DES MOINES WOMAN WINS $30,000 HOT LOTTO PRIZE

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Debra Bacon Claims Prize from January 27 Hot Lotto® Drawing

DES MOINES, Iowa – A Des Moines woman said she was very surprised when she called the Iowa Lottery's Winning Numbers line and discovered she had won a $30,000 prize!

Debra Bacon, 47, said she and her husband, Jack Graham, have been playing the same numbers for nearly a year and never expected to win such a big prize.

"We had won $6 on Saturday. And I took the $6 and put $4 on Powerball and $6 on Hot Lotto. I called the Winning Numbers line this morning and there were our numbers!" Bacon said.

Bacon, who is a homemaker, tried to call Graham to tell him the news but had to leave a message because he was at work. She then called Graham's older son who ended up spilling the beans to Graham.

"He called his son and his son went ahead and told him. I said, 'He didn't know yet; it was going to be a surprise!' But he went ahead and told him everything, so he knew it when he got home," Bacon said.

Bacon has since told her sister and says everyone asks her what she's planning to do first.

"It was just unbelievable at first," she said.

Bacon and her husband plan to use the winnings to open savings accounts for each of themselves and their son, J.D.

Bacon added she was glad she opted to add the Hot Lotto Sizzler option to her ticket, which multiplied her $10,000 win to $30,000.

"We're just going to keep on playing," Bacon said with a smile.

Bacon claimed her prize Jan. 29 at the Iowa Lottery's headquarters in Des Moines. She bought her winning Hot Lotto ticket at Quik Trip, 1501 E. Grand in Des Moines.

Bacon said the numbers she has been playing are Graham's, J.D.'s and her own birthdays. The winning numbers in the $1.1 million Hot Lotto jackpot drawing on Jan. 27 were: 1-2-4-9-10 and Hot Ball 2. There was no jackpot winner for the Jan. 27 drawing.

Bacon won a $10,000 prize by matching the first five numbers but missing the Hot Ball on her ticket. Since she had added the Sizzler® option to her ticket, Bacon multiplied her $10,000 win by three to claim a $30,000 prize.

Hot Lotto players choose five numbers from a pool of 39 and another number, called the Hot Ball, from a pool of 19. The Hot Lotto jackpot starts at $1 million and grows until someone wins it. Tickets in the game cost $1. Hot Lotto drawings are held at about 9:40 p.m. on Wednesdays and Saturdays, just before the Powerball drawings.

Players can multiply their non-jackpot prizes by three with the Hot Lotto Sizzler option. The cost is $1 per play. Prizes are always tripled with the Hot Lotto Sizzler.

Winning numbers may be checked at the lottery Web site at www.ialottery.com or through the winning numbers' hot line at (515) 323-4633. Winning numbers may also be checked with lottery retail outlets or by calling the lottery at (515) 725-7900 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday.

Players may visit the Iowa Lottery at 2323 Grand Ave. in Des Moines or go to one of the lottery's regional offices in Council Bluffs, Storm Lake, Mason City or Cedar Rapids to claim prizes.

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.