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!

See You Tonight & Tomorrow At The Knoxville Raceway!

We’re headed to the Knoxville Raceway for a weekend of sprint car racing -- and lottery giveaways to add to the fun!

We’ll have a booth tonight and tomorrow at the Raceway for the World of Outlaws races. You’ll be able to find us in the Fan Walk area under the Main Grandstand, near the space where the racers have their trailers displayed. The Iowa Lottery’s booth is open from 3-7:30 p.m. tonight and from noon-7:30 p.m. tomorrow.

Both days, we’ll sell scratch tickets, lotto tickets and InstaPlay tickets. You can get free lottery swag for stopping by our booth. You can spin the prize wheel with a lottery purchase and we’ll have Luke Combs T-shirts with qualifying purchases. (Please note that our booth will be cash only.) Some of the games are eligible for entry into the lottery’s current promotions, so be sure the check out those details as well.

On Saturday, you’ll also hear us on a radio remote from noon-2 p.m. at the track with KRLS/KNIA Radio in Knoxville. And as a fan bonus, Brian Brown, the Knoxville Raceway 2022 Sprint Car 410 champion, will periodically stop by the Iowa Lottery's booth during our visit to the track. So you may be able to meet him, too!

We look forward to seeing you at the Sprint Car Capital of the World!

Only 3 Months Until The Deadline For Unclaimed $1 Million Mega Millions Prize

Will we solve the mystery and find the winner of an unclaimed $1 million Mega Millions® prize by the deadline? Only time will tell!

Click on the video above to see the details of our visit to the Ames convenience store where the winning ticket was purchased back in September 2022. And please, double-check your tickets!

Lottery’s Summer of Music = Your Chance to Win Tix to Big-Name Concerts in Iowa

We started off the season by giving you a chance to win prize packages to some of Iowa’s top auto-racing events, and now we’re turning our attention to music. And specifically, giving you the chance to win ticket prize packages to big-name concerts this summer in Iowa.

The Iowa Lottery’s eight-week Summer of Music promotion opened for entries this morning. Players can enter it with nonwinning tickets in the $10 “Wild Cherry” scratch game for a chance to win prize packages to 14 Iowa concerts by headline artists at the Hy-Vee IndyCar Race Weekend in Newton and the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines.

The promotion will have two entry periods, with the first for race-and-concert packages at the Iowa Speedway in Newton, and the second for Iowa State Fair concert packages.

Up for grabs in the promotion’s first drawing date on July 6 (from entries accepted through 9:59 a.m. July 5) will be 95 prize packages to the IndyCar race and Carrie Underwood and Kenny Chesney performances on July 22, and 95 prize packages to the IndyCar race and Zac Brown Band and Ed Sheeran shows on July 23 in Newton. Players will select the Race Weekend concert of their choice when they enter tickets in the promotion.

For each day of the IndyCar Race Weekend, 20 prize packages will be in a VIP suite and 75 will be grandstand prize packages. Winners will receive tickets for that day’s IndyCar race as well as the pre- and post-race concerts at the Speedway.

The promotion’s second drawing period runs from 10 a.m. July 5 through 9:59 a.m. July 31. Up for grabs in the promotion’s second drawing date on Aug. 1 will be 20 VIP grandstand concert prize packages at the Iowa State Fair for these artists:

• For King + Country
• Tyler Hubbard of Florida Georgia Line
• New Kids on the Block
• Eric Church
• The Black Keys
• Lindsey Stirling
• Maren Morris
• Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges
• The Chicks
• Jason Aldean

Players will select the Iowa State Fair concert of their choice when they enter tickets in the promotion.

Entries will not carry over from the first entry period to the second. However, a player could win a concert prize package in each category drawing they enter.

Join Us Tuesday In Ames: Free Plays & Fun As We Highlight $1 Million Unclaimed Prize

If you’re in the Ames area on Tuesday, join us as we highlight a $1 million Mega Millions® prize won there that has only three months until its expiration date.

The $1 million-winning Mega Millions ticket was purchased at The Filling Station/Gateway Expresse, 2400 University Blvd. in Ames, for the game’s drawing on Sept. 6, 2022.

That drawing took place just after the long Labor Day holiday weekend, with Labor Day 2022 being celebrated on Sept. 5. And that same weekend, Iowa State won its 2022 football season opener at home against Southeast Missouri State. There may have been a lot of folks visiting the Ames area that weekend who aren’t regularly there.

The Filling Station/Gateway Expresse is a combination kitchen-bakery-convenience store along University Boulevard, a busy thoroughfare near several large hotels on the south side of Ames.

We’ll be at the store Tuesday morning to highlight the $1 million unclaimed prize and remind players to double-check their tickets. The Lottery’s Summer Street Team will set up a promotion tent outside the business and have our prize wheel on the scene from 9 to 11 a.m. Tuesday, giving you the chance to win lottery merchandise with a qualifying lottery purchase at the store.

We’ll also give out free plays in Mega Millions and Powerball® while supplies last.

We’ll go live on Facebook at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday from the store, so if you can’t join us in person, you can see the event online.

Right now in Iowa, 10 prizes ranging from $10,000 up to $1 million are unclaimed. Please double-check your tickets!

The winner or winners of the $1 million prize have until the close of business on Sept. 6 of this year to claim it at Iowa Lottery headquarters in Clive.

Will we find the winners of the unclaimed prizes? Only time will tell! Help us spread the word!

Player Question: Are The Multipliers Really Random?

A player just sent us a question you may have wondered about as well when it comes to the multiplier option in our lotto games, and how that number is selected.

In Powerball®, the multiplier feature is called the Power Play®; in Mega Millions®, it’s the Megaplier®; and in Lotto America®, it’s the All Star Bonus® option.

