Iowa Lottery – IA Lottery

Iowa State Lottery – Iowa Lotto

The Iowa State Lottery was created on April 18th 1985 after a Poll the previous month saw 74% of Iowa’s adult population say an overwhelming “Yes” to the authorization of a State Lottery.

The Iowa State Lottery is run by the Iowa State government who oversee all of the running and organization of IA Lottery games.

When the first Iowa Lotto ticket was sold on August 22nd 1985 – the aim of the Iowa Lottery was to benefit the people of Iowa by raising proceeds for the State’s Iowa Plan – at the same time as providing exciting lottery games that offer affordable entertainment and value to its players.

Things are much the same today – with all monies raised from the sale of Iowa Lottery games going to the State’s General Fund – with education, natural resources, health and family services plus public safety being just some of the areas of life in Iowa to benefit.

The Iowa State Lottery is based in Des Moines, IA.

Iowa Lottery – Overview

The Iowa State Lottery sells lottery tickets from its network of around 2,600 authorized IA Lottery retailers throughout the state and has its Headquarters at 2323 Grand Avenue, Des Moines, IA 50312-5307.

In addition to its Headquarters in Des Moines – the Iowa Lottery has 4 Regional Offices in Cedar Rapids, Mason City, Storm Lake and Council Bluffs.

The Iowa Lottery also takes part in 3 of the biggest lottery games in the world – the massive Multi-State USA Lottery games of Mega Millions and Powerball – plus the slightly smaller but highly popular Hot Lotto – all of which we will be looking into in much greater detail.

We will be looking at the various Iowa Lotto games below – how these games work and who can play them – as well as delving into some of the history of the Iowa State Lottery in more detail.

Iowa Lottery – Games

There are numerous games that are offered by the Iowa State Lottery including two of the world's largest lotteries – the huge Mega Millions and Powerball plus the other big, Multi-State USA Lottery – the Hot Lotto.

We will first of all take a look at these multi-state USA Lottery games – that the IA Lottery offers in conjunction with the MUSL – Multi-State Lottery Association and Mega Millions Consortium – and later move on to the other Lottery Iowa games available.

Currently the games offered by the Iowa Lottery that it is possible for players anywhere in the world to buy lottery tickets online for are these two huge USA Lottery games – the Mega Millions and the Powerball – as well as the Hot Lotto.

Other games offered by the Iowa Lottery that you can play in-state are noted further down the page – if any of these other Iowa Lotto games become available to a wider audience at a later date – we will be writing about it here.

Iowa Powerball – IA Powerball

Powerball is a Multi-State USA Lottery that is run & syndicated across the USA by the MUSL – Multi State Lottery Association – and is one of the largest lottery games in the world having produced a record jackpot of an incredible US$ 1.58 BILLION. This sum is the largest lottery jackpot ever to have been won to date in the history of world lottery games.

The very first Powerball draw took place on April 22nd 1992 with 16 USA Lottery companies – who were all members of the MUSL – taking part after the game changed its format and name from Lotto America which had first begun on February 13th 1988.

Iowa Powerball – Overview

The Iowa Lottery is 1 of 47 US State Lotteries & District Lotteries that offer the Powerball game – in this case the Iowa Powerball – as part of its overall portfolio of lottery games.

The Iowa Powerball Lottery was first sold on April 22nd 1992 taking part in the very first Powerball draw – as the Iowa Lottery had been one of the 6 original members who formed the MUSL back on September 16th 1987.

Iowa Powerball – How it Works

The Iowa Lottery Powerball works in the same way as the Powerball game works in all the States and Districts in the US that offer the game.

Jackpots start off at US$ 40 MILLION and ROLLOVER after each draw when the top prize is not won – making for some massive jackpot figures.

6 numbers are drawn in total for the Powerball Iowa game from 2 separate drawing machines – first of all 5 numbers from 69 white balls are drawn followed by 1 number (the POWERball) from 26 red balls.

Draws for the Iowa Powerball Lottery take place twice every week on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 9.59pm CST (10.59pm EST).

