CLIVE, Iowa - This is no joke: Someone in Iowa won the Lotto America® jackpot in the game’s April 1 drawing.
The jackpot-winning ticket was purchased at Eichman’s, a restaurant and convenience store at 11941 U.S. Highway 52 N. in Dubuque. The jackpot in Saturday’s drawing was a record for the Lotto America game: $40.03 million annuity, $21.28 million cash option.
“You hear all the time: What are the odds? Well, it happened here!” said Stacy Eichman, owner of Eichman’s, which has been in her family since 1931. “Honestly, I’m still processing. It’s hard to believe.”
The Lotto America jackpot had been growing since July 2021. Before this latest run, the game’s jackpot record was a $22.82 million prize won in March 2018 by a Minnesota family.
Iowa Lottery CEO Matt Strawn, who serves as vice chair of the Lotto America game group, joined Eichman in celebrating the win.
“As the jackpot continued to climb, we kept saying that the odds of winning it in Iowa are the same as anywhere else. And now it’s happened,” Strawn said. “This is a moment to celebrate for our winner, our retailer, and the Iowa Lottery.”
The jackpot-winning ticket matched all six numbers in Saturday’s Lotto America drawing, which were: 2-38-43-46-51 and Star Ball® 7. Eichman’s will receive a $5,000 bonus from the Iowa Lottery for selling the jackpot-winning Lotto America ticket.
Lotto America is known as Powerball’s smaller cousin. The game costs $1 to play and has drawings on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, just like Powerball®. It has the same playstyle as Powerball, with players selecting numbers from two separate pools for a chance to win. But Lotto America’s jackpots start at a smaller level and the game has easier odds of winning.
Lotto America is sold by 13 lotteries, while Powerball is offered by 48.
Players in Lotto America choose five numbers from a pool of 52 and another number, called the Star Ball, from a pool of 10. Players who match all six numbers in a drawing win the game’s jackpot. The odds of winning the jackpot in Lotto America are around 1 in 26 million, compared to odds of about 1 in 292.2 million of winning the Powerball jackpot and about 1 in 302.6 million of winning the Mega Millions® jackpot.
Jackpot prizes must be claimed at Iowa Lottery headquarters in Clive, and appointments are strongly encouraged for those claims. To make an appointment or contact the lottery with questions, the winner or winners are welcome to call the lottery at 515-725-7900 or email to wmaster@ialottery.com.
Lottery offices are closed on weekends, so Monday is the earliest that the prize could be claimed. As always, the Iowa Lottery encourages winners of sizeable amounts to consult a lawyer or financial planner before stepping forward to claim the prize.
This is the second Lotto America jackpot won in Iowa. A Davenport man won a $4.38 million jackpot in the game in May 2018.
The Lotto America jackpot returns to $2 million annuity, $1.06 million cash option, for the game’s next drawing on Monday.
About the Iowa Lottery: Since the lottery's start in 1985, its players have won more than $5.4 billion in prizes while the lottery has raised more than $2.3 billion for state programs.
Today, lottery proceeds help our state in multiple ways. They help Iowa veterans and their families through the Iowa Veterans Trust Fund. They help with ongoing insurance costs for the families of Iowa peace officers, firefighters and corrections employees who die in the line of duty. And they provide help for a variety of significant projects through the state General Fund.