In each of the games, adding that option to your play will multiply any prize you win (except the Match 5 prize in Powerball and the jackpot in any of the games) by the multiplier number in that night’s drawing.

If the multiplier is 2X, the prize you win will be doubled. If it’s 3X, the prize will be tripled, and so on. Each of the games has its own probability for the multiplier feature.

Let’s use a real-world example from the Powerball game: A Powerball ticket costs $2 per play, and you can add the Power Play multiplier option for an extra $1 per play. For the Powerball drawing involving your ticket, you match four of the first five numbers but miss the Powerball. The Power Play number that night is 4X. You normally would win $100, but because you added the Power Play option to your ticket, your prize would be multiplied to $400.

The details about the multiplier feature are included in the game rules for Powerball, Mega Millions and Lotto America. The multiplier option in each game is selected from its own pool of numbers that is separate from the rest of the drawing.

Here is how the numbers look for the Megaplier option: There are 15 numbers in the Megaplier pool. Of those 15 numbers, 5 are 2s, 6 are 3s, three are 4s, 1 is a 5. Here’s what that looks like in table form:

15 Total Numbers In Megaplier Pool
        2X = 5
        3X = 6
        4X = 3
        5X = 1

So, does it stand to reason that the Megaplier number will more often be a 2 or 3? Yes. But the other multipliers also have a shot.

What To Do If The Ticket You're Trying To Buy Doesn’t Print Or Dispense

We got an email this week from a player who did exactly what we would suggest if you’re ever trying to buy a ticket and it doesn’t print from the lottery terminal or dispense from a self-service kiosk.

The player reached out to us right away and was able to provide details about the time and date he'd been at the store involved. We, in turn, were able to research what happened and help the player and the store.

In that particular instance, the player tried to buy a scratch ticket from a lottery self-service kiosk and the ticket didn’t dispense. He ultimately bought other tickets from the machine but emailed us the same day to ask about the ticket he hadn’t been able to purchase. We sent a service technician to check the machine and it turned out that the ticket had gotten hung up inside the kiosk.

In a few other instances, players were trying to buy tickets from a lottery terminal when the machine ran out of paper. In those instances, the players and/or the retail location reached out to us and we were able to research what happened and help provide a resolution.  

While the lottery’s equipment has a high reliability record, any mechanical device can occasionally have a jam or other temporary complication. If you encounter an experience like that, you certainly can talk to employees at the business where the machine is in use to see if they can resolve the issue.

In addition, the retailer or you as the player can reach out to us at the Iowa Lottery for our help in researching what happened. Making contact quickly is key so you’ll clearly remember the details involved.

Here is the Iowa Lottery’s contact information: Our email address is [email protected] and our telephone number is 515-725-7900. You also are welcome to reach out to us on our social media pages.

In many instances, a member of the lottery’s Security Department will be involved in reviewing what occurred and helping to find an answer.

You CAN Use a Playslip as You Redeem Your Monthly Free Play in the VIP Club

Here’s a question that came our way about the free plays we send out each month to members of the Iowa Lottery’s VIP Club. We rotate the free-play offerings between our lotto and InstaPlay games, and the question focuses on the process of redeeming a free play for a ticket in a lotto game like Powerball® or Mega Millions®.

Some players wondered if they can choose their own numbers when redeeming their free play. The answer is yes, if you are at a lottery terminal. Here are the details:

When you present your free play to the store clerk at a lottery terminal, they will scan the code on it. The prompt shown in the image above then appears on the terminal screen.

The retail employee then has three options:

1. They can insert a completed playslip from the player, allowing the player to choose his or her numbers.
2. They can click the ‘Easy Pick’ button, which instructs the terminal to randomly assign the numbers to the free play.
3. They can click ‘Cancel,’ which cancels the transaction and allows the player to use the free play at another time.

Note that the ability to choose your own numbers can only be done at a lottery terminal. Players can redeem their free plays in lotto games at a self-service kiosk, but only for easy-pick plays. (And playslips are not used in InstaPlay games.)

The Iowa Lottery gives members of its VIP Club a free play every month. The free play is included in the VIP Connection newsletter that is delivered on the first business day of each month.

Player Question: Can I Ever Win MORE Than The Top Prize?

Here’s a question we just got that I can’t remember seeing before. It came from a player who was very happy that he’d won the top prize in one of our scratch games. But even though he’d uncovered that big prize, he said he kept scratching the rest of his ticket on the off chance there could be more prizes to uncover.

His question was: Can I ever win MORE than the top prize amount? The quick answer is no, but I can see the line of thinking involved.

In some of our scratch games, you can uncover multiple prizes that add up to the total amount you’ll win on a ticket. In other games, you may win just one prize amount on the ticket. That’s the case with the winning ticket you see here in the “Lucky 7 Bonus” game.

We vary the play styles in our games, knowing that different people like different things, and variety is good!

But in any scratch game, the maximum you can win on a ticket is the top-prize amount offered in the game. You can’t win the top prize AND smaller prize amounts that would add up to more than the top-prize figure.

That same detail applies in pull-tab games and InstaPlay games, too. The maximum you can win on each ticket is the top prize amount in the game.

Iowa Falls Woman Claims $500,000 Top Prize In Lottery Scratch Game

After driving by Iowa Lottery headquarters for years and wishing she had a reason to go inside, an Iowa Falls woman stopped in today to claim a $500,000 prize!

Carolyn Carson claimed the second of six top prizes available in the “$500,000 Ca$h” scratch game, which debuted in early April. A Davenport man claimed the first top prize in the game during its first week of sales.

