Iowa Player Wins Record $40 Million Lotto America Jackpot
Monday April 3rd 2023After a gap of almost two years, the Lotto America jackpot was finally won again on Saturday night, as a player from Iowa landed $40.03 million. It was the largest jackpot ever seen in the history of the game.
The winning numbers for Saturday April 1st were 2, 38, 43, 46 and 51, with a Star Ball of 7. More than 75,000 ticket holders picked up prizes, and someone matched all the numbers for the first time since an Oklahoman won $8 million on July 14th 2021.
The jackpot has grown steadily over the last 21 months, becoming the biggest of all time last September when it surpassed the $22.8 million that was won by the Kujava family from Minnesota back in 2018.
There was no limit to how high it could go, but now the record has fallen. The winner from Iowa has one year to claim their prize, and can choose to take the $40.03 million as an annuity or a cash option of $21.28 million.
The winning ticket was purchased at Eichman’s Bar & Grill, 11941 U.S.3, in Dubuque County, which will now receive a seller’s bonus of $5,000. Stacy Eichman, the owner of the bar, said: “You hear all the time: What are the odds? Well, it happened here.”
Iowa Lottery’s CEP Matt Strawn, who also serves as vice-chairman of the Lotto America game group, said: “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. This is a moment to celebrate for our winner, our retailer, and the Iowa Lottery.”
Lotto America is played in 13 states. It was launched in October 2017, having originally been played in a different format between 1988 and 1982 before giving way to Powerball.
The odds of winning the jackpot are far better than the odds for Powerball or Mega Millions, and it costs just $1 to play. Draws take place every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
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