CRAWFORD COUNTY MAN WINS $25,000 LOTTERY PRIZE

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Stephen Blackford Wins Top Prize Playing "Snowman Bingo" Scratch Game

DES MOINES, Iowa – A Crawford County man has won the top prize of $25,000 playing the lottery's "Snowman Bingo" instant-scratch game.

Stephen Blackford, a Schleswig resident, claimed his prize Tuesday at the Iowa Lottery's regional office in Storm Lake. He bought his winning ticket at Wall Lake Country Store, 129 Center St. in Wall Lake.

Snowman Bingo 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.

Two top prizes of $25,000 are left in the Snowman Bingo game. There are still eight prizes of $2,500, as well as 12 prizes of $500 and more than 150 prizes of $150 and $250.

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