ialottery blog

Conversation Starter: What Do Those Frequency Charts Mean?

Something we keep on our website for fun has sparked a lot of conversations over time, and while some folks swear they can use it to make predictions, it really and truly is just for fun. There’s no future-telling involved.

 

On our website, we have frequency charts that show the number of times a particular number has been selected in the drawings for our lotto games.

 

Do you like the number 8? It’s been selected 211 times as a white ball and 67 times as the Powerball since 1997. Are you partial to the number 39? It’s come up 84 times as a white ball and 11 times as the Mega Ball since 2010.

 

What’s all that indicate? Nothing, really. It’s just fun to track the drawing results. Lottery games and their drawings are based solely on random outcomes. There truly is no way to predict which numbers will be selected next in our games.

 

There’s only one “formula” that works when it comes to your chance of winning a lottery prize: You have to buy a ticket to have a chance to win!

 

So why is there such a variation in the number of times that certain numbers have been selected in lottery drawings? Part of it is just random statistics -- you really can’t predict which numbers will be drawn next. But a big part also is how long some of the numbers have been a part of the games.

 

Powerball and Mega Millions have both been redesigned several times through the years, with the numbers available to be played in them changing as the games have been updated.  Changes like that have a big impact on the number of times some numbers have been selected – or were even eligible to be selected in the drawings.

 

So, if you like the frequency charts in our lotto games, go right ahead and have fun with them. Click here for the frequency chart in Powerball, here for the chart in Mega Millions, here for the Lotto America chart, and here for the Lucky for Life chart.

 

You never know when your favorite number might move up on the list!

Did You Notice? Something Unusual Happened In Powerball

Something pretty unusual has happened twice now in Powerball in just the past two weeks. Did you catch it?

Last night’s $80 million jackpot was won with a ticket in New York, but that’s not what I’m talking about. The unusual thing has to do with the Power Play feature in the game.

The 10X was selected as the Power Play multiplier in last night’s drawing and in the drawing a week earlier, on Aug. 28.

Overall, the 10X has been selected as the Power Play number just four times: once in 2017, once in 2018, and now twice so far in 2019.

When you add the Power Play option to your Powerball ticket, it will multiply any prize you win (except the Match 5 prize and the jackpot) by the number selected as the Power Play multiplier in that night’s drawing. A Powerball ticket costs $2 per play, and you can add the Power Play option for an extra $1 per play. 

When the Powerball drawing occurs, the first five numbers and the Powerball are selected by the iconic ball-drawing equipment we’ve all seen through the years, and there is a separate drawing to determine the Power Play number.   

In last night’s drawing, the Power Play number was 10, so the lucky folks who added the Power Play option to their tickets won 10 times the regular amount of their prize!

Here in Iowa, a total of 1,612 plays won prizes last night that were multiplied by 10X. The biggest of them was at the Match 4 level, meaning that the ticket involved matched four of the first five numbers and missed the Powerball. That ticket initially won a $100 prize, but with the Power Play option added, it won $1,000!

It’s relatively unusual for 10X to be selected as the Power Play multiplier because it’s not always available. When the jackpot for the next Powerball drawing is an estimated $150 million or less, a 10X is added to the pool of numbers that can be selected as the Power Play. When the jackpot in the game is more than $150 million, the 10X feature isn’t available, so the multipliers in the pool are 2X-5X.

With the 10X included, there are 43 numbers in the Power Play pool. Of those numbers, 24 are 2s, 13 are 3s, three are 4s, two are 5s, and one is a 10. Here’s what that looks like in table form:

43 Numbers In Power Play Pool
2X = 24
3X = 13
4X = 3
5X = 2
10X = 1

(When the 10X isn’t included, there are 42 numbers in the Power Play pool, and the breakdown of the rest remains the same.)

So, does it stand to reason that the Power Play number will be 2 more often? Yes. But the other multipliers also have a shot. And sometimes the 10X will come up!

Settlement Reached In Lawsuit Stemming From Long-Running Jackpot Investigation Case

A settlement has been reached in a class-action lawsuit stemming from the long-running lottery jackpot investigation that ended with three men being sentenced after admitting that they cooperated to commit lottery fraud.

The Iowa Lottery was not a party to the lawsuit, but we view this as a moment to look back and take pride in our work along with that of other Iowa officials who led the investigation. That effort ultimately led us all to this point where there can be a settlement for affected players.

The $4.3 million settlement in the case of Culler et al vs. the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) will provide refunds to those with nonwinning lottery tickets linked to the lottery fraud case that centered on Eddie Tipton, an Iowa man who worked for years in information-security at MUSL.

The settlement will allow refunds for the cost of tickets purchased in some lottery drawings between November 2005 and May 2013 in certain games sold around the country.

It’s our understanding that once the settlement reached by MUSL is approved by the court, a settlement website will be set up. That is the place where players who made purchases for the lottery drawings involved will be able to submit claims online or access claim forms that they can print out and submit by mail. We don’t have information yet about the settlement website, but we’ll share it when the details are provided to us.

Attorneys in the case say there will a mechanism for players who no longer have their tickets to file a claim.

The jackpot investigation case began with a lottery ticket purchased in December 2010 in Des Moines and culminated in 2017 with guilty pleas from three men who admitted they illegally claimed prizes by rigging lottery drawings in five states. Eddie Tipton, the man at the center of the investigation, worked at MUSL, an organization within the lottery industry, and installed malicious computer code that allowed him to predict winning numbers in some lottery drawings.

Tipton ultimately pleaded guilty to three felony charges in Iowa and Wisconsin and was sentenced in August 2017 to up to 25 years in prison. He had conspired with friends and family to claim lottery prizes in Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma and Wisconsin. He also tried to claim a lottery jackpot in Iowa, but it was not paid after the Iowa Lottery’s security questions went unanswered. 

Tipton’s younger brother, Tommy Tipton, also pleaded guilty in the case, as did Tipton’s long-time friend, Robert Rhodes.

