ialottery blog

Player Question: What Determines The Top Prizes In Your Scratch Games?

A recent Facebook exchange about the top prizes in our scratch games was a reminder for me to highlight that issue here on the blog and share the details about how the Iowa Lottery determines those grand-prize amounts.

Some of the details are identified as we plan out our games, but a big part also is determined by population.

The planning part comes as we do our best to keep a variety of games in the marketplace to meet player tastes. Our goal is to have different game designs, colors, price points, themes and prize structures, understanding that what works for one person may not interest another at all. Variety counts!

Sometimes that means that games at the same price point will have different top prizes because players have their own preferences in the tickets they choose to play.

Take our current $20 scratch games as an example. The “Aces High” game has a top prize of $250,000, while the “Jewel Game Book” and “Super 20s” games both offer a top prize of $100,000. All three games have very different play styles and themes. And while Jewel Game Book and Super 20s both put emphasis on extended playing time with a greater number of prizes that aren’t quite as high, the $250,000 Riches game more concentration on the top prize.

Through the years, we’ve heard from some folks who want to play for bigger prizes while others prefer a better chance to win a prize at any level. We hope that by having a variety of games out there, you’ll find something that you like.

Population is the other big factor when it comes to determining the prizes that can be offered in a particular game. A lottery in a state with a larger population can design a game with bigger prizes and more of them simply because that state will have so many more people playing. A greater population base means larger sales overall, and that in turn supports higher prizes.

With a population of 3.1 million, Iowa is fairly small compared to states like California (39.5 million) or Florida (21.6 million). But we can still be creative when it comes to game planning!

The Back-and-Forth Jackpot Race Is Still Going!

As 2020 draws to a close, a friendly competition has sprung up between the nation’s big-jackpot games, with Powerball® and Mega Millions® going back and forth for which one has the highest top prize. The games’ jackpots have both been growing for nearly the same length of time – since mid-September – and it’s become a bit of a race to see which big prize will be won first.

Mega Millions has the next drawing, which happens tomorrow night. The game’s jackpot stands at an estimated $330 million annuity, $252.8 million lump-sum option. The jackpot was last won on Sept. 15 with a ticket purchased in Wisconsin, and it hasn’t been this big for six months. It had reached $410 million in the drawing on June 9 when it was won with a ticket in Arizona.

The next Powerball drawing will be Wednesday night. That game’s jackpot stands at an estimated $321 million annuity, $247.1 million lump-sum option. Powerball’s top prize was last won on Sept. 16 with a ticket purchased in New York. And it hasn’t been this big for nearly a year. The jackpot had reached $396.9 million when it was won in the drawing on Jan. 29 with a ticket in Florida.

Like so much else these days, both jackpots have definitely been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The games’ jackpot amounts are driven by sales, and for much of this year, folks in wide swaths of the country haven’t been able to run errands or buy everyday items (including lotto tickets) as they normally might in a non-pandemic time.

That’s tamped down the jackpot amounts in both games. And when the jackpots are lower, sales overall in the games are lower, too. It becomes a bit of a repeating cycle, and that’s been the case for much of this year.

So, it’s interesting that both jackpots are on a roll right now, and they’re really close in amount. We’re calling them dueling jackpots, and it will be fun to see which one will go out first!

There was a close call here in Iowa on Saturday. Someone who bought a ticket in central Iowa was just one number away from winning at least a share of Saturday’s Powerball jackpot. The ticket ended up winning a $50,000 prize by matching four of the first five numbers and the Powerball. That ticket was purchased at Casey’s, 870 NE Alice’s Road in Waukee.

BIG Start To The Week! Prizes Of $276,296 And $300,000 Claimed On Same Day

Maybe Mondays aren’t so bad after all! Our week started out with a definite rush as two players both claimed big prizes within about an hour of each other.

First up was Marissa Besler of Monticello, who claimed one of the top prizes in our “Colossal Crossword” scratch game. Her $300,000 win was quickly followed by Don Burd of Hiawatha, who claimed a jackpot of $276,296 in the “Extreme Green Progressive” InstaPlay game. That’s the biggest prize ever won in an InstaPlay game since the product debuted four years ago in Iowa!

The same theme runs through Marissa and Don’s stories: Disbelief.

Marissa is 34 and an occupational therapist assistant. She said she was shocked when she realized she’d won $300,000 on a lottery ticket she scratched while waiting on a load of laundry. She said she wandered around her house for a while to catch her breath, then downloaded the Iowa Lottery app on her phone so she could scan her ticket, which she bought at Great Pastimes in Monticello. The app verified her win and she said she was in even more disbelief!

Marissa has some real-world plans for her winnings: She said that having no mortgage or a car payment will be a huge weight off her shoulders.