Carolyn said she was running errands yesterday when she bought a $500,000 Ca$h ticket. She said a store clerk told her that it was a new game, so she decided to give it a try. She bought her ticket at Casey’s, 1008 Grand Ave. in Alden, then took it home and played it in her kitchen.

She said she looked at the ticket’s results and immediately thought, “Oh, my gosh, I think I won!”

Unable to believe her eyes, Carolyn double-checked the results by scanning her ticket with the Iowa Lottery’s mobile app on her smartphone. It confirmed her win.

But lots of disbelief continued: Carolyn said she showed the ticket to her husband, Mike, but he also didn’t believe the news. So she scanned her ticket again on the lottery app and it again showed that her ticket was a $500,000 winner. Next up were the couple’s adult children, who didn’t believe the news until she sent them a picture of the scratch ticket.

Carolyn, who is 75, said that even she is having trouble believing the big win is happening to her. “You hear about it, but you don’t think it could happen to you,” she said. “But it can!”

Carolyn said that she and Mike plan to invest the winnings.

As for her decision to try the $500,000 Ca$h game, she has these thoughts: “This was a spur-of-the-moment thought to go get that ticket. So, I don’t know: If you’ve got an inkling, go do it!

Mistakes While Scratching: Leaving Some of the Coating on Your Tix

We’ve heard recently from a couple players who both had the same confusion about the scratch tickets they played. They hadn’t completely scratched off the security coating in the play area on their ticket and mistakenly thought they’d won a big prize.

The issue is especially important in “Crossword” and “Bingo” scratch games, where a number or letter could be mistaken for another.

On a Crossword ticket, it’s important to completely remove the security coating on the “Your Letters” area providing the letters you can play. In the ticket image shown here, I highlighted the Your Letters area with a yellow circle.

If you leave some of the security coating in place, it can lead to a mistake. For example, an E might be mistaken as an F, a Q might be seen as an O, or what is actually a B might be mistaken for a P.

On a Bingo ticket, it’s important to completely remove the security coating in the “Caller’s Card” space and any areas such as a “Bonus Numbers” or “Wild Number” spot.

Those areas provide the numbers you can play in the ticket’s Bingo puzzle, and leaving some of the security coating in place could cause you to confuse one number for another. For example, a 7 might be mistaken for a 1, or an 8 could be seen as a 6 or a 3.

The same careful approach is important when you’re playing any scratch ticket, but it can make a big difference in a game like Crossword or Bingo.

If you ever have a question about how much you think you’ve won on a ticket, remember there are multiple ways to check. One of the easiest is by scanning the ticket on the Iowa Lottery’s mobile app. You can do that from anywhere.

You also can use a self-checker or self-service kiosk at a business where lottery tickets are sold, or you can have the ticket checked at a lottery terminal.

Lottery’s Race Into Summer Promotion = Sprint Car + NASCAR

Iowa Powerball® players can now enter for a chance to win exclusive trackside prize packages in a promotion that features sprint car and NASCAR® racing.

The Iowa Lottery’s nine-week Race into Summer promotion opened for entries Monday morning. Players can enter it with any Powerball ticket purchased in Iowa from Monday through the promotion’s end on the morning of July 5.

Up for grabs in the promotion’s first two drawings on May 24 (from entries accepted through 9:59 a.m. May 23) are 20 VIP prize packages for the Knoxville World of Outlaws sprint car races June 9 and 10 at Knoxville Raceway. Players will select the race date of their choice when they enter tickets in the promotion.

The Race into Summer promotion is part of the Iowa Lottery’s official 2023 partnership with Knoxville Raceway, the legendary half-mile dirt oval on the Marion County Fairgrounds known as the Sprint Car Capital of the World.

Each World of Outlaws prize package includes:

• 2 suite tickets
• food, soda and water in the suite
• parking pass
• $150 spending cash
• photo/autograph event with driver Brian Brown, 2022 Knoxville Raceway 410 Track Champion
• Brian Brown merchandise prize pack, including a diecast model of his car.

The promotion’s second drawing date (from entries accepted through 9:59 a.m. July 5) offers 20 VIP prize packages to the Knoxville Nationals qualifying race on Aug. 10. And as an added bonus for players who enter for those Knoxville Nationals prize packages, they also will have a shot at winning a VIP trip to a NASCAR race and a chance at a $1 million prize.

Each Knoxville Nationals prize package includes:

• 2 suite tickets
• food, soda and water in the suite
• parking pass
• $250 spending cash
• photo/autograph event with driver Brian Brown, 2022 Knoxville Raceway 410 Track Champion
• Brian Brown merchandise prize pack including a diecast model of his car.

The promotion drawing for the Knoxville Nationals prizes will be July 6. The 20 winners selected that day also will be the Iowa Lottery’s qualifiers for a national promotion called the NASCAR Powerball Playoff.

Powerball players in 24 states will have the chance to enter the NASCAR Powerball Playoff this spring and summer. Each state will initially hold a drawing to determine its qualifiers in the promotion. Then from among all those qualifiers across the country, 16 national semifinalists will be selected.

Each of the 16 semifinalists will win a cash prize in the NASCAR Powerball Playoff. The number of semifinalists will continue to be whittled down until four finalists remain. The longer a semifinalist stays in the running, the more they will win. Each of the four finalists will win a VIP trackside prize package to the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race on Nov. 5 at Phoenix Raceway in Arizona.

During a live drawing broadcast from the Nov. 5 race, one of the four finalists will win a $1 million prize.

