drawing to claim prizes in Lucky for Life. But as more time passes, the ticket could be lost or thrown away.

Prizes at the top two levels in Lucky for Life need to be claimed at Iowa Lottery headquarters in Clive. The lottery currently offers prize claims by appointment at its offices. Full details are available on the lottery’s website here.

And if a lottery prize does expire without being claimed, what happens to the money? Here in Iowa, that money goes into the Iowa Lottery’s prize pools for future games and promotions. So it will be used to pay prizes, just not those prizes that have expired.

On our Unclaimed Prizes list, you can see all the prizes of $600 or more in Iowa that are currently unclaimed in lotto and InstaPlay games. You can sort the list by game, place of purchase, prize amount, date of win, or date of expiration to key in on the details that matter most to you.

After Series Of Health Setbacks, Iowa Couple Celebrates THIS Unexpected News

After several health complications, a Des Moines couple is celebrating another kind of unexpected news: The husband won a $300,000 lottery prize!

David Martelli said that you never expect it, but yesterday it happened for them. Martelli claimed his prize at Iowa Lottery headquarters along with his wife, Amy.

David Martelli, 56, who is retired, said that the story started when he asked Amy to cash in a few tickets that had won small prizes and buy a couple more tickets. He said he specifically wanted a ticket in the “Win Big” scratch game.

David scratched off the ticket later that night. He said he noticed all the zeros in the prize amount, so he decided to surprise Amy with the news: He put his thumb over the prize amount and asked her if the numbers on the ticket matched. She said they did, and when he moved his thumb to reveal the prize amount, they both started to cry.

David and Amy are each in recovery from recent bouts with cancer and David said the situation makes them even more appreciative of this good luck.

Amy Martelli, 53, who works in health care, said the news is sinking in and becoming reality. She calls it a huge relief. 

The couple plans to use the winnings to help their immediate family and invest for their retirement.

David claimed the seventh of 11 top prizes of $300,000 in the Win Big game.

Mobile App Update Fixes Ticket-Scanning Snag That Impacted Some Android Phones

An update to our mobile app is now live in the Google Play Store® that fixes a glitch some players with Samsung® phones were having when they tried to scan a lottery ticket to see if they’d won a prize.

The technical snag appeared to only impact Samsung Galaxy S21 mobile phones with the Android 12 operating system. 

The players involved said they couldn’t use the lottery’s mobile app to check the results of their tickets. That was the only app function impacted on those phones - all other features on the lottery app, including players' ability to enter tickets into promotions, continued as normal.

The update is now live for Android devices and in most cases, if you already have the app (it’s called the Iowa Lottery’s LotteryPlus), you’ll get the new version automatically. But if you’ve shut off automatic updates, you can go into the Google Play Store and manually update it.

Please note that if you have an Android device and you'd saved an ePlayslip in the app, you may need to re-create it and save it again after the update is made.

Thank you to the players who contacted us and shared details about what you were experiencing with the app. Your input was a big help in this process!

If you’re not familiar with our mobile app, you can use it to check the results of lotto, scratch and InstaPlay tickets so you don’t have to visit a store or lottery office to see if you’ve won a prize. Other popular ways that people use the app are to enter tickets into our VIP Club drawings, check the winning numbers in recent lotto drawings, and find a lottery retailer near them.

3 Big Power Play Winners So Far This Month!

Talk about starting 2022 on a strong note! In January so far, Iowa has seen three big Power Play® winners in Powerball®, and the next chance comes in tonight’s drawing.

The latest Power Play winner is a northeast Iowa man who claimed a $150,000 prize this afternoon at our Cedar Rapids office. James Bardon of Durango took home that prize with a ticket he brought for Monday’s Powerball drawing.

James bought his winning ticket at Hartig Drug Company, 1600 University Ave. in Dubuque, and initially won a $50,000 prize by matching four of the white balls and the Powerball. But he also added the Power Play option to his ticket, and the Power Play number in Monday’s drawing was 3, so his prize tripled to $150,000!

In last Saturday’s Powerball drawing, William Dalzeil of Ainsworth won a $100,000 prize. His ticket also initially won $50,000 for matching four of the white balls and the Powerball. But he also had added the Power Play option to his ticket, and the Power Play number that night was 2, so his prize was multiplied to $100,000!