In Don’s case, it was his wife who initially couldn’t believe he’d won a giant InstaPlay prize. Don said he bought a handful of tickets in the Extreme Green Progressive game on Sunday and realized that one of them had won the game’s jackpot, which had climbed to $276,296. He said he called his wife, Shawnee, right away to share the news. He told her he’d hit the game’s jackpot and then said how much it was. He said she really didn’t believe him, but it was definitely real!

Burd, 56, who owns the Otter Creek Country Store in Robins where bought his winning ticket, said he’s still figuring out exactly what he’ll do with his winnings. But he'll definitely continue to help a good cause in his area. Burd donates the fuel needed by his local fire department to help support its critical work.

Congratulations, Marissa and Don! Thanks for helping our week get off to a great start. Woo-hoo, indeed!

Third Time Lucky: Fort Dodge Man Wins Top Prize On Ticket No. 3

Here’s a story of lottery luck that just kept growing: A Fort Dodge man won bigger and bigger amounts on the tickets he was buying in a scratch game, and his last win took a huge jump up.

Harold Hinds said he recently made his usual stop for coffee and a scratch ticket and ended up winning $10. He decided to go back to the store to redeem his prize and buy another ticket. That time around, he won $30. That sent him back to the store again for another ticket, and that time, he won the top prize of $100,000 in the “$100,000 Mega Crossword” game.

Harold, who is 80, won the 15th top prize in the game. There are 10 more top prizes still available in it. He says that he and his wife plan to use his winnings on home repairs and possibly a new car.

We would say that this story is an example of the phrase: If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again, but Harold succeeded every time – just sometimes larger than others! Congratulations, Harold!

Definitely Fireworks Of A Different Kind -- All Predicted By Her Horoscope

I love everything about this story: The fireworks show, the fact that she didn’t play her ticket until afterwards, and the fortune that came true. Especially the fortune!

All those details belong to Susan Legge of Granger, who claimed a $30,000 lottery prize Monday. She won one of the top prizes in the “Amazing Money” scratch game.    

Susan said she bought her winning ticket on the Fourth of July as she was on her way to watch a local fireworks show. She didn’t play the ticket until she got home that night and said she didn’t trust what she was seeing at first. So she handed the ticket to her daughter to double-check it.

Susan said that her daughter scanned the ticket with the Iowa Lottery’s mobile app and it showed that she had indeed won a $30,000 prize. But wanting one more source to verify it, they rushed back to the Casey’s store in Granger where she’d bought her ticket and had it scanned on the lottery terminal there, which also showed that she’d won the game’s top prize.

And here’s where the fortune comes in: Susan said she’d read an online horoscope the day before that predicted something good would come her way, that she should expect a miracle. And then she bought a winning lottery ticket. She said she’s still stunned!

She said she plans to use her winnings for a down payment on a house and to upgrade her camper.

Congratulations, Susan! Now maybe the rest of us will have to take a closer look at our horoscopes, too!

Player Question: Why Are You Ending That Scratch Game?

Here’s a question that came our way about a scratch game that was ending, and why and how we reach the decision to stop distribution of a particular game. The player involved made it clear he wanted to keep buying tickets in the game he was asking about, and he didn’t understand why we would pull it from store shelves.

There are generally a variety of factors involved, ranging from how long a game has been on the market, its current ticket sales level, and whether stores want to replace it with something newer.

We have dozens of scratch games for sale at any one time, but there are only so many bins for tickets in our self-service kiosks and only so many slots for tickets in our dispensers. That means some retail locations simply don’t have enough room for all the games that are out there, and individual locations can decide which games they want to sell.

Most often, we discontinue sales in a particular scratch game when the last top prize in it has been claimed. We don’t want a game on the market if you can’t still have a chance at its top prize!

Sometimes we have specially-themed games that only run for a short period of time, such as our holiday games. Those games come off the market in January each year because it just wouldn’t make sense if we were selling a snow-themed game in July! But the good news is, we work hard to keep the odds of winning the same in our holiday games as they are in the others that are on the market for much longer.

In other instances, if a game has been available for some time and players show us through their purchases that they prefer something else, it also will be removed from the shelves.

People’s reactions to our procedures are sometimes completely at odds with each other. We’ve gotten complaints from players who don’t want us to end a game at the same time we’ve heard from people who want to make sure we definitely do that, especially when the last top prize has been claimed. I suppose that’s an example of the old saying that you can’t please all the people all the time.

We do our best to design policies that err on the side of players as much as possible. So just know that we’ll keep coming up with fun, new games to replace those that are ending!

Iowa Lottery Winner Will Be On HGTV Show Tonight

A central Iowa man who won big on an Iowa Lottery scratch ticket will be on the HGTV show tonight that features winners looking for their dream home.

Jon Moss of Altoona won the top prize of $300,000 playing the “$300,000 Platinum Cash” game. He claimed his prize a little more than a year ago, on Jan. 7, 2019.

Jon said that in the months since then, he and his wife, Victoria, decided to invest his winnings in a new home. And that’s where there’s a connection with HGTV.

