SIOUX CITY WOMAN WINS $15,000

For media-ready jpeg image of Carmen Samorano click here.

Carmen Samorano Wins Top Prize in Lottery Scratch Game

DES MOINES, Iowa - A Woodbury County woman claimed a $15,000 lottery prize on Monday.

Carmen Samorano of Sioux City won the top prize in the “Fire & Dice” instant-scratch game. She purchased the winning ticket at Select Mart, 623 14th St. in Sioux City.

Samorano claimed the prize Monday at the Iowa Lottery's regional office in Storm Lake.

Fire & Dice is a $2 instant-scratch game. If a player's dice beats “their dice,” then the player wins the prize shown for that roll. If a player finds a “chip” symbol, he or she wins all 10 prizes shown. The overall odds of winning in the game are about 1 in 4.

Samorano claimed the fifth top prize in the game. Five top prizes are still available in the game, along with more than 20 prizes of $1,500 and nearly 200 prizes of $150.

Since the Iowa Lottery's inception in 1985, more than $2.1 billion has been awarded in prizes and more than $1.1 billion has been raised for state programs.