If you’re not familiar with the Power Play option, it costs an extra $1 per pay. It’s called a multiplier because it will multiply any prize you win except the jackpot by 2, 3, 4, 5 or 10 times, depending on the Power Play number selected in that night’s drawing.

The biggest Power Play winners this month were Karla and Keith Elenz of New Hampton, who claimed a $2 million prize from the Jan. 10 Powerball drawing. Their ticket initially won a $1 million prize for matching the five white balls but missing the Powerball. But Karla, who bought their ticket at a local convenience store, had added the Power Play option, so their prize was multiplied to $2 million.

The next chance for someone to win a Power Play prize comes in tonight’s Powerball drawing. We’ll see what the news tomorrow may bring!

Six Months To Go For $50,000 Powerball Prize In Council Bluffs

A big unclaimed prize in Iowa has just hit a significant milestone, so it’s a good time for me to remind everyone to double-check their tickets!

Today is the six-month mark for a $50,000 Powerball® prize won in Council Bluffs. That prize was won July 21 with a ticket purchased at Casey’s, 3434 Nebraska Ave. in Council Bluffs. It will expire at the close of business on July 21 of this year if it’s not claimed by then at an Iowa Lottery office. (The prize-redemption hours in our offices close at 4 p.m.)

Players in Iowa have up to 365 days from the date of the drawing to claim Powerball prizes.

You’re probably wondering: Why do prizes go unclaimed? Maybe the tickets involved get lost or misplaced. Maybe the player never checks them. Or maybe they only check to see if they’ve won the jackpot and don’t drill down to see that they can win other significant prizes (like $50,000)!

On our Unclaimed Prizes list on the Iowa Lottery website, you can see all the prizes of $600 or more in Iowa that are currently unclaimed in lotto and InstaPlay games. You can sort the list by game, place of purchase, prize amount, date of win, or date of expiration to key in on the details that matter most to you.

As of today, there are six prizes of $5,000 or more still waiting to be claimed in Iowa. The biggest one is a Lucky for Life® prize of $25,000 a year for life (or a $390,000 lump-sum option) that was won with a ticket purchased at Casey’s, 641 Edgewood Road NW in Cedar Rapids. There are about 10½ months to go until it would expire.

If you have any questions about claiming a prize, give us a call at 515-725-7900 or email us at wmaster@ialottery.com. And, please double-check your tickets!

$2 Million Powerball Winner: Ticket Was In Car’s Sun Visor

In a slice-of-life moment, a northeast Iowa woman realized she’d left a $2 million-winning Powerball® ticket tucked into the sun visor of her car.

Karla and Keith Elenz of New Hampton claimed the $2 million prize today at Iowa Lottery headquarters in Clive. Karla said they first got a head’s up about the big news when an email was sent Tuesday to all employees at the auto-parts manufacturing facility where they work. The Iowa Lottery had announced earlier that day that a $2 million prize was won in Monday’s Powerball drawing with a ticket purchased in the Chickasaw County community of about 3,500.

Karla, 53, said that in the email, her company shared the details about the lottery announcement and said they hoped the winner would be someone they knew. That prompted Karla to run out to her car in the parking lot, where she’d left a Powerball ticket in the sun visor.

She said she brought up the winning Powerball numbers on her mobile phone and compared those to the numbers on the ticket. Then she knew she had to find her husband.

Keith Elenz, 55, said he could tell Karla had something big to share, but in the rush of the moment, they understandably had a little trouble getting all the words out. He said his wife told him they won and he kept asking, “Won what?” When she told him she thought the prize was $2 million, Keith said his reaction was: “Noooo.”

The couple said they somehow kept the news to themselves for the rest of the afternoon, and then their communications difficulties took another amusing turn when they shared the details that evening with their family. Karla said her mom initially thought they’d won a $2,000 prize. Karla told her that she needed to keep adding more zeroes.

Karla and Keith both say that they plan to invest their winnings, continue working, and help local charities.

Karla bought their $2 million-winning ticket at Casey’s, 615 N. Linn Ave. in New Hampton. She chose her own numbers, playing a set that are significant to her. Their ticket was just one number away from having at least a share of Monday’s $26.8 million jackpot, initially matching the first five numbers but missing the Powerball to win a $1 million prize.

But Karla also added the Power Play® option to the purchase, which multiplies the prize at the Match 5 level to $2 million. The New Hampton ticket was the only one in the country to win a $2 million prize in Monday’s drawing.