The couple will be featured on the network’s show called “My Lottery Dream Home.” In each episode, designer and host David Bromstad helps lottery winners find a house they want to buy.

The episode featuring Jon and Victoria is called “More Space to Grow.” It airs for the first time tonight at 8 p.m. (central time) on HGTV, then again at 11 p.m.

S-M-L-XL: You Don’t Have To Choose

The new scratch games that hit shelves this week here in Iowa include a special series of tickets that may have already caught you eye for how much they look alike. And that’s on purpose.

Through the years, we’ve occasionally released what we call a “Family Of Games,” and the latest are the “9s In A Line” games that just made their debut. There’s 9s In A Line Small, a $1 game; 9s In A Line Medium, a $2 game; 9s In A Line Large, a $5 game; and 9s In A Line XL, a $10 game.

Players have told us that they like the fun of a set of games, and we have fun coming up with concepts and ideas to try.

The top prize available gets larger as you follow the 9s In A Line series up, and so does the playing time on the ticket. For example, the size Small game has just one playing area and offers a top prize of $900, while the size XL game has four playing areas and a top prize of $100,000.

So choose the size you like, or play them all. One size does not have to fit all in this series!

Iowa City Man Claims Prize of $25,000 A Year For Life

An Iowa City man has claimed a prize of $25,000 a year for life he won earlier this week with a lottery ticket he bought at a local convenience store.

Joseph White, 75, is Iowa’s sixth big winner in the Lucky for Life game since its 2016 debut here. He bought an easy pick ticket at the Kum & Go at 1310 S. Gilbert St. in Iowa City that matched the first five numbers but missed the Lucky Ball in Monday night’s drawing to win the game’s second prize of $25,000 a year for life.

Lucky for Life is a $2 game with drawings twice a week, at 9:38 p.m. on Mondays and Thursdays. The game’s top two prize levels are described as “lasting as long as you do,” meaning that they are truly for life. The minimum guaranteed payout for those two prize levels is 20 years, and there is a lump-sum option for those who prefer that rather than lifetime annuity payments. White chose to receive his prize as the lump-sum option.

The winning numbers in Monday’s Lucky for Life drawing were: 1-16-27-39-45 and Lucky Ball 10. Kum & Go will receive a $500 bonus from the lottery for selling White’s ticket at one of its stores.

Lucky for Life Prize:  $25,000 a year for life
Chosen to receive as: $390,000 lump-sum option
Federal withholding:  $93,600
State withholding:  $19,500
Net amount:   $276,900

New Supply Of Tickets Added To Our ‘Silverado’ Game

Our “Silverado” scratch game is officially a summer hit – so much so that we’ve ordered more tickets in it!

The Silverado game went on sale here in Iowa on May 6 and it’s selling quickly. You likely know that the game is tied to our “Summer of Silverado” promotion where we’re giving away trucks and cash prizes in drawings that run through mid-September. But within the game’s first month of sales, five of its top prizes had already been claimed and with its tickets selling so fast, we were afraid the supply wouldn’t last as long as our promotion!

So, we placed a re-order. There now are more Silverado tickets available to purchase and that also means there are more prizes to win! You may have noticed that the total number of top prizes in the game went up this week from the initial eight to the current 11. That’s due to the additional tickets that have been added to the mix. The prizes at the game’s other prize levels (ranging from $5 up to $1,000) also increased, but it’s the top prizes that generally catch the most attention.

Click here to see the list of remaining prizes in Silverado, our other scratch games, and our InstaPlay and pull-tab games.

So, game on! Thanks for playing, and good luck with your lottery tickets.

DEFINITELY Some Beginner’s Luck!

Here’s a story of luck to send us into the weekend: A Cedar Rapids woman has won a $50,000 prize with the first lottery ticket she ever bought.

Ameka Washington said she was out buying groceries when something just told her to stop and buy a lottery ticket. She said she decided to buy a scratch ticket even though she’d never done that before. She took it home and scratched it that night after making dinner for her family. And she quickly realized she’d won a $50,000 prize!

Ameka, 21, said she ran through the house screaming, “I won! I won! I really won!” She said her mom didn’t believe her at first, but the reality eventually sank in.

Ameka is a makeup artist and makes wigs for women undergoing cancer treatments or who have a skin condition that causes them to lose their hair. She said she plans to buy a car for her family and invest in her business.

Ameka won one of the top prizes available in the “$500 Loaded!” scratch game. She bought her winning ticket at the Hy-Vee store at 1556 First Ave. NE in Cedar Rapids.

A $50,000 Valentine From Her Husband

An eastern Iowa woman had quite a story to tell as she claimed a $50,000 lottery prize: The lucky ticket was a Valentine’s Day gift from her husband!

Angelena Madsen of Lisbon claimed her prize yesterday at our Cedar Rapids office. She said that her husband, John, gave her a box of chocolates, a card and a “$500 Loaded!” scratch ticket for Valentine’s Day.