Here is the schedule of drawings in the NASCAR Powerball Playoff:

Prize Amount	Winners	Drawing Date	Winners Announced	Impact
$1 million + trip to Arizona	1	Nov. 5	NASCAR race Nov. 5 in Avondale, AZ	1 grand-prize winner selected
$10,000 + trip to Arizona	3	Nov. 5	NASCAR race Nov. 5 in Avondale, AZ	4 finalists attend race & live drawing
$7,500	4	Oct. 11	NASCAR race Oct. 29 in Martinsville, VA	Semifinalists narrowed to 4
$5,000	4	Oct. 1	NASCAR race Oct. 8 in Concord, NC	Semifinalists narrowed to 8
$2,500	4	Sept. 9	NASCAR race Sept. 16 in Bristol, TN	Semifinalists narrowed to 12
Selection as semifinalist	16	Aug. 12	NASCAR race Aug. 26 in Daytona Beach, FL	16 semifinalists selected

As with past Powerball promotions in Iowa, each eligible ticket entered into the Race into Summer promotion will count as one entry, regardless of the purchase price of the ticket or the number of plays on it. Entries that are not selected by the Iowa Lottery in the Race into Summer drawings on May 24 will remain eligible for the promotion’s second drawing date on July 6.

NASCAR® is a registered trademark of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC. Copyright ©2023 National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC. All Rights Reserved. NASCAR, LLC is not a sponsor of this promotion.

What Happens To Unclaimed Lottery Prizes In Iowa

You’ve heard me talk about unclaimed prizes a lot, now here’s a look at the situation from a local news crew. KCCI-TV (Channel 8 in Des Moines) answers the question: What happens to unclaimed lottery prizes in Iowa?

Now In Effect: Prize-Claim Period Updated In 4 Popular Lottery Games

The prep work had been underway for about five months, and now a notable change in four lottery games has taken effect. When you buy tickets in Powerball®, Mega Millions®, Lotto America® and Lucky for Life® in Iowa, you now have 180 days from the date of the drawing to claim any prize you’ve won.

The change comes after analysis of prizes that expired in Iowa without being claimed. A review of recent drawings in the four games found that the vast majority of prizes were claimed within the first six months. In fact, less than 3 percent of prizes from those drawings were claimed after 180 days.

Until this weekend, the prize-claim deadline in the four games was 365 days from the drawing. After reviewing the prize-claim analysis, the Iowa Lottery worried that such a long prize-claim deadline was inadvertently causing some players to forget to claim their prizes. The passage of time may also have caused some tickets to be lost, damaged or thrown away.

The prize-claim change will hopefully mean that the maximum number of prizes won are claimed in the games.

As a lottery player in Iowa, here are the details that apply to your tickets.

In Mega Millions: Tickets purchased for Friday’s drawing (April 21) or before have a prize-claim deadline of 365 days from the drawing. Beginning with tickets purchased on Saturday (April 22), the prize-claim deadline is 180 days from the date of the drawing.

In Powerball, Lotto America and Lucky for Life: Tickets purchased for Saturday’s drawing (April 22) or before have a prize-claim deadline of 365 days from the drawing. Beginning with tickets purchased yesterday (April 23), the prize-claim deadline is 180 days from the date of the drawing.

The change has no monetary benefit to the Iowa Lottery: Under state law, the money from prizes that expire in Iowa without being claimed go back to players through the lottery’s prize pools for future games and promotions. In the past three fiscal years, the annual total in lottery prizes that expired in Iowa without being claimed ranged from about $1.3 million to more than $1.7 million.

The prize-claim periods in the Iowa Lottery’s other games are unchanged. Here are those details:

• Tickets in Iowa-specific lotto games (Pick 3 and Pick 4) are valid for 90 days from the date of the drawing.
• Tickets in scratch games are valid for 90 days after the announced end of the game.
• Tickets in pull-tab games are valid for 90 days after the announced end of the game.
• Tickets in InstaPlay games are valid for 90 days from the date of purchase.

Office Pool Of 2 Claims $1 Million Mega Millions Prize Won In Central Iowa

They may be in the smallest lottery office pool ever, but that didn’t stop them from winning big.

This afternoon, two central Iowa men claimed a $1 million Mega Millions® prize they won on Tuesday. Randy Ferriss of Nevada and Colton Snyder of Huxley are long-time employees at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Ames. They’ve pooled their money for years to play the lottery, and at different times, there were more members in their group.

Randy says he thought they should stop playing several times, but Colton would say they should keep going.

They won their $1 million prize with small winnings from recent tickets. Colton says they turned a $2 winner into $1 million! But to temper that, Randy says they’ve been playing a long time.

Where It Started

Randy bought their $1 million-winning ticket at Casey’s, 1800 S. B Ave. in Nevada. They came within one number of having a share of Tuesday’s $20 million Mega Millions jackpot, matching the first five numbers but missing the Mega Ball.

Their easy-pick ticket was one of four across the country to win a $1 million prize in Tuesday’s drawing, with the others in California, Maryland and Ohio.

Tuesday’s winning numbers were: 7-9-15-19-25 and Mega Ball 4. The Megaplier® was 2. With the jackpot that night won in New York, the big prize stays at an estimated $20 million annuity, $10.5 million lump-sum option, for the game’s next drawing tomorrow.

How It Was Going

Randy and Colton are both 52 and have worked together for 26 years. Colton says that when Randy started calling him last night, he knew something was up.

Randy says he looked at the numbers on the ticket and thought they had won, but he decided to go to the store where he bought it to check it there. Then he called Colton and said they needed to meet at the Casey’s in Huxley to check it again.

Randy says it was a situation where you just can’t be too sure. Colton had to rib him a bit, saying Randy kept thinking they were doing something wrong!

Where They’ll Go From Here

The two plan to take time to decide what to do with their winnings. Randy says he and his wife will probably pay off their house and then really formulate a plan. Colton says that he and his wife have been talking about some small home improvements, so they’ll likely do those.

They plan to keep playing the lottery together in their office pool, but just this once, they won’t let their winnings keep riding!