In addition to the 6 main Powerball numbers drawn – a further number is drawn – using a Random Number Generator…the Powerball POWERPLAY number…

POWERPLAY…

This separate Powerball POWERPLAY number drawn will be either 2, 3, 4, 5 and occasionally number 10 – and is there to give players of the IA Powerball a chance to increase their winnings on all levels of the prize structure apart from the Iowa Powerball jackpot itself.

With the Powerball POWER PLAY option – you will automatically multiply your winnings on these levels by 2x, 3x, 4x or 5x – greatly increasing the amount you can walk away with.

During special promotions – the Powerball POWER PLAY multiplier will be 10x – allowing IA Lottery players to increase their Powerball winnings by an incredible 10 times!

So, for just an extra dollar – you can choose to increase your Iowa Powerball Lottery winnings on all levels except the jackpot – by adding the Power Ball POWER PLAY option when playing.

Click Here to PLAY Powerball NOW

Iowa Powerball Results

With the Iowa Powerball being drawn every week on both Wednesdays and Saturdays at 9.59pm CST (10.59pm EST) there are various ways you can check the Iowa Powerball results and Powerball winning numbers.

You can find the latest Iowa Powerball Results plus other Iowa Lottery results at all Iowa State Lottery retailers, from Iowa Lottery terminals, various newspapers & here at Global Lottery Review where you can also check any previous Iowa Powerball results.

The Iowa Powerball results, Powerball winning numbers and other Iowa Lottery results are also shown on ialottery.com – the official website of the IALottery – and are broadcast live on the following television channels throughout the state of Iowa…

KTVO (ABC) Channel 3 in Otumwa
KTIV (NBC) Channel 4 in Sioux City
WOI (ABC) Channel 5 in Des Monies
KWQC (NBC) Channel 6 in Quad Cities
KWWL (NBC) Channel 7 in Cedar Rapids, Waterloo, Dubuque

Iowa Powerball – Odds of Winning

There are 9 separate ways that you can win on this Iowa State Lottery game providing a great chance to win something on the Iowa Powerball.

Odds range from 1 in 292,201,338 for correctly matching all the Iowa Lottery Powerball winning numbers right down to 1 in 38.32 for matching just 1 number correctly.

The overall odds of you winning any prize on the IA Powerball are just 1 in 24.87.

See the Powerball Odds and Prizes calculation table on the separate Iowa Powerball page for a complete list of odds and prizes for this game.

IA Mega Millions – Iowa Mega Millions

The Mega Millions is a Multi-State USA Lottery that is run and operated by the Mega Millions Consortium – who administer and syndicate the game across the USA and is one of the largest lottery games in the world – having produced a massive world record jackpot of an incredible US$ 656 MILLION on March 30th 2012. This jackpot was shared between 3 Mega Millions winners from Maryland, Illinois and Kansas and stands as the 2nd biggest jackpot won in world lottery history so far.

The very first Mega Millions draw took place on May 17th 2002 with 6 USA Lottery companies taking part who were all members of the Mega Millions Consortium.

The game had changed its name and format from the Big Game which had started on August 31st 1996. Upon this change – 2 further State Lotteries joined and many more were to follow.

IA Mega Millions – Overview

The Iowa State Lottery is 1 of 46 US State Lotteries & District Lotteries that offer the highly popular Mega Millions game – in this particular case known as the Iowa Mega Millions – as part of its overall portfolio of lottery games.

The Iowa Mega Millions was first sold on January 31st 2010 when the Multi State Lottery Association (MUSL) who run the Powerball game – of which the IA Lottery is a member – entered into a cross-selling agreement with the Mega Millions consortium – allowing cross-sales of Mega Millions in Powerball states and Powerball in Mega Millions states.

IA Mega Millions – How it Works

The Iowa Mega Millions works in exactly the same way as the Mega Millions game works in all the States and Districts in the USA that offer the game.

Jackpots start off at US$ 40 MILLION and ROLLOVER after each draw when the top prize is not won – making for some enormous jackpot figures that can be won on the Iowa Mega Millions lottery.