Burlington resident Dale Culler is among at least three people who filed lawsuits naming MUSL in connection with the rigged games. A Polk County District Court judge granted Culler's request to seek damages on behalf of other lottery players in a class-action suit.

Just 1 Month Is Left For Unclaimed $1 Million Prize In Central Iowa

It’s crunch time now.

There’s just a month to go for a $1 million Powerball® prize won in central Iowa, so we’re issuing another reminder for players to double-check their tickets. We held a news conference today in Nevada at the store where the $1 million-winning ticket was sold in the hopes that we can jog someone’s memory that they may have the winning ticket.  

The $1 million prize was won in the Powerball drawing on April 11, 2018, with a ticket purchased at Casey’s, 1800 S. B Ave. in Nevada. It came close to winning that night’s $89.7 million jackpot, matching the first five numbers but missing the Powerball. The winning numbers that night were: 16-18-27-55-67 and Powerball 18. The Power Play® number was 3.
 
The winner or winners have until the close of business at 4 p.m. on April 11, 2019, to claim the $1 million prize at lottery headquarters in Clive.

Casey’s received a $1,000 bonus from the lottery for selling the $1 million prize at one of its stores.

One other ticket that won a prize of at least $50,000 is unclaimed in Iowa and will expire within the next six months if the winner(s) don’t come forward in time to claim it. Here are details about that ticket:

Game           Prize Drawing                      Amount Won            Retailer                            Expiration
Powerball     Sept. 1, 2018                        $50,000                      Fareway, Pleasant Hill     Sept. 2, 2019 

If you think you’ve won an Iowa Lottery prize and have questions before coming forward to claim it, please reach out to us at the lottery at 515-725-7900 or wmaster@ialottery.com.
  
In fiscal year 2018, more than $1.4 million in lottery prizes went unclaimed in Iowa. The money from unclaimed prizes in our state goes into the lottery’s prize pools for future games and promotions, so it will be used to pay prizes, just not those prizes that have expired.

 

Burlington Ticket Wins $2 Million Prize

Someone who bought a Powerball® ticket at a Burlington supermarket won a $2 million prize in last night’s drawing. It’s Iowa’s second big lottery winner in a month.
 
The $2 million-winning ticket was purchased at Hy-Vee, 3140 Agency St. in Burlington. The lucky ticket came within one number of having at least a share of last night’s $223.6 million jackpot.

The ticket initially matched the first five numbers but missed the Powerball to win a $1 million prize. But whoever bought the ticket also added the Power Play® option to the purchase, which multiplied the prize to $2 million. The Burlington ticket was the only one in the country to win a $2 million prize in last night’s drawing.
 
Last night’s winning numbers were: 1-2-3-7-39 and Powerball 25. No one matched all six numbers to win the jackpot, so the big prize climbs to an estimated $242 million annuity ($148.1 million lump-sum option) for Wednesday.

Hy-Vee will receive a $2,000 bonus from the Iowa Lottery for selling the $2 million-winning ticket at one of its stores.

Prizes of $2 million have to be claimed at Iowa Lottery headquarters in Clive. The lottery’s offices are closed on the weekend, so tomorrow is the first day that the prize can claimed. If you think you have the winning ticket and have questions, please feel free to contact us at the lottery at 515-725-7900 or Wmaster@ialottery.com.

Earlier this month, a Quad-Cities man claimed a $1 million Mega Millions® prize with a ticket he bought at a central-Iowa convenience store for that game’s Jan. 15 drawing. Danny Lovett, a trucker driver from East Moline, Ill., claimed his $1 million prize on Feb. 4.
 
And, another big Powerball prize in central Iowa is still unclaimed 10 months after it was won. That $1 million prize was won with a ticket purchased in Nevada for the Powerball drawing on April 11, 2018. Powerball prizes in Iowa have to be claimed within 365 days of the drawing, so the Nevada prize will expire in about two months – at 4 p.m. on April 11 – if it’s not claimed before then.

Pick 3 & Pick 4: Not A Series Of Numbers?

A player who reached out to us with questions about our Pick 3 and Pick 4 games had an important detail about them wrong, and we wondered if other people have thought the same thing. It’s not a series of numbers that's selected in those games’ drawings, but rather, individual numbers that are chosen by separate ball-drawing machines.

The player had wondered why it’s possible that the same number can be selected more than once in a drawing, or why the same combination of numbers can be selected in multiple drawings. The short answer is that’s exactly how those games are designed to work. There would be something wrong in the games if numbers couldn’t be selected more than once.

In Pick 3 and Pick 4, separate sets of drawing balls numbered 0-9 are loaded into multiple drawing machines so that each machine contains identical sets of numbers. Each machine then selects a number, and the result from each of those separate drawings has no impact on the others. The odds are the same for any number being selected. That’s how a winning combination like 2-2-2 or 1-1-1-1 can be and have been selected. That’s also how the same combination of winning numbers can be selected in more than one drawing.

That’s different than some other lottery games where the drawing balls are all loaded into one machine that selects all of the winning numbers.

It’s a twist that I think makes Pick 3 and Pick 4 so unique and interesting to play!

Quad Cities Man Claims $1 Million Mega Millions Prize

It turns out that a Quad-Cities man made the right decision when he decided to buy another ticket for that giant Mega Millions drawing a couple weeks ago when he already had one.

Bob Hollenback of Milan, Ill., said something just told him to go ahead and get another. And that second ticket ended up winning a $1 million prize! His ticket was just one number away from winning a share of the $1.54 billion jackpot in the Oct. 23 Mega Millions drawing, matching the first five numbers that night but missing the Mega Ball. 

Bob claimed the second giant lottery prize this week in Iowa, just a few days after a central-Iowa woman claimed a Powerball jackpot.     

Bob bought his $1 million-winning ticket at Hy-Vee Gas, 3850 Elmore Ave. in Davenport, but said he didn’t check it until a few days later at home. The retired computer analyst and farmer said he remembers numbers well, so he realized he’d hit it big as soon as he saw the results for the drawing.