She scratched the ticket and uncovered the matching numbers that she thought meant she had won one of the game’s $50,000 top prizes. Then she gave the ticket to her husband to double-check.

Angelena said she thought her eyes were playing tricks on her, but her husband just said: “Happy Valentine’s Day!”

The Holiday Prize Rush Is ON Here At The Lottery!

I don’t know if it’s something in the water, or if it’s because people have been saving up their tickets for awhile, but whatever the reason, winners have kept us BUSY at the Iowa Lottery in the past couple days.

On Monday, Iowa Lottery players claimed 19 prizes of $900 or more, including the largest prize claimed that day, a $100,000 top prize in the “Star” scratch game.

Our offices were closed yesterday for the Christmas holiday, but we’ve been off to the races again today! Lottery players in Iowa claimed a total of 28 prizes today of $800 or more. The largest prize claimed today was one of the top prizes of $300,000 in the “Colossal Crossword” scratch game.

And in addition to the prizes that have already been claimed, a “JACKPOT PARTY® Progressive” InstaPlay jackpot also was won this afternoon in Coralville. The winner of that $11,508 prize, won with a ticket purchased at Keystone Liquor & Wine, 517 Second St. in Coralville, has not yet come forward to claim it.

JACKPOT PARTY® and © 2018 Bally Gaming, Inc. All rights reserved.

Iowa City Man Wins Grand Prize In ‘Tiny Home, Big Wins’ Promotion

Jim Rogers of Iowa City had a PRICELESS reaction when we called this morning to let him know he’s the grand-prize winner in the “Tiny Home, Big Wins!” promotion. Check out the video above to see what Jim had to say about the good news. :)

And, demonstrating that he’s a savvy guy, Jim then called us back to double-check that we really do work at the Iowa Lottery and he really had won a big prize. And it’s true!  

Jim’s winning entry beat the odds to claim the grand prize out of nearly 116,000 total entries that players made in the promotion. As the grand-prize winner, Jim will get a $60,000 gift certificate from Wind River Tiny Homes in Chattanooga, Tenn., for a custom-built tiny home, along with two Home Depot gift cards of $500. (State and federal withholding taxes for the grand-prize package also will be paid.)

In addition to Jim’s grand prize, other Iowa Lottery players won 120 Home Depot® gift cards of $500 each in the promotion’s earlier drawings this year. CONGRATS to all our winners, and thank you for being part of the fun!

Iowa Lottery is not affiliated with The Home Depot®. The Home Depot is not a sponsor of this promotion. The Home Depot is a registered trademark of Home Depot Product Authority, LLC.
© 2018 Wind River Tiny Homes.

Longtime Friends Split $250,000 Prize

Here’s a story that just brings a smile to my face.

Two longtime friends from southern Iowa have played the lottery together for years, and now they’ve split a $250,000 prize!

Barbara Edmondson and Shirley Andrews of Allerton claimed the 18th and final top prize in our “$250,000 Riches” scratch game. They bought their winning ticket at Soukup First Stop, 400 N. Central Ave. in Allerton.

Shirley, who is 77, admits she’s been giving static to the lottery that it doesn’t ever have any big winners in Allerton – and she thinks she may have to eat her words now!

The two friends said they redeemed a winning ticket at their local store and decided to use their prize money to buy a ticket in $250,000 Riches. They said they were just stunned when they scratched the ticket uncovered the game’s stop prize.

Barbara, who is 82, said her mind went “completely blank” in disbelief. She said she even had trouble dialing her telephone after that!

Shirley says she’s not sure what she’ll do with her share of the winnings, but Barbara has plans for a new set of wheels. She says her current car has 230,000 miles on it, and she deserves a new one.

I love their story, I love their moxie, and I love their friendship. What a heartwarming moment.

Two Big Winners This Week At Same Eastern Iowa Store

 Friday (Aug. 17) Update: The $50,000 prize now also has been claimed! Details below.  

The eastern Iowa community of DeWitt, population 5,322, is seeing a lottery winning streak this week! More specifically, it’s all happening at one store there.

On Tuesday, a Clinton County woman claimed a $30,000 prize she won on a scratch ticket she bought at the Kwik Star convenience store, 1420 11th St. in DeWitt. Sandra Sparlin of Wheatland won one of the top prizes in the “Bonus Crossword” scratch game.

Then Wednesday night, someone who bought a Powerball ticket at that same Kwik Star store won a $50,000 prize! The ticket matched four of the first five numbers and the Powerball.

On Friday, Heather Sloan of Maquoketa claimed that $50,000 prize. She works in DeWitt and said that after she bought a Powerball ticket on Tuesday, she forgot about it for a couple days until she noticed it in her wallet again Thursday night. Heather said that when she got online to check the numbers, she realized she’d won $50,000 and admits she started freaking out – in a good way.