6 numbers are drawn in total for the Iowa Lottery Mega Millions – from 2 separate drawing machines – firstly 5 numbers from 70 white balls are drawn and then 1 number (the MEGAball) from 25 gold balls.

Draws for the Mega Millions Iowa take place twice every week on Tuesdays and Fridays at 10.00pm CST (11.00pm EST).

In addition to the 6 Mega Millions numbers drawn – a further number is drawn – using a Random Number Generator…the MEGAPLIER number…

MEGAPLIER…

This separate MEGAPLIER multiplier number drawn will be either 2, 3, 4 or 5 – and is there to give players of the IA Mega Millions a chance to increase their winnings on all levels of the prize structure apart from the Mega Millions jackpot itself.

With the Mega Millions MEGAPLIER – you will automatically multiply your winnings on these levels by 2x, 3x, 4x or 5x – greatly increasing the amount you can walk away with.

If you match the 5 main Mega Millions numbers playing with the MEGAPLIER add-on – and a MEGAPLIER number of 5 is drawn – the second tier prize of US$ 1 MILLION would be multiplied by 5x and you could win US$ 5 MILLION.

So, for just an extra dollar – you can choose to increase your Iowa Mega Millions winnings on all levels except the jackpot – by adding the Mega Millions MEGAPLIER option when playing.

Click Here to PLAY Mega Millions NOW

IA Mega Millions Results

With the Iowa Lottery Mega Millions being drawn every week on both Tuesdays and Fridays at 10.00pm CST (11.00pm EST) there are numerous ways you can check the Mega Millions winning numbers as well as any other Iowa Lottery results.

You can find the latest Iowa Mega Millions Results plus any other Iowa Lotto results from all Iowa State Lottery retailers, IA Lottery terminals, select newspapers & here at Global Lottery Review where you can check past Iowa Mega Millions results.

The Iowa Mega Millions winning numbers and other Iowa Lottery results are also published on the official IA Lotto website – ialottery.com – and will be broadcast live on the following Television Channels in the State of Iowa…

KTIV (NBC) Channel 4 in Sioux City
WOI (ABC) Channel 5 in Des Monies
KWQC(NBC) Channel 6 in Quad Cities
KWWL (NBC) Channel 7 in Cedar Rapids, Waterloo, Dubuque

IA Mega Millions – Odds of Winning

There are 9 separate ways that you can win on this Iowa State Lottery game providing you with a great chance to win something on the IA Mega Millions.

Odds range from 1 in 302,575,350 for correctly matching all the Iowa Mega Millions winning numbers right down to 1 in 37 for matching just 1 number correctly.

Overall odds of winning any prize on the Iowa Mega Millions are just 1 in 24.

See the Mega Millions Odds and Prizes calculation table on the separate Iowa Lottery Mega Millions page for a complete list of odds and prizes.

Other Iowa Lottery Games

In addition to the Iowa Powerball, Mega Millions and the Iowa Hot Lotto games which can be played from anywhere in the world – the IowaLottery also offers various other lotto games which can be played within the State of Iowa itself like the $100,000 Cash Game, Pick 3 (Day), Pick 3 (Evening), Pick 4 (Day), Pick 4 (Evening) plus many IALottery Scratch Tickets and Pull Tabs.

If any of these other IA Lotto games become available to a wider audience outside of Iowa at a later date we will write about it here.

Iowa Lottery – Who Can Play?

In the past – you would have had to buy your lottery ticket in the state of Iowa itself to take part in any of the Iowa State Lottery games – including the Iowa Powerball, Iowa Mega Millions and the Iowa Hot Lotto.

These days though – you can play the Mega Millions Online, the Powerball Online and the Hot Lotto Online from anywhere in the world due to the presence of accredited and fully authorized online lottery ticket sales companies like TheLotter.com – allowing you to play wherever you’re based.

So if you live outside of Iowa or the USA but wish to play the Powerball, Mega Millions or Hot Lotto this is simple to do using the best lottery ticket sales companies available – where you can easily buy lottery tickets online – and save yourself a fair amount of time too allowing you to play no matter where you live.