Randy and Colton claimed the third significant lottery prize this month in Iowa.

On April 10, a Dubuque man claimed a $40.03 million Lotto America® jackpot, while on April 11, a Davenport man claimed a $500,000 top prize in an Iowa Lottery scratch game.

Casey’s will receive a $1,000 bonus from the Iowa Lottery for selling the $1 million-winning ticket in Nevada.

$1 Million Mega Millions Prize Won In Central Iowa

For the third time this month, someone who bought a lottery ticket in Iowa has won a significant prize. The latest lucky strike hit in Nevada, where a Mega Millions® player won a $1 million prize last night in that game’s drawing.

The $1 million-winning ticket was purchased at Casey’s, 1800 S. B Ave. in Nevada. The 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.

Details For Last Night’s Drawing

The Nevada ticket was one of four in the country to win a $1 million prize in the drawing, with the others in California, Maryland and Ohio.

Last night’s winning numbers were: 7-9-15-19-25 and Mega Ball 4. The Megaplier® was 2. The jackpot was won in New York, so the big prize stays at an estimated $20 million annuity, $10.5 million lump-sum option, for the game’s next drawing on Friday.

Earlier this month, a Dubuque man claimed a $40.03 million Lotto America® jackpot, while a Davenport man claimed a $500,000 top prize in an Iowa Lottery scratch game.

Casey’s will receive a $1,000 bonus from the Iowa Lottery for selling the $1 million-winning ticket in Nevada.

Why It Matters To Check Your Ticket

You know that the Iowa Lottery emphasizes the importance of checking your tickets, and two situations in central Iowa demonstrate why that matters.

The Casey’s in Nevada that sold this latest $1 million-winning ticket is the same store that sold a ticket winning a $1 million Powerball® prize that expired without being claimed in April 2019.

The Iowa Lottery gave players another shot at those winnings through a promotion that same year, and a group of 34 co-workers at a Cedar Rapids company ended up splitting the prize.

And, a $1 million Mega Millions prize in Ames has been unclaimed for nearly eight months. That winning ticket was purchased at Gateway Expresse (also known as The Filling Station), 2400 S. University Blvd. in Ames. It matched all five white balls but missed the Mega Ball to win at the game's second prize level in the drawing on Sept. 6, 2022. The winner or winners of the Ames prize have until the close of business on Sept. 6 of this year to claim it.

Where To Claim The Prize

Prizes of $1 million have to be claimed at Iowa Lottery headquarters in Clive. Lottery offices are open Monday through Friday, and appointments are strongly encouraged for claims at that level.

To make an appointment or contact the lottery with questions, winners are welcome to call the lottery at 515-725-7900 or email to [email protected]

InstaPlay Promotion Ending Tonight

Please note that the InstaPlay promotion underway since last week is ending at 11:59 p.m. tonight.

The “player bonus” promotion has been so popular, it quickly ran through the free plays allotted for it. The free plays had been expected to last through early May, but player demand for them had surged.

From now through 11:59 p.m. tonight, for every 10th ticket purchased statewide in the JACKPOT PARTY® Progressive game, the lottery terminal or self-service kiosk will automatically generate a free play in the $30 Super 7s Progressive InstaPlay game.

You’ll hear the “Surprise, player bonus!” sound from the machine as the free play is printed. Both plays are yours – the $10 ticket you bought and the $30 ticket you won for free.

Remember, not every 10th ticket purchased from a specific location or lottery machine is eligible for a free play. It’s every 10th ticket purchased statewide, so the free-play bonus has been hitting in stores all across Iowa.

Thank you for being part of this fun -- and unexpected -- moment! We heard from a lot of folks who got free plays this past week!

2023 ® & © Light & Wonder Inc. or one of its subsidiaries.

He Predicted It Himself: Davenport Man Wins $500,000 Prize In New Scratch Game

A Davenport man says that for three days, he told his co-workers he was going to win the $500,000 top prize in a new lottery scratch game. And then he did.

Today, Justin Strother claimed the first of six top prizes available in the Iowa Lottery’s “$500,000 Ca$h” scratch game. The game just debuted April 4.

Justin bought his winning ticket at a Davenport convenience store and says he scanned the ticket on the store’s self-checker. He says immediately ran outside to where his wife was waiting in the car and told her they needed to put the ticket in a safe right away.

Justin jokes that his mom spread the word about his good luck by failing to follow her own advice: She told him not to tell anyone about his big win – and then she told everyone!

Justin says that he and his wife, Kylie, have plans for the winnings: a three-bedroom house for them and their two children, a new pick-up truck and a camper.

He calls his lottery win “a re-start button to life” that will mean he can be debt free.

NOT An April Fools’ Prank: Dubuque Man Claims $40 Million Lotto America Jackpot

A Dubuque man bought a lottery ticket on April Fools’ Day and thought to himself that if he was lucky, he was lucky. And if not, oh well.

Then came the moment when he checked his ticket at the local store where he bought it and was told that he’d won the biggest jackpot in the history of the Lotto America game. Earl Lape says even he thought it was a joke. It took a few hours for the news to sink in.

Earl, a retired mechanic, chose to receive his winnings in the lump-sum option of $21.28 million. He plans to invest the money so it can help his family for generations. He also is planning donations to organizations that benefit children with medical needs, specifically the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital in Iowa City, and Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines.

Earl says he knows that a lot of parents can't afford the medical treatment that their children need, and with his donations, he can make a difference to help.

Earl’s jackpot-winning ticket matched all six numbers in the April 1 Lotto America drawing, which were: 2-38-43-46-51 and Star Ball® 7. The jackpot that night was a record for the Lotto America game: $40.03 million annuity, $21.28 million cash option.