Years ago, he won a $10,000 prize just a few weeks after the Illinois Lottery got its start in 1974, but Bob said this is his first big win since then. He and his wife, Jeanne, plan to share the winnings with family, take a trip and maybe buy some land.

The winning numbers in the Oct. 23 drawing were 5-28-62-65-70 and Mega Ball 5. The Megaplier was 3.

Wrap-Up On Both Big Weekend Drawings

The jackpots in Powerball and Mega Millions both continue to climb into the stratosphere, with Mega Millions now at a world record and Powerball’s top prize the third largest ever offered in that game. With strong sales across the country, it’s likely that both prizes with climb even higher before their next drawings this week.

LAST NIGHT’S POWERBALL RESULTS

No one won the jackpot in last night’s Powerball drawing, pushing the game’s big prize to an estimated $620 million annuity, or $354.3 million lump-sum option for Wednesday. That ranks No. 3 on the list of the biggest jackpots in Powerball and No. 6 among the largest lottery jackpots in the United States.
 
The winning numbers in last night’s $476.7 million Powerball jackpot drawing were: 16-54-57-62-69 and Powerball 23. The Power Play number was 2.
 
A total of 32,359 plays purchased by Iowa Lottery players won prizes ranging from $4 up to $50,000. Two tickets purchased in Iowa were just one number away from having at least a share of last night’s jackpot, matching four of the first five numbers and the Powerball to win prizes of $50,000 each. They were purchased at: Kwik Star, 201 Greenwood Ave. in Nashua, and Casey’s, 701 32nd Ave. in Council Bluffs.
  
Iowa Lottery players bought nearly $1.9 million in Powerball tickets for last night’s drawing, including nearly $650,000 in tickets yesterday alone. However, the average Iowa Powerball purchase for the day remained about $5, or two to three plays per ticket. It’s good to see that Iowa players had fun with their purchases and didn’t go overboard.

More than 91 percent of all of the plays purchased in Iowa for last night’s Powerball drawing were easy picks, meaning that the lottery terminal automatically generated the numbers on the ticket.

MEGA MILLIONS DETAILS
    
The Mega Millions jackpot for Tuesday now stands at an estimated $1.6 billion annuity, $905 million lump-sum option. That has pushed it just past the previous world record, a Powerball jackpot of nearly $1.6 billion that was split by three tickets in California, Florida and Tennessee in January 2016.
    
Iowa Lottery players bought tickets that won more than 78,000 prizes in Friday’s Mega Millions drawing, including two plays that were just one number away from having a share of the giant jackpot.

The winning numbers in Friday’s $1 billion Mega Millions jackpot drawing were: 15-23-53-65-70 and Mega Ball 7. The Megaplier number was 2. A total of 78,286 plays purchased by Iowa Lottery players won prizes that night ranging from $2 up to $20,000.

Two tickets purchased in Iowa came within one number of having at least a share of Friday’s jackpot, with one winning a prize of $10,000 and the other winning $20,000. They each matched four of the first five numbers and the Mega Ball, but one of the tickets had added the Megaplier option, which doubled its prize.
 
The $20,000-winning ticket was purchased at EZ Go convenience store, 2723 Grand Ave. in Des Moines, while the $10,000-winning ticket was purchased at Casey’s, 1100 Eagle View Drive in Marion.

Iowa Lottery players bought more than $4 million in Mega Millions tickets for Friday’s drawing, including nearly $2.8 million in tickets on Friday alone. During Friday’s busiest stretch from about 6-7 p.m., Mega Millions tickets were selling at nearly $5,800 per minute in Iowa. However, the average Mega Millions purchase on Friday remained about $6, or three plays per ticket. Lottery officials were pleased that Iowans played at a fun level and didn’t go overboard.

More than 94 percent of all of the plays purchased by Iowa Lottery players for Friday’s drawing were easy picks.

CHECK FOR ALL POSSIBLE PRIZES

As more occasional and first-time players jump into the games with the jackpots climbing, the Iowa Lottery reminds everyone to check their tickets for all possible prizes they may have won.
 
The jackpots generate headlines, but Powerball and Mega Millions both have nine prize levels, and winnings at the games’ lower levels also can be significant. That’s why it’s important to check for all the prizes you may have won. 

Currently in Iowa, there are 52 unclaimed prizes ranging from $800 up to $1 million in the Mega Millions and Powerball games. As more time passes and those prizes remain unclaimed, it becomes more likely that the ticket involved may have been lost or thrown away.

A $1 million Powerball prize in central Iowa is still unclaimed after six months. It was won in the April 11 drawing with a ticket purchased at Casey’s, 1800 S. B Ave. in Nevada. The prize will expire on April 11, 2019, if it’s not claimed before then.

Players in Iowa have up to 365 days after the drawing involved to claim Mega Millions and Powerball prizes.

On our website, we have a complete list of all unclaimed prizes in Iowa of more than $600, the level at which you have to claim a prize directly from the lottery.    

PLEASE PLAY RESPONSIBLY

We mean it when we say that playing smart is a lot more fun. Please play responsibly. It only takes one ticket to have a shot at a prize, and we don’t want anyone to get in over their heads while playing the lottery.

Mega Millions Jackpot Now At World Record, Will Likely Go Even Higher

No one won the jackpot in last night’s Mega Millions drawing, sending the giant prize to a new world record. It is now an estimated $1.6 billion annuity, $905 million lump-sum option, for Tuesday’s drawing. Strong sales across the country likely mean it will go even higher by the time that drawing occurs.

The Mega Millions jackpot has edged just past the previous world record for a lottery prize, a Powerball jackpot of nearly $1.6 billion that was split by three tickets in California, Florida and Tennessee in January 2016.    
   
LAST NIGHT’S WINNING NUMBERS

The winning numbers in last night’s $1 billion Mega Millions jackpot drawing were: 15-23-53-65-70 and Mega Ball 7. The Megaplier number was 2. A total of 78,286 plays purchased by Iowa Lottery players won prizes last night ranging from $2 up to $20,000.