Unlike most other USA Lottery companies whose minimum age requirement is 18 years – the Iowa State Lottery requires that all players are a minimum of 21 years of age before purchasing any IA Lotto tickets including tickets for the Iowa Powerball, Iowa Mega Millions and Iowa Hot Lotto.

Iowa Lottery – How are Prizes Paid?

If you have won either a Iowa Powerball or Iowa Mega Millions jackpot – you will be able to claim your prize as either a cash lump sum or as an annuity payment and you will need to make this life-changing choice within 60 days of making your claim.

If you choose the annuity option – your winnings will be paid to you annually in 30 installments over a 30 year period for both the Powerball and Mega Millions. All Hot Lotto jackpot prizes are paid as cash lump sums.

For prizes on the Powerball, Mega Millions and Hot Lotto – you will have 365 days from the date of the draw to make your claim before your Iowa Lotto ticket will expire.

For all other prizes on the Iowa Lottery – you will have 90 days from the date of the draw – to claim your prize.

If your Iowa Lotto win is up to US$ 100 – you can claim your prize from any Iowa Lottery retailer – up to US$ 600 if there are sufficient retailer funds.

If you’ve had an Iowa Lotto win of over US$ 600 – you will need to claim your prize by submitting a completed Iowa Lottery Winner Claim Form to any Iowa State Lottery office.

If you’ve been lucky enough to win an Iowa Powerball, Iowa Mega Millions or Iowa HOT LOTTO jackpot prize – you will need to make your claim at the Iowa Lottery Headquarters in Des Moines.

These details are all taken care for you if you play lottery online with one of the trusted and genuine online lottery ticket sale companies such as TheLotter as it is their job to make your transaction a seamless process – collecting your winnings and sending them directly to you.

Iowa Lottery Timeline – History

1985

March sees a Des Moines Register Iowa Poll showing that an overwhelming 74% of Iowa’s adult population would like to have a State Lottery within Iowa.

On April 18th – Law is passed in Iowa creating the Iowa State Lottery when Governor Terry Branstad signs the Lottery Bill. From the outset – Iowa Lottery proceeds go towards the Iowa Plan which is a long term, ecconomic development program.

Just 122 days later on August 22nd – the sale of the very first Iowa Lottery tickets go ahead at the Iowa State Fair. These first IALottery tickets are Instant, Scratch tickets for a game called SCRATCH, MATCH and WIN.

Also this year – the Iowa Lottery introduce its own in-house online lottery – the Iowa LOTTO 6/30 game.

1987

On September 16th – the Multi State Lottery Association – MUSL – is formed by six USA Lottery companies. As well as the Iowa Lottery – the other founding members of the MUSL are the DC Lottery, West Virginia Lottery, Kansas Lottery, plus the Oregon Lottery and Rhode Island Lottery companies.

1988

On February 3rd – the newly formed Multi State Lottery Association – MUSL – launch their first multi-state US Lottery game. LOTTO AMERICA has a matrix of 7/40, costs US$ 1 per game and offers jackpot odds of 1 in 18,643,560.

The first LOTTO AMERICA draw is conducted by the MUSL on February 13th. Iowa Lottery players take part from the outset.

1989

The Multi State Lottery Association change the matrix of the LOTTO AMERICA game on February 5th to 6/54. IA Lottery players now get 2 games for US$ 1.

February 8th sees the first draw of LOTTO AMERICA with the new game configuration.

1990

On April 30th – the Iowa Lottery introduce a brand new game – LOTTO CASH.

1991

The proceeds from Iowa State Lottery games will now go towards environmental and cultural programs such as the CLEAN Fund.

1992

The Iowa Lottery introduce its first US$ 2 Multi-Dollar tickets.

From this year – Iowa Lottery proceeds will now go towards the State’s Genaral Fund.

January 28th sees the Iowa Lottery introduce a new game – $100,000 CASH. The new game has a matrix of 5/35 and is drawn Monday through Saturday at 6.28pm.

