NEWTON COUPLE WINS $25,000 PRIZE ON ANNIVERSARY

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Jeff Lamison Wins Top Prize Playing "Bingo Night" Scratch Game

DES MOINES, Iowa – A Newton man was lucky enough to give his wife a little more than flowers on their tenth wedding anniversary this year.

Jeff Lamison, 40, said he and his wife Jodi were scratching some "Bingo Night" tickets on their anniversary when they discovered they had won the top prize of $25,000.

"Neither one of us could believe it. It was just amazing!" Lamison said.

After letting it soak in, Lamison took the ticket back to the retailer, who Lamison knows personally, to have the ticket validated.

"He couldn't believe it. He ran it through and said, 'No, it says see the lottery.' And I said, 'Well of course it does, it should be for $25,000!'" Lamison laughed.

Lamison has had the ticket since Friday night. He said it was a long weekend, and he only got a little bit of sleep.

Lamison, who is a service technician for the Rural Water Department in Newton, said he and his wife plan to use some of the winnings to pay bills and take their kids on vacation.

Lamison claimed his prize Tuesday at the Iowa Lottery's headquarters in Des Moines. He bought his winning ticket at Ryan's Quick Shop, 702 First Ave. E. in Newton.

Bingo Night is a $2 scratch game. Players try to match any complete horizontal, vertical or diagonal line, four corners, or an "X" pattern on one of the four Bingo cards to win the corresponding prize in the prize arrow that points to their card. The overall odds of winning a prize in the game are 1 in 3.57.

Seventeen top prizes of $25,000 are still up for grabs in Bingo Night, as well as 40 prizes of $2,500, 77 prizes of $500 and more than 735 prizes of $250 and $150.

Since the Iowa Lottery's inception in 1985, more than $2.4 billion has been awarded in prizes and more than $1.2 billion has been raised for state programs.