Monday’s winning numbers were 14-17-18-21-27 and Powerball 9. The Power Play option was 2. Casey’s will receive a $2,000 bonus from the Iowa Lottery for selling the $2 million-winning ticket.

Exciting Start To 2022: New Hampton Ticket Wins $2 Million Powerball Prize

Someone who bought a Powerball ticket in northeast Iowa won a $2 million Powerball prize in last night’s drawing.

The $2 million-winning ticket was purchased at Casey’s, 615 N. Linn Ave. in New Hampton. The ticket came within one number of having at least a share of last night’s $26.8 million jackpot.

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

The New Hampton ticket was the only one in the country to win a $2 million prize in last night’s drawing.

Last night’s winning numbers were 14-17-18-21-27 and Powerball 9. The Power Play option was 2. No one matched all six numbers to win the jackpot, so the big prize climbs to an estimated $38 million annuity ($26.4 million lump-sum option) for the game’s next drawing tomorrow night.

Casey’s will receive a $2,000 bonus from the Iowa Lottery for selling the $2 million-winning ticket.

Prizes of $2 million must be claimed at Iowa Lottery headquarters in Clive. The lottery’s offices are open Monday through Friday, and prize claims are currently available by appointment. The winner or winners of the New Hampton prize can call the lottery at 515-725-7900 to make an appointment to claim it.

This Time, You Can Enter InstaPlay Tickets For A Chance To Win More Prizes

This time, InstaPlay games are in the spotlight in a promotion that gives you the chance to enter tickets for a chance to win more prizes -- A LOT more in prizes. To be specific, the InstaPlay promotion that began this morning has a total of $228,000 in prizes on the line!

We’re applying the “max bet” concept in this Play It Again® promotion, meaning that the size of the prize you could win increases with the purchase price of the ticket you enter.

There are five categories in the promotion based on the ticket price point involved:

• $20 tickets are eligible for a $20,000 prize.
• $10 tickets are eligible for a $10,000 prize.
• $5 tickets are eligible for a $5,000 prize.
• $2 tickets are eligible for a $2,000 prize.
• $1 tickets are eligible for a $1,000 prize.

The promotion will have two drawings. They’ll be held on Feb. 3 and Feb. 24, with 15 cash prizes awarded in each. That works out to 3 prizes per category in both drawings.

So, in the Feb. 3 drawing, there will be 3 winners of a $20,000 prize, 3 winners of a $10,000 prize, 3 winners of a $5,000 prize, 3 winners of a $2,000 prize and 3 winners of a $1,000 prize. That same thing will happen in the Feb. 24 drawing.

Only recent InstaPlay tickets can be entered. Any nonwinning InstaPlay ticket purchased on or after Jan. 3 of this year is eligible for entry into the promotion. And remember that you’ll need to be a member of the lottery’s free VIP Club to enter.

You can enter tickets for the first drawing until the morning of Feb. 1, and then entries will start over for the second drawing, with its entry period open until the morning of Feb. 22. Entries will not carry over from one drawing to the next.

You can win a prize in each category you enter. (Yes, the odds of that happening are long, but we’ve seen players win multiple prizes before in our drawings.)

Good luck, thank you for playing, and we hope you have fun with this moment in the sun for our InstaPlay games!

Technical Snag Preventing Ticket Checking On Mobile App For Players With This Phone

We’re working on an update to our mobile app to fix a snag that players with a certain type of smart phone are having when they try to check the results of their tickets.

The technical glitch only appears to impact Samsung® Galaxy S21 mobile phones with the Android 12 operating system. We began hearing from players about the snag after a recent update to those phones.

The players involved say they can’t use the lottery’s mobile app to check the results of their tickets. The difficulty is only impacting the ticket-checking function on those phones -- all other features on the lottery's app, including players' ability to enter tickets into lottery promotions, continue to function as normal.

We’re working on an update to resolve the issue, but we don’t yet have a release date. With any technology, updates and changes over time can cause unexpected tangles. But we know you like the convenience of the mobile app and we want to have all the features on it up and running!

Please bear with us while we continue to work on this fix.