On April 18th – the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) conduct the last draw of the LOTTO AMERICA game.

The following day sees the launch of a bigger and better game from the MUSL – POWERBALL – which replaces LOTTO AMERICA. The Iowa Lottery begins selling POWERBALL tickets on April 19th.

The first Iowa POWERBALL draw takes place on April 22nd. POWERBALL has a double matrix of 5/45 + 1/45, costs US$ 1 per play and offers jackpot odds of 1 in 54,979,155.

1994

The minimum age at which people can play IowaLottery games is changed this year from the more usual 18 years – to 21 years.

1996

A new game is introduced by the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) on September 16th – DAILY MILLIONS. Iowa Lottery players can win a top prize of US$ 1 Million by picking 2 numbers from each of three sets of 21.

1997

The POWERBALL game is given some changes by the Multi-State Lottery Association – MUSL. November 2nd sees the matrix change to 5/49 + 1/42 and players are given the option to take jackpot winnings in the form of a cash lump sum. The annuity option is also changed from 20 to 25 years.

November 5th sees the first Iowa POWERBALL draw with the new matrix in place.

1998

The Iowa Lottery introduce a new online, numbers game – PICK 3 with nightly draws.

On March 29th – the MUSL retire the DAILY MILLIONS game.

March 30th sees the launch of a new game by the MUSL – CASH4LIFE – where  US$ 1,000 a week for life can be won by Iowa Lottery players.

1999

The Iowa State Lottery introduces FREEPLAY RELAY – a new game with draws every Wednesday and Saturday at 6.28pm.

2000

On September 7th – the Multi-State Lottery Association retire the CASH4LIFE game.

A new game – ROLLDOWN – is introduced by the Multi-State Lottery Association on September 8th with draws on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Iowa Lottery players take part right from the first draw on September 9th.

2001

On March 4th the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) add a significant feature to the POWERBALL game – POWERPLAY – a multiplier whereby players can increase their non-jackpot winnings by up to 5 times.

March 7th sees the first POWERBALL drawing including the new POWERPLAY multiplier feature.

2002

On April 6th – the Multi-State Lottery Association discontinue the ROLLDOWN game.

The following day – the MUSL introduce a new multi-state game which is added to the Iowa Lottery portfolio – HOT LOTTO. Tickets are first sold on April 7th.

April 10th sees the first drawing of the new Iowa HOT LOTTO game which uses a double matrix of 5/39 + 1/19.

The Multi-State Lottery Association – MUSL – changes the matrix of the POWERBALL game on October 9th. The new configuration is 5/53 + 1/42 and theMatch 5 BONUS is another feature added to the game

On October 5th – the Iowa Lottery takes part in the debut of the POWERBALL INSTANT MILLIONAIRE TV game show in Las Vegas.

2003

The Iowa State Lottery retire its FREEPLAY RELAY game on September 20th.

The following day – September 21st – sees the IA Lottery introduce a new game – PICK 4 – with draws twice every day and once on a Sunday.

On the same day – an extra draw is added to the PICK 3 game – which up until now has been nightly. Draws for both the PICK 3 and PICK 4 will now be held at 12.40pm and 9.20pm Monday through Saturday and at 9.20pm on Sunday.

2004

September 25th sees the Multi State Lottery Association retire its POWERBALL INSTANT MILLIONAIRE TV show.

An Iowa POWERBALL jackpot of US$ 14.4 Million is won on October 16th when Jacquelyn Moore – a cereal mill worker from Omaha, Nebraska – selects the POWERBALL winning numbers of 5, 20, 22, 36, 42 and a POWERball of 11.

2005

The Iowa State Lottery place VIDEO LOTTERY terminals at over 2,600 restaurants, bars, grocery stores and convenience stores.

The POWERBALL matrix is given another change by the Multi-State Lottery Association on August 28th – to 5/55 + 1/42.

