FORT DODGE WOMAN GETS WIN ON A WHIM

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Erika Mader Wins Top Prize of $30,000 Playing the "Crossword" (orange newsprint) Scratch Game

DES MOINES, Iowa – A Fort Dodge woman won the top prize of $30,000 playing the "Crossword" (orange newsprint) scratch game.

Twenty-one year old Erika Mader was driving on her way back to the University of Iowa, where she attends school, when she decided on a whim to purchase a scratch ticket.

"I just stopped at a Waterloo gas station right off the highway to fill up with gas," explained Mader to lottery staff on Wednesday. "So I just, I don't know, on a whim, just bought one."

Mader scratched off her winning ticket later that evening.

"I just waited to scratch it. And I started it while I was at the library waiting for my sister," said Mader. "I didn't finish scratching it until about 11 that night."

Mader started counting all the words she had uncovered on her Crossword ticket with great excitement.

"I got 10. And I was freaking out," Mader laughed. "I had someone double-check it for me. Then I took it to Kum & Go in Iowa City later that night and they printed out the $30,000 receipt for me."

Mader said she had a hard time keeping the good news from her family and friends.

"I told a lot of people. I couldn't really keep it secret," laughed Mader. "Everyone's pretty excited for me."

Mader waited until she was finished with her finals before coming in to claim her prize. And after thinking about it for awhile, she had a pretty good idea of how she planned to use her winnings.

"I'm going to hopefully pay off some of my school loans that have high interest," stated Mader. "I don't know. I'd like to go on a trip or something. Send my parents on a trip. And I want to give some to the American Cancer Society. But otherwise, put some in a CD."

Mader claimed her prize at the Iowa Lottery's regional office in Cedar Rapids. She bought her winning ticket at All Stop, 2424 Ranchero Road in Waterloo.

Crossword (orange newsprint) is a $3 scratch game. Players win a prize by uncovering at least three complete words in the ticket's puzzle. If a player uncovers 10 words, he/she wins $30,000. The overall odds of winning in the game are about 1 in 4.

Fifty prizes of $30,000 are still up for grabs in Crossword (orange newsprint) as well as 69 prizes of $3,000, more than 1,020 prizes of $300 as well as more than 4,930 prizes of $100.

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.