IOWA’S BIG WINNERS

Two tickets purchased in Iowa came within one number of having at least a share of last night’s jackpot, with one winning a prize of $10,000 and the other winning $20,000. They each matched four of the first five numbers and the Mega Ball, but one of the tickets had added the Megaplier option, which doubled its prize.
 
The $20,000-winning ticket was purchased at EZ Go convenience store, 2723 Grand Ave. in Des Moines, while the $10,000-winning ticket was purchased at Casey’s, 1100 Eagle View Drive in Marion.

MEGA MILLIONS SALES IN IOWA

Iowa Lottery players bought more than $4 million in Mega Millions tickets for last night’s drawing, including nearly $2.8 million in tickets yesterday alone. During yesterday's busiest stretch from about 6-7 p.m., Mega Millions tickets were selling at nearly $5,800 per minute in Iowa. However, the average Mega Millions purchase yesterday remained about $6, or three plays per ticket. At the lottery, we were pleased that Iowans played at a fun level and didn’t go overboard.

EASY PICKS VS. MANUAL PLAYS

More than 94 percent of all of the plays purchased by Iowa Lottery players for last night's drawing were easy picks, meaning that the lottery terminal automatically generated the numbers on the ticket.

CAN’T FORGET POWERBALL

Not to be left out, the Powerball jackpot also is climbing into the stratosphere. That game’s jackpot for tonight’s drawing is an estimated $470 million annuity, or $268.6 million lump-sum option. It ranks at No. 8 on the list of Powerball’s biggest jackpots and No. 14 among the largest jackpots in the United States.

We’ll have the Iowa–related Powerball details following tonight’s drawing.
  
PLEASE PLAY RESPONSIBLY

While we’re all having fun in this shared moment surrounding the giant jackpots, we at the Iowa Lottery stress to our players to please play responsibly. It only takes one ticket to have a shot at a prize.

Remember that playing the lottery is something that’s just for entertainment – there’s no guarantee that you’ll win the jackpot or any prize at all. Please play with your head, not over your head.

Davenport Ticket Wins Prize of $25,000 A Year For Life

Someone who bought a lottery ticket at a Quad-Cities convenience store has won a prize of $25,000 a year for life in the Lucky for Life game.

It’s Iowa’s fifth big winner in the game since it debuted here in January 2016.

The Davenport ticket matched the first five numbers but missed the Lucky Ball in last night’s drawing to win the game’s second prize of $25,000 a year for life. The lucky ticket was purchased at the Kwik Shop, 3624 W. Locust St. in Davenport.

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 players who would prefer that rather than lifetime annuity payments.

The winning numbers in last night’s Lucky for Life drawing were: 16-20-32-40-46 and Lucky Ball 10. Kwik Shop will receive a $500 bonus from the lottery for selling the winning ticket at one of its stores.

The top two prize levels in Lucky for Life have to be claimed at Iowa Lottery headquarters in Clive. If the winner or winners of the Davenport ticket have questions before coming forward to claim the prize, they’re welcome to give us a call at 515-725-7900. Players in Lucky for Life have up to 365 days from the date of the drawing to claim prizes won in Iowa.

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.

 

 

1-1-1-1 Hits, 7 Big Prizes Won In Today’s Pick 4 Midday Drawing

We’re warming up our check-writing equipment after today’s Pick 4 midday drawing! The winning numbers were 1-1-1-1, and because duplicate combinations like that have always been popular in the game, there were a lot of big winners this afternoon. 

If you’re familiar with the Pick 3 and Pick 4 games, you know that players in them like to play combinations like 7-7-7-7, 2-2-2-2, or, like today’s winning numbers, 1-1-1-1.  

The stars aligned and those numbers hit today. The same thing happened with a 2-2-2-2 combination back in 2010.

Seven tickets across the state won prizes ranging from $6,000 up to $24,000 in today’s midday Pick 4 drawing, from Council Bluffs to Davenport. All of the plays were for a Straight bet, but the players involved bought them at different price points, and that resulted in different prizes being won. A Straight bet means the play wins if it matches all numbers in the EXACT ORDER drawn. Plays in Pick 4 start at 50 cents and go up to $5.

Winning ticket locations and prizes:
Quik Trip, 4801 NE 14th St. in Des Moines - $24,000
Bucky’s Express, 3501 Broadway Ave. in Council Bluffs - $18,000
Kum & Go, 2991 Sunset Drive in Norwalk - $6,000
Casey’s, 1650 E. Locust St. in Carter Lake - $6,000
Big 10 Mart, 5310 N. Brady St. in Davenport - $6,000
Big 10 Mart, 5310 N. Brady St. in Davenport - $6,000
Expresslane, 321 N. Division St. in Davenport - $6,000

In Iowa's Pick 4 game, players have 90 days to claim a prize from the date of the drawing.

 

Two Prizes of $30,000 Won In Iowa City Nearing Expiration

Last week, we told you about the $1 million Powerball prize that’s still unclaimed in central Iowa, and today, we’re highlighting two sizeable prizes nearing their expiration dates in eastern Iowa.

Both of those prizes are for $30,000 and were won in Iowa’s Pick 4 game. They’ll expire later this month if they aren’t claimed in time.

The prizes were won in the evening Pick 4 drawing on Feb. 28. The winning tickets were both purchased at Fareway, 2530 Westwinds Drive in Iowa City. The prizes will expire at the close of business (4 p.m.) on May 29 if they’re not claimed at a lottery office before then.

If you’re not familiar with Pick 4, it’s a numbers game with a long history along the East Coast. But it also is offered by lotteries across the country, including the Iowa Lottery. Pick 4 players choose combinations of four numbers from 0000 to 9999. The prize that players can win depends on the type of bet they make.

For example, players can choose the option of winning a prize only when the numbers they’ve played match the winning numbers in the exact order selected in the drawing. That’s called a straight play. Or, players can choose the option of winning a prize if their numbers match the winning numbers in any order. That’s called a box play. It’s statistically harder to match the numbers in the exact order drawn, so the odds of winning on a straight play are higher and the prizes that players can win with that option are larger.