A massive jackpot of US$ 113.2 Million is won on the IA POWERBALL by Hugh Hawkins from Des Moines on December 14th. This is the largest jackpot won to date on the Iowa POWERBALL and today still ranks as the 2nd biggest jackpot ever won on the Iowa Lottery POWERBALL. Hugh chooses to take the cash lump sum payment of US$ 54,799,833.72.

2006

A world record POWERBALL jackpot of US$ 365 Million is won by a group of Nebraska factory workers following the drawing on February 18th. Until May 2013 this was the largest jackpot to have been won in the world to date on a single lottery ticket.

On August 12th the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines plays host to a live broadcasting of the POWERBALL draw.

A huge Iowa Powerball jackpot of US$ 200.8 Million is won on September 23rd by Tim and Kellie Guderian from Fort Dodge. This win is the largest jackpot won in the history of the Iowa State Lottery. The lucky winners decide on the cash option of US$ 95,974,824.23.

2007

An Iowa Lottery player – John Hall from Indianola – wins a massive jackpot on the Iowa Hot Lotto of US$ 19.7 Million on January 13th. This still ranks today as the largest jackpot ever to be won in the history of the HOT LOTTO game.

The first multi-state Scratch game is introduced in September when the Iowa State Lottery and Kansas Lottery companies bring out the MIDWEST MILLIONS.

2008

January 3rd sees the Multi-State Lottery Association introduce its “Sizzler” option for the Hot Lotto game. Iowa State Lottery players are now able to play the Hot Lotto with the “Sizzler” add-on and multiply their winnings.

From this year – the Iowa State Lottery dedicates a portion of its lottery proceeds from some of its Instant, Scratch games to the Iowa Veteran’s Trust Fund.

2009

January 4th sees some significant changes to the POWERBALL game – the intention being to create larger jackpot prizes and produce even more winners. Iowa Lottery players will now see jackpots starting off at a vastly increased US$ 20 Million. Also a new prize level is created – where players can win US$ 1 Million with the Match 5 BONUS feature using POWERPLAY. The Powerball matrix changes to 5/59 + 1/39 and draws for the Powerball move to Orlando’s Universal Studios in Florida – with the Florida Lottery now also joining the MUSL in selling Powerball Tickets.

On October 9th an agreement is made between the Mega Millions Consortium and the MUSL – Multi-State Lottery Association – to allow the cross-sales of MEGA MILLIONS tickets within states that offer the POWERBALL game and the sale of POWERBALL tickets within states that offer the MEGA MILLIONS game. The Iowa State Lottery will begin selling MEGA MILLIONS Tickets come January.

2010

On January 31st the Iowa State Lottery sells its first lottery tickets for the multi-state MEGA MILLIONS game – as a result of the recently made cross-selling agreement between the Mega Millions Consortium and the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) – in October 2009.

The first US$ 1 Million win on the Iowa MEGA MILLIONS occurs on April 9th when Robert Boehm strikes lucky. Robert match the 5 main MEGA MILLIONS winning numbers correctly and played with the MEGAPLIER option.

April 18th sees the Iowa Lottery celebrating its 25th Anniversary. Since it began – US$ 4.8 Billion worth of IA Lottery tickets have been sold.

Iowa Lottery – Where the Money Goes

Net proceeds raised by the Iowa Lottery go back to the State and benefit the citizens of Iowa in a number of different ways.

Initially – all Iowa State Lottery profits went direct to the State’s Iowa Plan – which was a program for long-term economic development.

Environmental and cultural programs became the beneficiaries of IA Lottery funding from 1991.

From 1992 it was decided that all Iowa State Lottery profits should go to the General Fund in Iowa – with education, public safety, natural resources plus health and family services in Iowa – being just some of the areas to receive funding from the Iowa State Lottery.

Other current beneficiaries of Iowa State Lottery funding include the Iowa Veteran’s Trust Fund and Vision Iowa – with previous recipients including the CLEAN Fund and the Iowa Gambling Treatment Fund.

Since its inception in 1985 – the Iowa State Lottery has raised in excess of US$ 1.2 Billion towards good causes throughout the State.

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