Heather said that she and her husband have both had some car trouble recently, so they’re planning to use the winnings to buy newer vehicles, then tuck the rest away into savings.    

Heather said she’s a huge HGTV fan and likes to watch a show on that network called “My Lottery Dream Home” where lottery winners use their prize money to buy their dream home. She said that her prize may not get her on that show, but her lottery win is still amazing and kind of unreal.   

The winning numbers in Wednesday’s Powerball drawing were: 12-15-28-47-48 and Powerball 16. The Power Play number was 2. Heather’s winning ticket was an easy-pick.

 

 

Norwalk Man Wins Huge InstaPlay Progressive Jackpot

A central Iowa man has won the biggest jackpot offered to date in an InstaPlay game!
 
Nick Keeling of Norwalk claimed his prize of $173,725 this morning at Iowa Lottery headquarters in Clive.

Keeling, 30, a plumber, said he was on his way to work Saturday when he stopped at the Indy 66, 2001 W. Second Ave. in Indianola, and bought a ticket in the JACKPOT PARTY® Progressive InstaPlay game. He won $20 on it, so he decided to buy another ticket – and won the jackpot. 

JACKPOT PARTY is a $10 InstaPlay game with a top prize that starts at $10,000 and grows with each ticket sold across the state until it’s won. The jackpot had been growing for nearly two months before Keeling won his big prize on Saturday.

Prior to Keeling’s win, the biggest InstaPlay prize had been a jackpot of $50,197.25 that was won Jan. 2 in the Jumbo Bucks Progressive game by Donna Smith of Tama.

JACKPOT PARTY® and © 2018 Bally Gaming, Inc. All rights reserved.

Iowa Man Wins $300,000 Prize With 4th Ticket He Bought In Game

He won some small prizes on the first three tickets he bought in the game, but it was the fourth one that was a doozy! It brought Cody Heaberlin of Cedar Rapids one of the $300,000 top prizes in the “Colossal Crossword” scratch game.

Heaberlin said he at first thought he’d won a $10,000 prize, but when he had his ticket checked at a local gas station, the clerk told him that he’d won a lot more than that. He said he thought she was messing with him at first! Heaberlin claimed the second of eight top prizes available in the game.

He said that he and his wife just recently bought a home, so a big chunk of the winnings will go toward paying the house off right away.

Tell Me About The Taxes On The ‘For Life’ Prizes In Lucky for Life

A woman named Kris recently sent us a question on Facebook asking about how the taxes work in the Lucky for Life game for its top two prizes: $1,000 a day for life and $25,000 a year for life.

You likely already know that Lucky for Life is a $2 lotto game with drawings twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays. The game’s top two prize levels are described as “lasting as long as you do,” meaning that they are truly for life. The minimum guaranteed payout for those two prize levels is 20 years, and there is a lump-sum option for players who want that rather than lifetime annuity payments.

If you were to win at either of the game’s top two prize levels here in Iowa and you chose to receive your prize in annuity payments for life, you would receive your winnings in annual payments. Federal and state withholding would apply to each payment. (The current federal withholding rate is 24 percent, while the state withholding rate is 5 percent.)

So, for the game’s top prize of $1,000 a day for life, you would receive an annual payment after withholding of $259,150. And for the game’s second prize of $25,000 a year for life, you would receive an annual payment of $17,750 per year after withholding.

Four Iowa Lottery players so far have won the game’s prize of $25,000 a year for life. We’re still waiting for our first top-prize winner in Lucky for Life!   

And don’t forget: There are eight other ways to win in Lucky for Life, so be sure to check your ticket after each drawing.

A Month After His Bday, 21-Year-Old Claims $50K Lottery Prize

An eastern Iowa man is celebrating being 21 – and a lottery winner!

Billie Griffin of Fairfield turned 21 earlier this year. And yesterday, he claimed one of the $50,000 top prizes in the “Super Crossword” scratch game. Billie bought his winning ticket at the Circle B, 111 Main St. in Keosauqua.

Not a bad way to celebrate, that’s for sure! (And on a side note, Billie is an example of why I’m a terrible judge of a person's age.)

:)

Congrats, Billie! Enjoy your lottery win.

Hot Lotto Jackpot Money Will Roll Forward Into Lotto America Game

A couple weeks ago, I wrote about what would happen to the money in the Hot Lotto jackpot pool if the grand prize was not won by the time the game ended. And as it has turned out, the Hot Lotto jackpot indeed was not won before or during the game’s final drawing on Saturday.

The big prize that night was $12.16 million and no one won the jackpot by matching all six of the winning numbers in the final Hot Lotto drawing. So the money in the jackpot pool will roll forward into the Lotto America game that begins sales in less than two weeks on Sunday, Nov. 12.

The jackpot in Lotto America normally will start at $2 million and grow until someone wins it. But with the Hot Lotto jackpot money carrying forward, the jackpot in the first Lotto America drawing on Wednesday, Nov. 15, will be $15 million annuity. (The cash value of that first jackpot will be set just before the drawing occurs. Fluctuating interest rates prevent the lump-sum value from being set very far in advance.)