The prizes nearing expiration in Iowa City each came from a $5 straight bet with the numbers 2-6-4-9. Those numbers were drawn in that exact order in the evening Pick 4 drawing on Feb. 28, resulting in a $30,000 prize from each play.

We keep a list of all the unclaimed prizes in our lotto games on the lottery website so double-check your tickets!

Our ‘New’ Winning Numbers Line

We’ve revamped the recorded line you can call to get the latest winning numbers in our lotto drawings. The new format just took effect yesterday, and it lets you choose the game you want without having to listen to the results for other drawings first.

The number itself has not changed – it’s still 515-323-4633, so there’s no need to reprogram your phone!  But now when you call, each of our lotto games has its own prompt. So, you push “1” for Powerball, “2” for Mega Millions, etc.

Up until now, we’ve just had one recording for all the latest results in our games. So, you might have had to listen to the winning numbers for a few other games before getting to the results you wanted. We know that time matters, and we hope that the new format can shorten the call for you.

If the voice on the line sounds familiar, that’s because you may have heard it before. It’s me reading the numbers, but the process is automated as well, so I think of the voice as Computer Mary. We’ve done our best to pace the results so you can write down the numbers as they’re announced.

The winning numbers line is just one of the ways we provide the results in our lotto drawings, but it’s a popular option, getting tens of thousands of calls each month.

Let us know what you think of the new format! I can pass your comments along to Computer Mary.

Player Mail: Do YOU Know Where The Winning Tickets Are?

A collection of questions came our way on Facebook from a woman asking about lottery details you may have wondered about as well.

Her name is Paulette, and she asked this: “How do you distribute the scratch tickets? Do you know the location of the winners before the tickets are purchased or are they also randomly sent to different locations and then you learn of the winners when they come forward? Also, why do some sites have every new holiday scratch ticket, while others have a few and some don’t have any yet? Is that due to the volume of tickets sold at that location?”

The random distribution of tickets in our games is a central security feature of the lottery. Not even we know which tickets will win prizes in our games, or where those tickets have been distributed. Paulette is exactly right: We learn about our prize winners when they visit a retail location or lottery office to claim their prizes.

And in regards to her question about holiday games, it’s possible that she visited some stores as our holiday games were being delivered statewide. It takes about a week for any new game to be distributed to all stores across the state, and our district sales representatives may not yet have made their stops at the particular stores she visited. And, some stores prefer to sell through existing tickets before they begin selling something new, so sales volume is indeed part of the picture.

Great questions, Paulette! We hope that you – and all our players – have a good weekend!

Three Iowa Tickets Won Prizes of $50,000 Last Night!

Iowa Lottery players won more than 85,000 prizes in last night's Powerball drawing, including three tickets that were one number away from having a share of the jackpot and each won $50,000. The game’s giant jackpot ended up being even higher than the final estimates leading into the drawing, and the top prize was won by a ticket purchased in Massachusetts.    

JACKPOT AMOUNT & WINNING NUMBERS

Strong sales nationwide pushed last night's jackpot to $758.7 million annuity, or $480.5 million lump-sum option. The winning numbers in last night's Powerball jackpot drawing were: 6-7-16-23-26 and Powerball 4. The Power Play number was 4. A total of 85,440 plays purchased by Iowa Lottery players won prizes in the drawing.

IOWA’S BIG WINNERS

Three tickets purchased in Iowa came within one number of having at least a share of the jackpot. They each won a $50,000 prize by matching four of the first five numbers and the Powerball. The tickets were purchased in different areas of the state:

Retailer Name                               Address                                 City
Ampride All Round Truck Plaza     3243 Fifth Ave. S.                   Fort Dodge
Casey’s                                          502 Main St.                           Dakota City
Kwik Star                                       100 W. Gilbert Drive                Evansdale 

POWERBALL SALES IN IOWA

Iowa Lottery players bought more than $4.7 million in Powerball tickets for last night’s drawing, including more than $3 million in tickets yesterday alone. During yesterday’s busiest stretch from about 5-6 p.m., Powerball tickets were selling at more than $7,800 per minute in Iowa. But  the average Iowa Powerball purchase yesterday remained around $5, or about 3 plays per ticket. We're glad to see that Iowans played at a fun level and didn’t go overboard.

EASY PICKS VS. MANUAL PLAYS

It's a debate that's been around as long as the Powerball game itself: Easy pick or manual play? More than 90 percent of all of the plays purchased by Iowa Lottery players for last night's drawing were easy picks, meaning that the lottery terminal automatically generated the numbers on the ticket. That's a higher percentage than we often see, and likely speaks to the convenience factor of easy picks. Typically about 70 percent of all Powerball plays in Iowa are easy picks, with the remainder being number combinations that players choose themselves.

A NOTE ABOUT ‘COVERAGE’

The odds of winning the jackpot in Powerball are about 1 in 292.2 million because there are about 292.2 million ways you can combine the numbers in the game to make a play. By tracking sales, lottery officials can estimate how many of the possible combinations have been purchased for a particular drawing. About 54 percent of all the possible combinations were purchased in last night's drawing.

 

The Latest $1 Million Winner In Iowa

 

A hiccup in their travel plans while in Iowa for a high school class reunion led a Texas couple to buy a $1 million-winning Powerball^® ticket in western Iowa! Wayne and Vicki Dixon of Allen, Texas, traveled to Iowa last week to attend Wayne’s 55th high school reunion in Denison.

The couple, who are both retired, said they had hotel reservations for the weekend in Denison, but they arrived a day early and the hotel didn’t have any vacancies that day. So they stopped at a hotel in Avoca. While they were there, they stopped for gas at Wings America Travel Center, just off Interstate 80 at the Avoca exit. While Wayne filled up their vehicle’s gas tank, Vicki went inside and bought a Powerball ticket for last Wednesday’s drawing. And the rest, as they say, is history!

Click on the video above to see Vicki and Wayne tell their story. That definitely qualifies as big news from a class reunion!

