"SHERLOCK HOLMES" BECOMES FAMILY FAVORITE
AFTER $20,000 WIN

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Denise Ballo Wins Top Prize Playing the "Sherlock Holmes" Scratch Game

DES MOINES, Iowa – An Oelwein woman said her whole family has fallen in love with the Iowa Lottery's "Sherlock Homes" scratch ticket after she won the top prize of $20,000!

Denise Ballo, 48, was on the way to the airport with her husband Mark and daughter Brenna when she decided to pick up a few scratch tickets.

"My daughter and son-in-law were coming back from Boston, Massachusetts, so we went to the airport. And right before the airport is the A&W and Casey's, and we stopped off there. We normally don't play the lottery, but we decided to get three tickets," Ballo said.

From those three tickets, she won five free tickets, and in the stack of five tickets was the big winner.

"We scratched it and it was a lucky number 20 and I still can't believe we won!" she said.

Ballo joked about asking the cashier for the winning tickets and actually getting one.

"We took it up and I said, 'You know what, I think we have a winner!' When it said, 'You're a winner!' he was excited because he said it was his biggest winner," Ballo said.

It was an exciting homecoming for Ballo's daughter and son-in-law as they were surprised with the family's win at the airport.

"We couldn't even stand still at the airport! We were jumping and screaming and hollering throughout the Casey's, too," Ballo said.

Ballo said she's told other friends and family, but they don't believe her at first. She plans to use the photo of herself with the oversized check she received from the lottery for her Christmas cards this year.

Ballo plans to use some of her winnings to help someone in need this holiday season. Since her big win, Ballo's entire family has begun purchasing the Sherlock Holmes tickets.

"My daughter and her husband went out and bought some more and they each won $4. And we stopped off at the Casey's in our hometown and my daughter won $3, so yep! It's a winning Sherlock Holmes!" she said.

Ballo claimed her prize Tuesday at the Iowa Lottery's regional office in Cedar Rapids. She purchased her winning ticket at Casey's, 9125 Atlantic Dr. S.W. in Cedar Rapids.

Sherlock Holmes is a $2 scratch game. Players who match any of "their numbers" to any "winning number" on their ticket win the prize shown for that play area. If they find a "hat" symbol, they win the prize shown instantly. The overall odds of winning in the game are 1 in 3.61.

Ballo claimed the second of five top prizes of $20,000 in the Sherlock Holmes game. Thirty prizes of $200 have yet to be claimed, as well as 52 prizes of $100.

Since the Iowa Lottery's start in 1985, its players have won more than $2.4 billion in prizes while the lottery has raised more than $1.2 billion for state programs.

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