"Deal Or No Deal" Is Fast Seller For Iowa Lottery

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Popularity Of Hit Television Show Translates To Lottery Scratch Tickets

DES MOINES, Iowa - The popularity of the “Deal or No Deal” television game show has translated into top-selling lottery games in Iowa.

The Iowa Lottery has sold two versions of instant-scratch games based on the theme of the hit TV show. The lottery's first “Deal or No Deal” scratch game was released in mid-July and that $3 game sold out. The lottery then introduced its current version of Deal or No Deal, a $5 scratch game, on Oct. 8 and it has been one of the five top-selling scratch games in Iowa in the weeks since.

“Our Deal or No Deal scratch tickets have kept much of the look and play style of the TV game show and we think that is one of the big appeals,” said lottery vice president Mary Neubauer. “And, our current game offers players the chance to travel to Hollywood to compete on the game show, which we know is a big draw.”

The American version of the TV game show is hosted by Howie Mandel and airs Friday nights on NBC. Each night, a contestant is presented with 26 sealed briefcases that contain amounts ranging from 1 cent up to $1 million. The contestant chooses one of the briefcases to keep until the end of the game if he or she chooses. The risk element comes in when the player has to then eliminate the remaining 25 cases, which are opened and the amount of cash inside revealed. A mysterious entity known only as “The Banker” tries to tempt the player to accept an offer of cash in exchange for what might be contained in the briefcase the contestant has chosen.

A version of the TV game show has aired in more than 35 countries.

The Iowa Lottery's Deal or No Deal scratch game offers instant prizes ranging from $5 to $50,000. Players scratch each of the 19 “briefcases” in the play area on the front of each ticket to reveal either a dollar amount or a “No Deal” symbol underneath each case. They then scratch only the corresponding dollar amounts or symbols in the “prize table” on the ticket to eliminate that amount or symbol. The one remaining unmatched box in the prize table determines what that ticket wins.

Players who don't win an instant prize can enter their nonwinning tickets in second-chance drawings for one of three trips to Hollywood or a $1 million grand prize. Players can enter the second-chance drawings by visiting the Iowa Lottery's Web site at www.ialottery.com and filling out an electronic entry form there.

Entries in the second-chance drawings will be accepted through midnight on Sunday, Aug. 24. Entries received by Feb. 24 will be eligible for a drawing on Feb. 26 to determine the three Iowa Lottery players who each will win a trip for four to Hollywood valued at more than $13,500. Once there, each of those players will win a cash amount from $5,000 to $25,000 or they'll have the opportunity to compete in a “Deal or No Deal” show and win up to $1 million!

All entries that did not win a trip in that initial drawing and all other entries received by Aug. 24 will be eligible for a second Iowa Lottery drawing on Aug. 26 that will determine three semifinalists for a $1 million grand prize. The drawing for that prize will be held Sept. 17 in Alpharetta, Ga., and the winner will be chosen from all semifinalists selected by Iowa and the other lotteries that are participating in the Deal or No Deal promotion.

Game rules and other details are available on the Iowa Lottery Web site. The Deal or No Deal game is licensed to the lottery by MDI Entertainment, a division of New York-based Scientific Games Corp.

Since its start in 1985, the Iowa Lottery has raised more than $1 billion for the state programs that benefit all Iowans while awarding more than $2 billion in prizes to its players. Through the years, lottery funds have been used for a variety of initiatives, including projects to create new recreation areas, support research at Iowa's public universities, develop new products and techniques for agriculture, and promote tourism in Iowa.

Iowa Lottery profits currently are deposited in the state general fund, where they are used to pay for a variety of programs. Some of the programs that receive money from the general fund include education, natural resources, health and family services and public safety.