Powerball Jackpot Split By Tickets in CA & WI, Mega Millions Continues To Roll

Update on Jan. 6: Last night's Powerball jackpot, which ended up being even higher than the latest estimates heading into the drawing, was split by tickets in California and Wisconsin. The $632.6 million jackpot was the 7th-largest in the history of the game. Meanwhile, the Mega Millions® jackpot continues its run, currently at an estimated $278 million annuity, $193 million lump-sum value for that game's next drawing tomorrow.         

Maybe it’s the cold weather sweeping across much of the country that’s got people looking for a chance to daydream, but something DEFINITELY has folks thinking about the jackpots in Powerball and Mega Millions.

The jackpots in both games have been raised even higher today, pushed up by strong sales across the country. Tonight’s Mega Millions jackpot is now an estimated $253 million annuity, $175.6 million lump-sum option.

And the Powerball jackpot for tomorrow night’s drawing is now an estimated $610 million annuity, $434.2 million lump-sum option. That’s the seventh largest jackpot in the history of the Powerball game.

3 Prizes Of $50K, 1 Of $20K Currently Unclaimed In Iowa

Now is a good time to remind you to double-check your tickets. And be sure to look for the other prizes you may have won, not just the jackpot! Three Powerball prizes of $50,000 and a Mega Millions prize of $20,000 won within the past six months are currently unclaimed in Iowa.

Each of the $50K-winning tickets was just one number away from the jackpot, matching four of the five white balls and the Powerball. And the $20K-winning Mega Millions ticket initially matched four of the five white balls and the Mega Ball to win a $10,000 prize. But the player who bought the ticket also added the Megaplier option for an extra $1, which multiplied the prize to $20,000.

Here are the details about the unclaimed prizes involved:

• $50K-winning ticket purchased at Casey’s, 3434 Nebraska Ave. in Council Bluffs, for the July 21 drawing.
• $50K-winning ticket purchased at Kum & Go, 629 S. Division St. in Stuart, for the Oct. 23 drawing.
• $50K-winning ticket purchased at Kwik Star, 205 N. Maryville St. in Calmar, for the Dec. 29 drawing. This prize was claimed Jan. 5. #WooHooForYou
• $20K-winning ticket purchased at Casey’s, 4400 128th St. in Urbandale, for the Nov. 12 drawing.

Reminders For Office Pools

When the jackpots really get up there, a lot of folks start pooling their money to buy tickets as a group with co-workers, neighbors, or friends and family.

We keep reminders about group lottery play as a permanent feature on our website, so please check out those details.

For example, one of our quick tips is for the person buying tickets on behalf of a group to keep a careful list of everyone who pitches in, how much money they contribute, and when! That can help answer any questions later about who was “in.”

Powerball Jackpot Raised Even Higher, 3 Prizes of $50K Currently Unclaimed In Iowa

It seems like Powerball® is top of mind for a whole lot of folks right now! Strong sales across the country during the New Year’s holiday weekend have pushed the jackpot even higher for tonight’s drawing.

Tonight’s jackpot is now an estimated $540 million annuity, $384.3 million lump-sum value.

There Are Monday Drawings?

And with the jackpot in the spotlight, we’ve gotten questions today from some people who didn’t realize Powerball has a Monday drawing. That change was made in August of last year. Powerball now has drawings every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. The first Monday drawing in the game was held on Aug. 23, 2021.

Reminders For Office Pools

This is the point where a lot of folks decide to pool their money to buy tickets with co-workers, neighbors, or friends and family.

We keep reminders about group lottery play as a permanent feature on our website, so please check out those details.

For example, one of our quick tips is for the person buying tickets on behalf of a group to keep a careful list of everyone who pitches in, how much money they contribute, and when! That can help answer any questions later about who was “in.”

3 Powerball Prizes of $50K Currently Unclaimed In Iowa

Three Powerball prizes of $50,000 won within the past six months are currently unclaimed in Iowa, and at the Iowa Lottery, we remind all our players to double-check their tickets!

Each of the $50K-winning tickets was just one number away from the jackpot, matching four of the five white balls and the Powerball.

Here are the details about the Powerball tickets involved:

• $50K-winning ticket purchased at Casey’s, 3434 Nebraska Ave. in Council Bluffs, for the July 21 drawing.
• $50K-winning ticket purchased at Kum & Go, 629 S. Division St. in Stuart, for the Oct. 23 drawing.
• $50K-winning ticket purchased at Kwik Star, 205 N. Maryville St. in Calmar, for the Dec. 29 drawing.