And here’s a follow-up about the jackpot hub-bub from last week: It was the first time that the jackpots in both Powerball and Mega Millions® were above the $300 million mark at the same time. The Mega Millions jackpot had hit $393 million when it was won Friday night with a ticket purchased in Illinois. But we weren’t left out: Mega Millions players in Iowa won a total of 33,482 prizes at the game’s other levels in that night’s drawing.

The Powerball jackpot continues to grow. It’s now at an estimated $430 million annuity, $273.4 million lump-sum option for Wednesday’s drawing. Iowa Powerball players won a total of 21,368 prizes ranging from $4 up to $50,000 in this past Saturday’s drawing. The $50,000-winning ticket was purchased at McDermott Oil Co., 1501 First Ave. E. in Cascade.

Winner: I Saw The Numbers In A Dream …

One of our recent lottery winners is getting a lot of likes and shares for his story after winning with numbers he saw in a dream. Some of our other winners also have wondered if something bigger was involved in their lottery luck.

Some, for example, have wondered if deceased loved ones sent luck their way from the great beyond. Obviously, we have no way of knowing what forces may be at work, but it’s a fascinating subject, for sure!

Kelvin Wynn of Davenport won a total of $300,000 in a recent drawing of Iowa’s Pick 4 game. He won 10 prizes of $30,000 all in one drawing by matching the four winning numbers in the exact order they were drawn. That’s known as a straight play.

Wynn, who works for a landscaping company in the Quad Cities, said he saw the number 2112 in a dream, and then the next day, the house number of one of his clients happened to be 2112. The coincidences continued when he saw 2112 on the license plate of a vehicle in front of him at a stoplight, and his purchase at a department store added up to $21.12.

Wynn said he rarely plays the lottery, but he had a good feeling about the combination 2-1-1-2 and decided to play that set of numbers in Pick 4. He checked the lottery website the next day and said he couldn’t believe his eyes, so he had his wife double-check the results. And it was true: He’d won big.

He plans to use his lottery winnings to help pay the educational expenses for his three children – two of whom just graduated from college and the third, who’s currently a student. He also plans to splurge a little with a new set of golf clubs!

So, do YOU believe in the stars aligning (or whatever you might call it) for lottery luck?

REMINDER: All or Nothing Game Ends Tonight, Drawing Times Change Tomorrow For Pick 3 & Pick 4

Here’s a friendly reminder about some changes coming to three of our lotto games.

Today, the final drawings in the All or Nothing game will be held. Following tonight’s drawing, this game will end. All or Nothing has been offered in both Iowa and Minnesota since January 2014, and although it initially sold well, sales have tapered off over time.

Over the course of the game’s run, there were a total of 20 top prize winners; nine here in Iowa and 11 in Minnesota. (Of course, we could still add to this total with today’s midday and evening drawings.)

Also, starting tomorrow, the drawings in Iowa’s Pick 3 and Pick 4 games will be held at slightly different times from their current schedule and we’ll begin utilizing drawings with ball-drawing equipment for these games.

Effective tomorrow, midday Pick 3 and Pick 4 drawings will be held at approximately 12:20 p.m. (previously these drawings were held at about 12:50 p.m.). Evening Pick 3 and Pick 4 drawings will be held at approximately 10 p.m. (previously these drawings were held at about 8:50 p.m.).

Additionally, the sales cutoff times prior to the Pick 3 and Pick 4 drawings will be shortened to just 20 minutes from the current 50-minute delay.

Player Mail: Did The Lottery Get A New Email Address?

Members of our VIP Club and players who subscribe to our daily Winning Numbers emails may have noticed that our communications have been coming from a different address for the last few weeks.

Your eyes are not playing tricks on you, we are using a different email address to send these messages.

The new email address is ialottery.wmaster@public.govdelivery.com and it’s part of a new distribution system we’re using to send batches of emails at one time.

The content of our emails remains the same – it’s just the sending email address that has changed. One thing you may want to consider is adding “ialottery.wmaster@public.govdelivery.com” to your address book or your “safe senders” list within your email account to help ensure you can continue receiving email messages from us.

Also note: We’re still accepting emails at our Wmaster@ialottery.com address and if you respond to one of our messages from the new email address, we’ll still get it.

All or Nothing Game Ending, Drawing Times Changing For Pick 3 & Pick 4

Changes are coming to three of our lotto games on June 30 and July 1.Changes are coming to three of our lotto games on June 30 and July 1.

On June 30, the final drawing will be held in the “All or Nothing™” game and on July 1, the drawing times will change in the Pick 3 and Pick 4 games, giving players longer to buy tickets each evening.

All or Nothing is a joint game offered by Iowa and Minnesota in which players can win the $100,000 top prize by matching all 12 or none of the winning numbers in one of its drawings. The game has been offered since January 2014, and Iowa Lottery CEO Terry Rich said that although it initially sold well, sales have tapered off over time.

Because the All or Nothing game is ending effective June 30, the lottery is required to limit the number of multi-draw tickets clerks may sell beginning June 23. A countdown to the last drawing will begin on this day and the number of multi-draw tickets available will be reduced with each drawing until the game’s final evening drawing on June 30.

Effective July 1, the drawings in Iowa’s Pick 3 and Pick 4 games will be held at slightly different times from their current schedule and the sales cutoff times for these games will be shortened. Here’s the changes: 

• Midday Pick 3 and Pick 4 drawings will be held at approximately 12:20 p.m. (currently these drawings are held at about 12:50 p.m.)
• Evening Pick 3 and Pick 4 drawings will be held at approximately 10 p.m. (currently these drawings are held at about 8:50 p.m.)
• Sales cutoff times prior to the drawings will be shortened to just 20 minutes from the current 50-minute delay.

Rich said that as technology has gotten faster, the processing that the lottery has to complete before its drawings can be done in a shorter period of time. 

As the lottery continues to monitor its game offerings, players can expect more improvements and changes to other lotto products in the coming months.