The situation involving the Hot Lotto jackpot and what would happen to the money has brought up a lot of discussion, and we’ve been glad to be part of it. We know that not everyone will be happy with the decision to roll the money from the jackpot pool into the new game. But the majority of folks seem to like that idea more than some others that were discussed, such as returning the money from the Hot Lotto jackpot to the states in the game, and allowing each state to then follow its rules and procedures for what would happen to the money.

With the extensive programming that it takes for lottery systems to offer a new product, the Lotto America game will move ahead as I have described here. The jackpot in that game will follow the traditional annuity or lump-sum model, and jackpot winners will be able to choose which option they want to take. We’re glad that players will have the chance to continue to play for the money in the Hot Lotto jackpot pool.

Below is an image showing the prizes that will be available in the Lotto America game and the odds of winning. Please note that the odds of winning the jackpot in Lotto America (1 in 25.9 million) will be better than those in Hot Lotto, where the odds of winning the top prize were 1 in 29.14 million.

Player Mail: What’s That Number Mean After The Name Of The Game?

It’s funny how things can sometimes come in waves, like the questions we’ve gotten this week about a certain set of numbers on our website. The numbers have been on the site for years and we haven’t changed their format, but for some reason, people noticed them this week and wondered what they mean.

I’m referring to the Remaining Prizes page on our website where we list prizes of $100 or more that are still up for grabs in our scratch, pull-tab and InstaPlay games. On that page, you can see the number of larger prizes that have been won and those that remain unclaimed. (The list is updated once daily, Monday through Friday.)

We list games alphabetically on that page but also include other details, such as the price per ticket and the game number. And it’s that number that apparently has people talking.

Our games have names like “$250,000 Riches” or “Black Ice,” but to keep track of them in our databases, each game also is assigned a number. So, $250,000 Riches is game No. 925 and Black Ice is game No. 302. It’s simply an identifying number for that particular game. It doesn’t signify anything else.

We list the game numbers on that page because we often have games with similar names, like these currently on the market: Cash In, Cash Lift and Cash Line. The game numbers help differentiate the details involved and help players easily find the information they’re seeking.

I’ve asked our Web Team to add an additional header on the page so it will be clear that they’re simply identifying game numbers, but in the meantime, this blog entry can answer the question!

Powerball Jackpot Pushes Higher, Now Second-Largest Prize Ever Offered In North America

Initial estimates for Wednesday’s Powerball jackpot were raised Tuesday, with the giant prize climbing to an estimated at $700 million annuity, $443.3 million lump-sum option. That is the second-largest prize in the history of the game and also ranks No. 2 on the list of the largest lottery prizes ever offered in North America. With strong sales in Iowa and across the country, it’s possible that the final jackpot amount could be even higher by the time of the drawing.

GROUP PLAY REMINDERS

When the jackpot gets up there like it is now, office pools really kick into gear as people have fun buying tickets together. In fact, the winners of the largest Powerball prize claimed in Iowa were members of an office pool. The Iowa Lottery offers these reminders on its website to keep your group play hassle free:

• Know the rules for your group and put them in writing. Some issues you may want to cover include: If a regular playing member is not present on lottery collection day, will they be included or excluded? What if a regular player has someone else put in money towards their share, do both players receive an equal split? Can players come in and out of the group? When the rules are in writing, there is no question about how to split the funds.
• Keep a list of everyone who puts in money for a particular drawing and how much they contribute. Allow contributions only from those who are at least 21 years old, the legal minimum age to purchase lottery tickets in Iowa.
• Provide everyone in your pool with photos or copies of the group's tickets before the drawing. This should include the identifying numbers on the back of the tickets. (Remember that photocopies can't be used to claim a prize – only the actual ticket can be used.) You may also want to tell people the name and address of the retail location where the tickets were purchased and the approximate time of the purchase.
• If the person buying the tickets for your pool also wants to buy tickets on their own, the two purchases should be kept separate. Consider buying the two sets of tickets at different locations so it is clear which tickets are for the group and which are for that individual.
• If you win a jackpot as part of a group, remember the entire group has to choose the annuity or lump-sum option. Some members can’t choose one option while others take the other. It’s an either/or situation.  

SHOULD THE JACKPOT AUTOMATICALLY BE SPLIT? 

When the jackpot really climbs, the Iowa Lottery does hear from folks who say that the big prize should automatically be split up amongst more people. They argue that the current amount is just too much for one person. 

But Powerball sales don’t reflect that perspective. The higher the jackpot goes, the higher sales go. And the higher sales go, the higher the jackpot climbs. It appears that people are voting with their pocketbooks on this issue...