Earl says he likes to play Lotto America because it has better odds of winning than the larger multi-state games, Powerball® and Mega Millions®.

Lotto America is known as Powerball’s smaller cousin. The game costs $1 to play and has drawings on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. It has the same playstyle as Powerball, with players selecting numbers from two separate pools for a chance to win. But Lotto America’s jackpots start at a smaller level and the game has easier odds of winning. Lotto America is sold by 13 lotteries, while Powerball is offered by 48.

One of the first people Earl shared his jackpot news with was Randy Davis, his best friend since childhood. Randy was with Earl for moral support as he claimed his prize, and says he also initially didn’t believe it. But Randy says Earl stuck with the story, so he started to think it might be true.

Before Earl won the jackpot, he was in the process of buying the home of his long-time girlfriend who passed away in August 2022. He says that winning the lottery will mean he can pay for the house as well as the repairs and updates it needs.

Earl bought his jackpot-winning ticket at Eichman’s, a restaurant and convenience store at 11941 U.S. Highway 52 N. in Dubuque that’s a regular stop for him. Eichman’s will receive a $5,000 bonus from the Iowa Lottery for selling the jackpot-winning Lotto America ticket.

This is the second Lotto America jackpot won in Iowa. A Davenport man won a $4.38 million jackpot in the game in May 2018.

Follow The Money-Brick Road!

We don’t know who they are yet, but Iowa’s Lotto America® jackpot winner from this weekend definitely has folks buzzing!

You’ve likely heard by now that a ticket purchased in Dubuque won Saturday’s Lotto America jackpot of $40.03 million annuity, $21.28 million cash option. That's the largest prize ever offered in the Lotto America game.

People have asked us which option is better when claiming a jackpot prize: annuity or lump-sum. And that answer truly is up to the winner involved – they get to choose. That’s why we always suggest that our winners consult a trusted financial advisor or lawyer to make plans for their winnings before they step forward to claim the prize.

What do the two options look like for this jackpot?

If the Lotto America jackpot winner chooses the annuity option, they’ll receive 30 payments over 29 years. The money on hand from the sale of tickets for the jackpot would be invested, which would generate interest over time. The initial amount of the investment plus the interest earned over all those years would add up to $40.03 million.

The annual annuity payments to the winner would increase over time to accommodate for inflation. The first payment would be a little more than $600,000, while the 30th and final payment would be about $2.48 million. The first annuitized payment would be made when the prize was claimed, and the other payments would be made on the anniversary date of the claim. Withholding would apply to each payment, with a current federal rate of 24 percent and state rate of 5 percent.

If the winner chooses the lump-sum option, they’ll receive a one-time payment of $21.28 million before taxes. Federal withholding of 24 percent ($5.1 million) would automatically apply to that total, along with state withholding of 5 percent ($1.06 million). The Iowa Lottery would make a net payment of $15.1 million to the winner by wire transfer.

Please check your tickets!

As we wait for someone to present the jackpot-winning ticket, we at the Iowa Lottery remind our players to check their tickets for any prize they may have won, not just the jackpot. There are nine prize levels in Lotto America ranging from $2 up to the jackpot. Your ticket may have won at one of the lower levels, even if you didn’t win the grand prize.

We’re getting ready!

We’ve had fun this week prepping for our winner to come see us at lottery headquarters in Clive.

As you can see from the images here, we made a “money brick road” that the winner can follow in our auditorium as they make their way to the stage. Hey, this kind of thing will likely only happen once in a person’s life, and we want the winner's jackpot claim to be a fun and memorable day!

P.S. From the size of the bills involved, you can probably tell that our road is made of fake money, right? But it still makes you smile and that’s the whole point. :)

Not Joking: Iowa Ticket Wins $40 Million Lotto America Jackpot In April 1 Drawing

We’re not kidding, this is not an April Fool’s joke: Someone in Iowa won the Lotto America® jackpot in last night’s drawing.

The jackpot-winning ticket was purchased at Eichman’s, a restaurant and convenience store at 11941 U.S. Highway 52 N. in Dubuque.

The jackpot in last night’s drawing was a record for the Lotto America game: $40.03 million annuity, $21.28 million cash option.

Stacy Eichman is the owner of Eichman’s, which has been in her family since 1931. She says she hears people all the time saying: What are the odds? She says she’s still processing the big news and is waiting for it to truly sink in.

The Lotto America jackpot had been growing since July 2021. Before this latest run, the game’s jackpot record was a $22.82 million prize won in March 2018 by a Minnesota family.

Iowa Lottery CEO Matt Strawn is currently vice chair of the Lotto America game group. He said that as the jackpot continued to climb, the Iowa Lottery emphasized that the odds of winning it in Iowa are the same as anywhere else. And now it’s happened here! He calls it a moment to celebrate for the winner, the retailer, and the lottery.

The jackpot-winning ticket matched all six numbers in last night’s Lotto America drawing, which were: 2-38-43-46-51 and Star Ball® 7.

Eichman’s will receive a $5,000 bonus from the Iowa Lottery for selling the jackpot-winning Lotto America ticket.

Lotto America is known as the smaller cousin of Powerball®. The game costs $1 to play and has drawings on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, just like Powerball. It has the same playstyle as Powerball, with players selecting numbers from two separate pools for a chance to win. But Lotto America’s jackpots start at a smaller level and the game has easier odds of winning.

Lotto America is sold by 13 lotteries, and Powerball is offered by 48.

Jackpot prizes won in Iowa are claimed at Iowa Lottery headquarters in Clive, and appointments are strongly encouraged. To make an appointment or contact the lottery with questions, the winner or winners are welcome to call the lottery at 515-725-7900 or by email at [email protected]

Lottery offices are closed on weekends, so tomorrow is the earliest that the prize can be claimed. As always, the Iowa Lottery encourages its big winners to consult a lawyer or financial planner before stepping forward to claim the prize.