Contacts Coming In, But So Far, No One Has Claimed That $2 Million-Winning Ticket

Since I blogged a few weeks ago about the six-month mark hitting for an unclaimed $2 million Powerball® prize in Cedar Rapids, we’ve heard from some folks who wondered if they might have had the winning ticket and misplaced it or thrown it away. But so far, none of them appear to be the lucky person who bought that winning ticket.

So, it’s still out there and we’re still looking for the winner! The calls and contacts we’ve had tell me that we’re getting the word out and people are noticing. And they're double-checking their tickets and their memories from that time period, which is what we want.
  
We’ll keep looking and sending out reminders. There are still five more months to go before that prize will expire and we want to see it claimed in time!

 

Player Mail: What’s With Those ‘AutoLotto’ Ads I’m Hearing?

We’ve gotten inquiries this week from players in different parts of the state who all appeared to be hearing the same radio ad, and they wanted to know if it was from us. The quick answer is: No, the ad for a service to check lottery tickets is not from the Iowa Lottery. And the AutoLotto website advertised is not associated with our lottery.

We have legal and policy concerns about the information we learned after doing some digging. We urge lottery players in Iowa to get lottery results and the details about our games directly from us here at the Iowa Lottery.

The radio ad appears to be playing in heavy rotation in different markets around the state. We’ve heard it in central Iowa at different times of the day. The spot references unclaimed lottery prizes and encourages listeners to use a free “AutoLotto app” to check the results of Powerball® tickets. The ad also directs listeners to AutoLotto’s website to learn more.

When we visited the website, it appears to involve more than just checking the results of lottery tickets. Information on the site indicates that people can use the app to purchase tickets online via a credit card that the user would keep on file with the service.

It’s illegal here in Iowa to use credit in the purchase of lottery tickets. And under Iowa law, lottery tickets can only legally be purchased from a licensed lottery retailer. Obtaining a ticket in any other fashion could call into question the legitimacy of the prize.  

Internet gaming also remains a big topic of discussion among our state’s lawmakers. They’ll convene Jan. 9 for the start of the 2017 legislative session, and we anticipate that Internet gaming will be among the many issues soon under debate at the state Capitol.

Bottomline, we do not recommend that you use any outside service to purchase our products or receive information about the Iowa Lottery. Through our website, our offices around the state and our presence on social media, we always have information available. We pride ourselves on customer service, so if you contact the Iowa Lottery, we’ll do our best to answer your question right away. And if we need to do more research, we will get back to you.

As we say in the Player Security reminders that are a permanent feature on our website: We want you to take fun seriously and protect yourself. And if you ever have a concern about Iowa Lottery products or operations, please call us at 515-725-7900, email us at wmaster@ialottery.com or reach out to us here on the blog or elsewhere on social media. We’ll be glad to help.

P.S. You know that the Iowa Lottery already has an app that you can use to check the results of your tickets, right? We currently have an iPhone app, but we anticipate that we’ll have an Android version also available early next year. The iPhone app is available on iTunes under the “Iowa Lottery’s LotteryPlus” listing.

Human Reporting Error Delays IA Results In Lucky For Life Drawing

A human reporting error caused the winning numbers for last night’s Lucky for Life drawing to initially be reported incorrectly here in Iowa and then delayed the drawing results in the state entirely for several hours.

We were able to correctly enter the official drawing results this evening and have resumed paying prizes from that drawing.     

The Lucky for Life drawing was conducted correctly as scheduled last night and official results were produced. But our redundant reporting procedures here in Iowa failed after the drawing. It takes time to correct an error like that on our statewide gaming system. We worked through those complexities as quickly as possible. We know that as long as human beings are involved in any process, mistakes can happen. But we sincerely apologize for today’s interruption.

We are reviewing our procedures with an eye toward improvements and enhancements as we move ahead. And, we want to hear from any Iowa Lottery players who have questions or concerns about this situation. We’ll be glad to help.

The mistake impacted only the Iowa Lottery’s reporting of the official results for last night’s Lucky for Life drawing. All other lottery tickets could be purchased, checked and cashed as usual at lottery terminals across the state and the results for all other lottery drawings were recorded correctly here in Iowa.

The CORRECT winning numbers in last night’s Lucky for Life drawing were: 10-15-21-23-34 and Lucky Ball 1. That is the winning combination for which we'll pay prizes.         

As part of our procedures, two different people in two different locations both enter the results from lotto drawings before they are officially recorded on the lottery’s statewide gaming system that connects the lottery terminals in retail locations all across the state. But when the winning numbers from last night’s Lucky for Life drawing were being inputted, one of the numbers was mistakenly entered as “24” rather than “34.” 

The incorrect results were available about 10 p.m. yesterday. Lottery staffers noticed the error shortly after 7 a.m. today, corrected the drawing results on the lottery’s website and disabled the results for the drawing on lottery terminals, knowing that correcting the lottery’s statewide gaming system would take longer. We continued to work through the situation today and were able to go live with corrected official results about 6 p.m. tonight.

Our records show that a total of 3,318 Lucky for Life plays here in Iowa won prizes ranging from $3 up to $200, for a total of $17,672 in winnings in last night’s drawing. Under the incorrect results initially reported, 96 plays would have won differing amounts for a total difference of $223 in prizes.

We know that the number of folks potentially impacted by the situation is small, but we also want to hear from anyone who may have a question or concern. Any player with a Lucky for Life ticket from last night’s drawing can now check and cash the tickets with the official numbers drawn.

Using A Deck Of Cards To Explain Lottery Odds

Someone recently suggested using a deck of cards to explain how the odds work in lottery games, so I’m giving it a try. You’ll have to let me know how we did!

In a deck of cards, there is about a 1 in 4 chance that you’ll find a card in one of the suits – diamonds, clubs, hearts or spades. (I say “about” 1 in 4 because with the two jokers included, there are 54 cards in a deck.) But after you’ve shuffled the deck, there will be times when you deal more than four cards in a row without finding one in a particular suit.