SATURDAY’S $50,000 WINNER  

A ticket purchased in Iowa came within one number of having at least a share of Saturday’s jackpot. That ticket matched four of the first five numbers and the Powerball to win a $50,000 prize. A Hiawatha woman claimed that prize Monday. Deborah Barron, 68, bought her winning ticket at Hy-Vee, 5050 Edgewood Road in Cedar Rapids.

A total of 49,710 plays purchased by Iowa Lottery players won prizes ranging from $4 up to $50,000 in Saturday’s drawing.

PLEASE PLAY RESPONSIBLY

With the jackpot continuing its big run, the Iowa Lottery continues to urge the public to play responsibly. “You’ve seen us say this many times, and we really mean it,” said Iowa Lottery CEO Terry Rich. “It only takes one ticket to win. Have fun playing Powerball, but play within your means and don’t get in over your head. The fun of our games is that you can do a lot of dreaming for just a few dollars.”  

IOWA JACKPOT WINNERS

Iowa Lottery players have won eight Powerball jackpots. The biggest Powerball prize won to date in Iowa was a $241 million jackpot claimed in June 2012 by The Shipping 20, a group of co-workers from the Quaker Oats plant in Cedar Rapids.

Who Won Those Big InstaPlay Jackpots?

Last Friday we told you about some big jackpots up for grabs in our three InstaPlay Progressive games. Here’s an update for those of you wondering what happened to those prizes.

The jackpots in both the Cherry Twist Progressive and the Jumbo Bucks Progressive InstaPlay games were won this week. But as of 2 p.m. today, the big prize in the Loose Change Progressive game was still climbing. UPDATE: A $4,807.84-winning ticket in Loose Change Progressive was sold Friday afternoon at Yesway, 418 S. Federal Ave. in Mason City. Congratulations to the lucky winner!

Earlier today, Brad Yost of Hamburg claimed a $43,224.60 jackpot prize in Jumbo Bucks Progressive. He bought his winning ticket Thursday night at his local Casey’s. Yost, 57, said that he stopped at Casey’s for a pizza and breadsticks and decided to buy a lottery ticket, too. His decision ended up being in his favor as he claimed the biggest progressive jackpot prize to date in our InstaPlay games.

The top prize in the Cherry Twist Progressive game was claimed Tuesday by Larry Shepherd of Fremont. He won a jackpot prize of $17,572.85 on a ticket he bought at his local Casey’s.

Remember, you can see the latest jackpot information in our InstaPlay Progressive games on the homepage of our website, as well as on each game’s webpage. We also list the date and city where the last jackpot prize was won in each of these games.

Player Mail: What Are The Aces & Face Cards Worth In 'Queen & King of Cash'?

Our new “Queen & King Of Cash” scratch game has been popular since its release last month, and we’ve gotten a couple questions from players about the value that the game gives to face cards and aces.

The $5 scratch game, with its eye-catching graphics and bold colors, really captures concept of a wealthy monarchy. And its poker theme in the play area gives you multiple chances to win on each ticket and “become” the king or queen of cash!

But with pre-printed lottery tickets, the value of aces and face cards can’t change like they do in an actual game of poker. So, aces in the scratch game are worth 11 points each, while kings, queens and jacks are worth 10 points each.

There’s a code printed in the upper right of each ticket in the game that explains the values for those cards. (We’ve circled it in the picture.) The code is outside the area covered by the ticket’s security coating, so the explanation is always visible, before or after you’ve scratched the ticket.

Player Mail: Are Those The Only Prizes In The 'Loaded' Scratch Game?

We’re getting the same question from different players about a new scratch game that just hit the market here in Iowa: Are those the only prizes in it?

The “Loaded” game began sales Jan. 4 here, and as its name indicates, it’s loaded with thousands of prizes. But there are only two kinds: $50 and $100. That makes Loaded different from most of our other scratch games. Normally there are several prize levels in those games, but in Loaded there are just two.

It’s the second time we’ve offered a game with that concept. The first was a scratch game called “Limited” that hit the market a year ago, back in January 2016. It sold well, so now we’ve got a new version.

It’s easy to tell if you’ve won in the Loaded game: Reveal a $50 symbol and you’ll win that amount. Reveal a $100 symbol and that will be your prize. You can only win one time per ticket. So if you find a $50 symbol, there won’t be a second winning symbol on the same ticket.

However, Loaded doesn’t offer big top prize of $10,000 or more like some of our other games do. We’ve heard from players who love Loaded and others who … aren’t as enthusiastic about it. But that’s why we have lots of different games for sale at any one time so you have choices and different options available.

Whichever side you’re on, thanks for trying our new game and sharing your feedback with us.

Player Mail: What Determines The Top Prizes In Your Scratch Games?

Here’s a great question from a man on Facebook. Bryce asked us: “How come other states offer much larger prizes on their scratch tickets?”

It’s a two-part answer. A portion of it is what we do in the planning of our games. But a big part also is simply determined by population.

