MITCHELLVILLE MAN PLANS SURPRISE
WITH $30,000 LOTTERY PRIZE

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Chad Kestner from Mitchellville Wins Top Prize of $30,000 in "4 Way Cash" Scratch Game

DES MOINES, Iowa – A Mitchellville man won the $30,000 top prize playing the "4 Way Cash" scratch game.

Chad Kestner reached for a coin, read the directions and started to scratch his lottery ticket.

"I scratched it off. I looked at it several times," Kestner explained to lottery staff. "And then I called a couple people and I said, 'I got to tell you this because I'm looking at something and I can't believe it, but I think I'm right.'"

Kestner, who works at the Newton Correctional Facility, grabbed his scratch ticket and headed straight to the Iowa Lottery office.

"When she ran it through and said it, then I'm like, 'Alright, I'm not crazy,'" said Kestner, who was a bit shocked once his win was validated.

Kestner claimed his prize April 22 at the Iowa Lottery headquarters in Des Moines. He purchased his ticket at Kum & Go, 1200 N. Walnut in Colfax.

Kestner, 35, said he had a pretty good idea how he'll use his winnings.

"I suppose I need somewhere else to live," hinted Kestner.

He had already shared the news with his mother. Kestner also had plans to tell one more person but not until he could show her in person.

"There's someone else I want to tell, but I'll show her the check," Kestner said.

In the 4 Way Cash game players try to win a prize by matching any of "your amounts" to the "winning amounts" in each of the four play areas on the ticket. Instant prizes in the $3 scratch game range from $3 to $30,000. The overall odds of winning in the game are about 1 in 4.

Three prizes of $30,000 are still up for grabs in 4 Way Cash as well as 31 prizes of $4,000 and more than 100 prizes of $400.

Since the Iowa Lottery's start in 1985, its players have won more than $2.2 billion in prizes while the lottery has raised more than $1.1 billion for state programs.