This is the second Lotto America jackpot won in Iowa. A Davenport man won a $4.38 million jackpot in the game in May 2018.

The Lotto America jackpot returns to $2 million annuity, $1.06 million cash option, for the game’s next drawing tomorrow night.

There Are Long Odds, And Then There Are REALLY Long Odds

In games like Powerball® and Mega Millions®, the long odds of winning the jackpot are often in focus. You don’t get the gigantic top prizes involved without long odds.

But right now, another contest is underway involving even longer odds. It’s kind of a badge of honor to be among those getting the picks wrong because it’s nearly impossible to get them all right.

I’m talking about having a perfect bracket in the men’s or women’s college basketball tournaments. According to the statisticians, if you just take a guess at the outcome of the tournament games, you have odds of about 1 in 9.2 quintillion of picking all 63 games correctly.

A quintillion is one billion billions. It looks like this: 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 (1 followed by 18 zeros).

Apparently, if you know something about basketball, you can lower your odds of getting a perfect bracket down to about 1 in 120.2 billion.

By comparison, the odds of winning the jackpot in Powerball are about 1 in 292.2 million. In Mega Millions, the odds of winning the jackpot are about 1 in 302.6 million.

So, whether you’re tracking your bracket or buying a ticket for that next drawing, just remember to have fun with it. The long odds involved definitely give us all something to talk about!

Des Moines Woman 'Overwhelmed' After $1 Million Win

She follows a specific process to get her tickets, and this time, it came through with a $1 million prize.

"Look at me, I'm shaking. I guess it's starting to hit," Marla Ballard told officials on Thursday as she claimed her Mega Millions® prize at lottery headquarters in Clive. “I’m kind of overwhelmed right now.”

Ballard, 60, of Des Moines, matched all five white balls but missed the Mega Ball to win a $1 million prize in Tuesday’s Mega Millions drawing. She's worked out an arrangement with her neighbor, Ron Hubbard: Once the jackpot reaches $100 million, she gives him money to buy her tickets when he buys his own. Hubbard purchased his neighbor's lucky easy-pick ticket at QuikTrip, 3941 SE 14th St. in Des Moines.

Then, a couple days after each drawing, Hubbard writes down the winning numbers and comes over again to show his neighbor. After hearing a $1 million-winning ticket was sold in Des Moines, he wasted little time.

“He was over first thing this morning, too,” Ballard said with a laugh. “I’m like, ‘Who’d be knocking at our door this early in the morning?’”

Tuesday’s winning numbers were: 1-7-23-38-55 and Mega Ball 2. The Megaplier® number was 3. No one matched all six numbers to win the jackpot, so the big prize climbs to an estimated $254 million annuity, $133.7 million lump-sum option for Friday’s drawing.

QuikTrip will receive a $1,000 bonus from the Iowa Lottery for selling the $1 million-winning ticket at one of its stores.

Ballard said that amid the rush of emotions surrounding her win, she hasn’t yet thought about what she’ll do with her winnings.

Another $1 million Mega Millions prize won in Iowa remains unclaimed after more than six months. That winning ticket, purchased at Gateway Expresse (also known as The Filling Station), at 2400 S. University Blvd. in Ames, matched all five white balls but missed the Mega Ball to win at the game’s second prize level in the drawing on Sept. 6, 2022. The winner or winners of the Ames prize have until the close of business on Sept. 6, 2023, to claim it at lottery headquarters in Clive.

$1 Million Mega Millions Prize Won In Des Moines

Someone who bought a Mega Millions® ticket at a Des Moines convenience store won a $1 million prize in last night’s drawing!

It’s the fifth Mega Millions prize of at least $1 million won in Iowa in the past year.

The $1 million ticket was purchased at QuikTrip, 3941 SE 14th St. in Des Moines. It came within one number of winning last night’s $229 million Mega Millions jackpot. It was one of three tickets nationwide to win a $1 million prize. The other two were in California and North Carolina.

The ticket in Des Moines matched the first five numbers but missed the Mega Ball to win a $1 million prize. Last night’s winning numbers were: 1-7-23-38-55 and Mega Ball 2. The Megaplier number was 3.

No one matched all six numbers to win last night’s jackpot, so the big prize climbs to an estimated $254 million annuity, $133.7 million lump-sum option, for the next Mega Millions drawing on Friday.

QuikTrip will receive a $1,000 bonus from the Iowa Lottery for selling the $1 million-winning ticket at one of its stores.

Prizes of $1 million must be claimed at Iowa Lottery headquarters in Clive. The lottery’s offices are open for prize claims from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday. The winner or winners of the Des Moines prize can call the lottery at 515-725-7900 to make an appointment to claim it.

Mega Millions prizes won in Iowa must be claimed within 365 days of the drawing.

Another $1 million Mega Millions prize won in Iowa is still unclaimed after more than six months. That winning ticket, purchased at Gateway Expresse (also known as the Filling Station) at 2400 S. University Blvd. in Ames, matched all five white balls but missed the Mega Balls to win at the game’s second prize level in the drawing on Sept. 6, 2022. The winner or winners of the Ames prize have until the close of business on Sept. 6, 2023, to claim it.

My Ticket Is Damaged … Can It Still Be Cashed?

A player contacted us last night with a question that comes up every once in a while about tickets that have been damaged. Specifically, can a ticket still be checked or cashed if the code on it is damaged? Many times, yes. But there are limits.

The player said the barcode on his scratch ticket that’s normally scanned to check the results had gotten stuck on some tape and torn off. He wondered if the results of the ticket could still be checked.