The planning part comes as we do our best to keep a variety of games in the marketplace to meet player tastes. We do our best to have out there different game designs, colors, price points, themes and prize structures, understanding that what works for one person may not interest another at all. Variety is the spice of life!

That means that games at the same price point may offer drastically different top prizes because different players look for different things in the tickets they choose to play. Take our current $20 scratch games as an example. “The BIG Ticket” and “Little Black Game Book” both offer a top prize of $100,000 while the “$250,000 Riches” game has a top prize of $250,000. The first two offer extended playing time, with several different spots to play on one ticket. Those games also have more smaller prizes in them, so the top prize involved is not quite as high. The $250,000 Riches game, on the other hand, puts more concentration on the top prize.

That’s because some people want to play for bigger prizes while others prefer a better chance to win a prize at any level. We hope that by having a variety of games out there, you’ll find something that you like.

Population is the other big factor when it comes to determining the prizes that can be offered in a particular game. A lottery in a state with a larger population is going to be able to design a game with bigger prizes – and more of them – simply because that state will have so many more people playing it. A greater population base means larger sales overall, which in turn supports higher prizes.

With a population of 3.1 million, Iowa’s is fairly small compared to states like California (38.8 million) or Florida (19.9 million). But when it comes to being inventive and coming up with new game ideas, we think we’re small but mighty!

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

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

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

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

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

Lucky for Life is a $2 game with drawings twice a week, at 9:38 p.m. on Mondays and Thursdays. Players choose five numbers from a pool of 48 for the white balls and 1 out of 18 numbers for the Lucky Ball. You can win the game’s top prize of $1,000 a day for life by matching all six winning numbers selected in one of it drawings. The game’s second prize – for matching the first five numbers but missing the Lucky Ball – is $25,000 a year for life. Other prize levels in the game range from $4 up to $5,000.

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

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

Tons Of Winner News Today!

We have so much winner news to talk about today! Over the holiday weekend, someone who bought a ticket in Ankeny won the $100,000 top prize in All or Nothing™. But the expiration date is coming up for two Powerball® prizes in Council Bluffs and Waukon.  

The top prize in All or Nothing was won in Sunday’s evening drawing with a ticket that didn’t match any of the numbers that night. The lucky ticket was purchased at Mills Fleet Farm, 4275 S.E. Delaware Ave. in Ankeny.

The winning numbers in that night’s drawing were: 1-3-6-7-9-10-11-12-17-18-21-24. The lucky winner or winners can claim the prize at one of the Iowa Lottery’s offices – either at its headquarters in Clive or one of its regional offices in Cedar Rapids, Council Bluffs, Mason City or Storm Lake.

The two Powerball prizes that are nearing expiration are for $10,000 and $20,000. They’ll expire next month if they’re not claimed in time.

The $10,000 prize was won in Council Bluffs in the Powerball drawing on June 18, 2014, with a ticket purchased at Casey’s, 1030 Veterans Memorial Highway. It came close to winning that night’s $50 million jackpot, matching four of the first five numbers and the Powerball to win a $10,000 prize. The winning numbers were: 6-9-29-52-59 and Powerball 7. The Power Play® number was 3.

The winner or winners of that prize have until the close of business at 4 p.m. on June 18 to claim the prize at a lottery office.

The $20,000 prize was won in Waukon in the Powerball drawing on June 28, 2014, with a ticket purchased at Quillin’s Food Ranch, 9 Ninth St. S.W. That ticket also matched four of the first five numbers and the Powerball. But whoever bought the ticket also added the Power Play, which multiplied the prize to $20,000. The winning numbers in that night’s $80 million jackpot drawing were: 8-12-34-43-56 and Powerball 9. The Power Play was 2.     The winner or winners of that prize have until the close of business at 4 p.m. on June 29 to claim the prize at a lottery office.

In our last fiscal year, nearly $1.4 million in prizes expired without being claimed in Iowa lotto games. The money from unclaimed prizes in Iowa goes into our prize pools for future games and promotions, so it will be used to pay prizes, just not those prizes that have expired

Hey, Why Did the Number Of Prizes Change?

We have good news for fans of our “$250,000 Club” scratch game, and apparently, that’s a lot of you! The game has been so popular that we decided to print another round of tickets in it. The $250,000 Club has been one of our top sellers at the $20 price point since its release in June of last year.

You’ll see a blue round of $250,000 Club tickets in retail locations once the current black version of the tickets runs out, which we anticipate will happen sometime this summer. The additional tickets in the game mean that the number of remaining prizes in it have increased. The previous list wasn’t incorrect, it’s just that the numbers have changed now that the new round of tickets has been printed.

When we plan out our games, we make our best sales estimates for them. But sometimes a game beats expectations, and that’s definitely been the case with the $250,000 Club. Knowing that players like it, we decided to extend its shelf life by ordering more tickets in it.

Have fun playing the $250,000 Club, and we hope you like the blue version of it you’ll see in stores later this year!