Iowa Lottery

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The Iowa Lottery is run by the government of Iowa. It is a charter member of, and home to, the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL), which administers its games on behalf of the member lotteries. The Iowa Lottery portfolio includes Hot Lotto, Mega Millions, Powerball, $100,000 Cash Game, plus numerous scratchcard and pull-tab games.

Iowa's Pick 3 and Pick 4 numbers are drawn by the Illinois Lottery, and are the winning numbers for both lotteries.

The largest prize won on an Iowa Lottery ticket was approximately $241 million; it was the only jackpot-winning ticket sold for the June 13, 2012 drawing of Powerball. A group of 20 cereal factory workers held claim to the ticket, choosing the $160 million (before withholdings) cash option.

Iowa Lottery history

Legislation creating Iowa's lottery was signed into law in April 1985; the Lottery began sales on August 22, 1985, with a kickoff celebration at the Iowa State Fair.

The first product sold by the Iowa Lottery was an instant-scratch game called Scratch, Match and Win; players bought more than 6.4 million tickets during its first week.

The Iowa Lottery has raised more than $1.1 billion for programs (reaching $1 billion in March 2006) while awarding more than $2.2 billion in prizes. .

The Lottery sells tickets in three general categories: instant-scratch, pull-tab and online games. Lottery products are sold at more than 2,500 retail locations.

The Iowa Lottery has over 100 employees who work at its headquarters in Des Moines and its regional offices in Council Bluffs, Storm Lake, Mason City, and Cedar Rapids.

In 1994, Iowa became the first state in the US that required lottery players to be at least 21 years of age. (Arizona became the second in 2003.)

In September 2007, the Iowa Lottery (along with the Kansas Lottery) began the first US multi-jurisdictional scratch game, Midwest Millions.

Iowa Lottery games

Pick 3

Pick 3 is played 13 times weekly (twice daily except Sundays.) Options and prizes vary. The Iowa Pick 3 numbers are drawn by the Illinois Lottery[1] with drawings telecast on WGN America; the winning results in Illinois are the same in Iowa.

Players choose three digits, each from 0 through 9, or let the lottery terminal select them (Easy Pick).

Play types:

  • Straight – match all digits in the exact order drawn.
  • Box – match all digits in any order.
  • Straight/Box – match in exact order to win both wagers; in any order for box payout.
  • Front pair – match the first two digits in the exact order drawn.
  • Back pair – match the last two digits in the exact order as drawn.

Pick 3 players may wager up to 14 consecutive drawings.

Drawings are held Mondays through Saturdays at 12:40 p.m. plus every evening at about 9:20 p.m.

Pick 3 prizes must be claimed within 90 days of the drawing.

Pick 4

Pick 4 also is drawn 13 times weekly by the Illinois Lottery.[2]

Play is similar to Pick 3.

Play types:

  • Straight – match all four digits in the exact order as drawn.
  • Box – match all four digits in any order.
  • Straight/Box – same as Pick 3 except all four digits must match in any order.
  • Front pair; back pair – same as in Pick 3.

Pick 4 players may wager up to 14 consecutive drawings. Drawings are held at the same time as Pick 3.

Pick 4 prizes must be claimed within 90 days of the drawing.

$100,000 Cash Game

The $100,000 Cash Game is played Mondays through Saturdays.

Players choose 5 numbers out of 35, or ask for Easy Pick. Players may wager up to 24 consecutive drawings. Matching all 5 numbers (in any order) wins $100,000. Prizes also awarded for matching 4, 3, or 2 numbers.

Drawings are held at 6:28 p.m. $100,000 Cash Game prizes must be claimed within 90 days of the drawing.

Hot Lotto (16 members)

Main article: Hot Lotto

Hot Lotto is played in 15 states and the District of Columbia; it is drawn Wednesdays and Saturdays. Hot Lotto draws 5 "white balls" numbered from 1 through 47, and one orange "Hot Ball", numbered 1 through 19. The starting jackpot is $1,000,000 (all-cash, and "taxes paid"), increasing by at least $50,000 if there is no top prize winner. Hot Lotto has an option, called Sizzler (similar to the former version of Powerball's Power Play); it triples non-jackpot prizes.

On May 12, 2013, the Hot Lotto game dropped its annuity option; eight "white balls" were added to the original 39.

Powerball

Since 1988, the Iowa Lottery has been a member of MUSL. Powerball began in 1992. Its jackpots began at $40 million. Powerball is drawn Wednesday and Saturday nights.

Mega Millions

On October 13, 2009 the Mega Millions consortium and MUSL reached an agreement in principle to cross-sell Mega Millions and Powerball in U.S. lottery jurisdictions. On November 16, 2009, the Iowa Lottery Board approved the introduction of Mega Millions to Iowa. Mega Millions sales in Iowa began on January 31, 2010; the first drawing including Iowa was on February 2, 2010.

External links

References

  1. ↑ http://www.ialottery.com/PDF/GameRules/Pick3_Rules.pdf
  2. ↑ http://www.ialottery.com/PDF/GameRules/Pick4_Rules.pdf
US lotteries
Multi-jurisdictional games
(by number of jurisdictions)
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