It works the same way with tickets in our instant-scratch and pull-tab games. If a scratch game has overall odds of winning of about 1:3, that doesn't mean that if you buy four tickets, one of them will automatically be a winner. It means that if you were to buy all of the tickets available in that game, approximately 1 in 4 of them would win a prize. 

The tickets within our games are distributed randomly, just like the shuffled cards within a deck. That’s part of our security procedures, and not even we know where the winning tickets are or which stores will receive them. So, there could be three winning tickets in a row in one of our games, and then several nonwinning tickets in a row after that. We work hard to ensure that everyone has the same fair shot at winning. 

The bottom line is, big winners happen all over the state, and higher ticket sales at a particular location will mean more winners there as well. Some busy locations where scratch tickets are sold sell several times as many tickets as others, and therefore they sell through ticket packs more often, creating more winners.

The odds in lotto games like Powerball® and Mega Millions® work differently than those in scratch and pull-tab games. In lotto games, the odds of winning a prize are based on all of the possible combinations of numbers available to play in the game. In Powerball, for example, the odds of winning the jackpot are about 1:292.2 million because that’s how many different ways you can combine the numbers available in the game to make a play.

I’ve blogged many times through the years about the odds in our games and what they mean. I hope today’s explanation has given you a new visual picture of how the odds work. Next time someone asks you how the odds work in a lottery game, you can give the deck of cards example and be totally “in the know!”

Can I Claim A Ticket From Another State In Iowa?

Here’s a great question from a woman who contacted us on Facebook. Her name is Rhonda and she asked if she could cash a lottery ticket here in Iowa that she bought in Minnesota.

The short answer is no. She’ll need to claim that prize from the Minnesota Lottery. Why is that? It has to do with the technology that goes into running a lottery today and the fact that each state has its own separate computer system.   

The lottery terminals that sell and cash lottery tickets in Iowa retail locations are connected to a central communications system that spans the state. That lottery network is extremely complex – it provides real-time information about retail transactions involving millions of tickets.

The same is true in Minnesota and any other U.S. state that has a lottery: Each lottery has its own computerized system to track the tickets it sells. In addition, the money raised from the sale of lottery tickets in each state stays in that state to help valuable causes.

Because each state lottery tracks its tickets and $$$$$ individually, the state lottery computer systems are independent. So that means our equipment here in Iowa can’t read Minnesota tickets, and vice versa. 

Great question, Rhonda. And we hope to see you win a big prize here in Iowa someday!

Our Winning Numbers Hotline Is Back Up!

An update for anyone who tried to call our winning numbers hotline over the weekend: It was down for about a day, but it’s back up and in service today.

The winning numbers hotline (515-323-4633) is one of the ways we provide the drawing results in our lotto games. Twice a day, we record new messages on the line to update the results of our drawings as they become available.

The system stopped functioning between the time that we recorded Saturday night’s drawing results and tried to record the results from Sunday’s midday drawings. The number would continually ring but never pick up.

To fix the situation, the hardware that hosts the winning numbers line needed to be reset. That process took some time, but the line was back up and functioning by midmorning today. We were just able to record the results for today’s midday drawings.

As I mentioned earlier, that hotline is just one of the ways that we make our winning numbers available. You can always visit our website to find the same information, sign up for our winning numbers emails, or find the details at your local lottery retailer.

 

 

Player Mail: Are Drawing Results Always Posted At The Same Time On Your Website?

Here’s a question that came our way this week: Are the results from our drawings always posted at the same time on our website?

The quick answer is that we obviously want people to have our drawing results as quickly as possible, but there are realities involved that mean we can’t always post the information at exactly the same time each day.

Sometimes it takes longer to balance all of the sales figures for a particular drawing. Sometimes we might have a new staffer at work who is understandably taking a little longer to go through procedures the first few times. Sometimes automated systems may not run as they should, and that means that processes have to be done manually, which can take more time.

We’ll continue to do our best to provide our results as quickly as we can. But I’ve said this before about other things and it applies here as well: As long as human beings are involved in any process, things will vary a little.   

One way to get the results without having to check our website is to sign up for the lottery’s winning numbers emails, so our drawing results will come to your inbox each morning. Click here to learn how to sign up for those emails.

It’s True: Two Days, Same Set Of Winning Numbers In Pick 4

You really are seeing double when it comes to the winning numbers in the midday Pick 4 drawings.   Yep! The same winning numbers were selected in the midday Pick 4 drawings from yesterday and today. The winning numbers on both days were 9-3-9-0. That is correct.

Every number has the same chance of being selected in the drawings, and occasionally, coincidences like this can happen. Earlier this year, the same numbers were selected in the midday and evening Pick 3 drawings on March 18. And a quick search shows that the same set of numbers also were selected back to back in that game in April 2012.   

That’s what comes with the laws of random statistics. But personally, I blame Friday the 13th! :) 

 

Dear Lottery: I Got Invalid Numbers On My Ticket ...

Some updates have been made in the Powerball^® game, and from some of the player emails and posts on our social media pages this week, we think a reminder is in the works about what’s new in the game. So here goes …

The numbers available to play in Powerball changed this past Sunday, and Wednesday (Oct. 7) was the first drawing with the new features. Both pools of numbers played in the game got a remake, with the choices for the first five balls increasing to 69 (previously 59), and the pool for the Powerball decreasing to 26 (previously 35).

Some folks have said they were surprised by the numbers on their tickets with the game’s new format. They wondered if they’d received a fraudulent ticket because they didn’t think that the numbers on their Powerball tickets just possible.

The short answer is: The tickets aren’t fraudulent and there’s nothing wrong. Powerball has been redesigned, so the numbers you see on your tickets may look a little different than you’ve seen in the past.

And here are the other changes in Powerball: There are now better overall odds of winning any prize in the game; the game’s third prize level (for matching four of the first five numbers and the Powerball) made a big jump up to $50,000; and players now have a chance to multiply most winnings by up to 10 times with the Power Play^® option when the jackpot is $150 million or less.

Thanks for playing Powerball and good luck!