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-service kiosk or 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 terminal in a 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. Instructions for how to send us the ticket are here on our website.

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 into tiny pieces after mistakenly being put through the wash. Others had been torn, and the player involved had only a small section of the ticket without any identifying numbers on it.

We’ll always do our best to help, but as is the case 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!

Lottery, Country Artist Team Up To Offer Trips To Nashville Concert + Cash Prizes

Iowa Lottery players have a chance to win a trip to an exclusive Nashville concert with country recording star Luke Combs and cash prizes of up to $500,000 in a new scratch game and promotion.

The “Living Lucky with Luke Combs” scratch game hit store shelves today, offering instant prizes ranging from $10 up to $100,000. Tickets in the game feature an image of the country star in concert along with music-themed graphics of CDs and guitar picks.

If you don’t win a cash prize on your ticket, you can enter it into the Living Lucky with Luke Combs promotion that began this morning, offering 10 trips to Nashville for a private Luke Combs concert.

During the concert, a $10,000 winner will be selected from Iowa and each of the other lotteries sending players to Nashville along with one grand-prize winner of $500,000. The grand-prize winner will be announced by Luke Combs during his performance.

To enter the promotion, Iowa Lottery players must join or already be members of the lottery’s free VIP Club. The entry period continues through 9:59 a.m. on June 20. The promotion drawing will be held June 22 to determine the 10 Iowa trip winners who will go to Nashville.

The Nashville trips will take place Feb. 4-7 in 2024. Each trip package is valued at more than $20,000.

Included in each Living Lucky with Luke Combs Nashville Experience prize package will be:

• Round-trip airfare from Des Moines to Nashville.
• Three-night stay at the Sheraton Grand Nashville Downtown Hotel, standard room with daily breakfast included.
• Private concert with Luke Combs at the iconic Ryman Auditorium.
• Chance at private meet-and-greet with Combs and VIP concert seating.
• Private dinner and self-guided tour at the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum.
• Private lunch and entertainment at Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint.
• Private Taste of Nashville dinner at the Skye Lounge on top of the Sheraton Grand Nashville Downtown Hotel.
• $500 spending cash.
• Custom “Living Lucky with Luke Combs” welcome gifts.
• Ground transportation in Nashville from the airport to the hotel and scheduled event activities.
• Required state and federal taxes paid on behalf of the winner.

No Judgment, Just Help: Problem Gambling Awareness Month

This month, we’re highlighting an issue that can affect people at any time, and for which help is always available in Iowa.

March is National Problem Gambling Awareness Month. During the next few weeks, you’ll see reminders about it across the state. At the Iowa Lottery, we hope that by providing the information, we’ll get the right message at the right time to someone who might need 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 Health and Human Services. Remember that problem gamblers can come from any background and from anywhere. And problem gambling is treatable.

If you ever have questions about problem gambling, free and confidential help is available 24/7 in Iowa by visiting yourlifeiowa.org or calling 1-800-BETS OFF. You can reach someone who cares through text, secure chat, email, telephone or in person.

The hashtag you’ll see during the next month is #PGAM2023, with messages from public health officials, treatment experts and lotteries across the country. By working together, we’ll emphasize that through awareness plus action, help can be provided to those who need it.

How You Play Your Ticket Is Up to YOU!

A photo of a recent winner’s ticket really got people talking, and it made us wonder: How do YOU play?

The player involved won a top prize earlier this month in the “$30,000 Crossword” scratch game. In the image of his ticket, you can see that he scratched off only the letters in the winning words on his ticket. He went word by word to see if he had all the letters involved.

Some people commented that they don’t play Crossword tickets that way – they scratch off the individual letters one at a time that they find in the “Your Letters” area and then look to see how many words they’ve completed in the Crossword puzzle. Others said they have their own unique systems: One woman said she scratches off three letters at a time.

Some players wondered if the way the man played the ticket meant that he was more likely to win. The answer to that question is no: The odds of winning are the same for every ticket in our games, and winning tickets are randomly distributed throughout our scratch games.

It’s fun to see the different ways that people play their tickets. It really brings home the concept of you do you! From our perspective, there are no wrong answers.

Giant Jackpots: One Claimed, A Couple Still To Go

Here are answers to the questions we’ve gotten about the giant jackpots around the country in the past few months and whether they’ve been claimed.

Yesterday, the biggest of those jackpots was claimed by a player in California. A man named Edwin Castro claimed the world-record Powerball® jackpot from the drawing on Nov. 7. The annuity amount of the prize was $2.04 billion, but the man chose to receive his winnings in the lump-sum amount of $997.6 million.

Two other giant jackpots are still unclaimed, and I think it’s understandable that the players involved would take time before presenting the ticket. Any of us can envision the decisions you would want to make and the details to think through before claiming a prize of that size.

A Mega Millions® jackpot of $1.348 billion annuity ($723.5 million cash option), the second largest in the history of the game, remains unclaimed after being won on Jan. 13 with a ticket purchased in Maine.

And a Powerball jackpot of $754.6 million annuity, $407.2 million cash option, also is unclaimed after it was won in the game’s Feb. 6 drawing with a ticket in the state of Washington.

Here in Iowa, we’re tracking a $1 million Mega Millions prize that’s still unclaimed after five months. We continue to highlight it, hoping that we can jog the winner's memory in time for the prize to be claimed.

The $1 million-winning ticket was purchased at Gateway Expresse, 2400 University Blvd. in Ames, for the Mega Millions drawing on Sept. 6. The winner or winners have until the close of business on Sept. 6, 2023, to claim the prize at Iowa Lottery headquarters in Clive.

Gateway Expresse received a $1,000 bonus from the Iowa Lottery for selling the $1 million-winning ticket.