SALES UNDERWAY IN LOTTERY'S CASH RAFFLE GAME
WITH ST. PAT'S DRAWING

Estimated $1 Million Top Prize In "Pot O' Gold Raffle"; Only 120,000 Tickets Available

DES MOINES, Iowa – Sales have begun in the Iowa Lottery's new cash raffle game, which offers players 112 prizes ranging from an estimated $1,000 up to $1 million in a St. Patrick's Day drawing. Only 120,000 tickets will be sold for the "Pot O' Gold Raffle" and each will cost $20.

"This is a different twist on both raffles and the lottery," Iowa Lottery CEO Terry Rich said Monday. "This game also offers some of the best odds ever for winning a $1 million prize, and that's something we think will be a hit with our players."

Sales started Sunday in the game, with tickets available at lottery terminals in retail locations across the state. Each ticket will bear a unique number from 10000001 to 10120000.

The prizes and odds are:

• One top prize of an estimated $1 million (1:120,000 odds of winning).
• One prize of an estimated $100,000 (1:120,000 odds).
• 100 prizes of an estimated $1,000 (1:1,200 odds).

Rich noted that the Iowa Lottery's first cash raffle game was offered in 2008, but its sales were impacted by the severe storms and flooding that devastated much of the state that spring and summer. Rich said that lottery raffle games have been successful in other states, and the Iowa Lottery anticipates its new game will do well here.

Kimberly Edwards of Pleasant Hill, a member of a natural gas repair crew, won the $1 million top prize in the 2008 raffle game. John Warner, a Polk City electrician, won that game's $100,000 prize.

This year's sales period for lottery raffle tickets is scheduled to end March 13, but it may end sooner if all tickets sell out before that date. The drawing is scheduled for March 17. Raffle players must keep their tickets to check them against the winning raffle numbers and to claim a prize.

After the drawing, the winning raffle numbers will be posted on the lottery Web site at www.ialottery.com and will be available via print-out from lottery terminals. In addition, the lottery will provide a list of the winning numbers on posters that will be put up in retail locations and at the lottery's regional offices in Council Bluffs, Storm Lake, Des Moines, Mason City and Cedar Rapids.

Prizes must be claimed within 90 calendar days of the drawing date.

The prize amounts listed for the raffle are based on all available tickets being sold. If all tickets are not sold, prizes will be awarded on a pari-mutuel basis based on a percentage of total tickets actually sold and will be lower than the set prize amounts.

Since the Iowa Lottery's start in 1985, its players have won more than $2.4 billion in prizes while the lottery has raised more than $1.2 billion for state programs.