Miscellaneous FAQs
How many people are employed by the lottery? Are they able to play the lottery?
There are 113 lottery employees. Many of the employees are in sales and they call on the
lottery's 2,400 retailers statewide. Lottery employees cannot play or win prizes on any Iowa
Lottery product.
Who comes up with the ideas for new lottery games?
The Iowa Lottery uses a number of sources for new games including players, retailers and staff.
The Iowa Lottery also closely monitors games put out by other lotteries around the country. An ad
agency is contracted to help write and produce television and radio spots, but most of the game
development is done internally.
Who makes the rules on how much money a player wins for picking two, three, four or five numbers
correctly?
The Iowa Lottery sets the prize structure for Iowa's Pick 3 and Pick 4 games.
With Powerball and Lotto America the prize structure is set by
the lotteries that are members of the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) since multiple states
participate in those games. A group of Representatives from participating lotteries set the
prize structures in Lucky for Life and Mega Millions.
What about the argument that, "no one from here ever wins?"
That seems to be a myth that's based upon the
area you're from, no matter where that is. Here's an
example: We were talking one day with the folks from
the D.C. Lottery in Washington and we were telling
them about the grumbling we'll sometimes hear that
"no one from here ever wins." They started laughing
and said what they hear is that "it's always those
people from Iowa who win the jackpot." We think the
root of the situation is that people will never be
truly satisfied unless they're the ones who win the
jackpot! In reality, people can and do win lottery
prizes every day.
What about the argument that only poor people
play the Lottery?
Let's look at that by the numbers. Iowa Lottery
players bought more than $324 million in lottery
tickets in the latest financial year. It simply
doesn't hold that if only poor people play the
lottery, they had more than $324 million to spend.
It also doesn't make sense from a business-model
perspective -- you simply wouldn't develop a plan
around a customer base that can't afford your
product. The reality is that Iowa Lottery players
are from a broad cross-section of society. They're
male and female, young and old, from urban and rural
areas. They choose to spend some of their
entertainment dollars playing the lottery, just like
they choose to spend some of those dollars going to
the movies, dining out and attending concerts.
What about people who say that only players from
big cities win?
It's our job at the Iowa Lottery to have
integrity in our games and ensure that winners are
determined by nothing other than pure, random
chance. You want to know when you play the lottery
that you have the same fair chance of winning as
anyone else. Now, it is true that more people live
in bigger cities, which means more people are buying
lottery tickets there and winning prizes. Another
way of putting that is that if 5 percent of lottery
tickets are sold in a particular area, you expect to
find about 5 percent of the overall winners there,
and that's been the case with the Iowa Lottery.
Everyone has the same chance of winning but there
will be more winners in places where more tickets
are being sold.
What about people who are addicted to gambling?
That's an issue we take very seriously at the
Iowa Lottery, and we have a strong track record in
that regard. Only about 4-6 percent of those
admitted to treatment through the Iowa Gambling
Treatment Program say the lottery was their primary
form of wagering. We're working hard to make sure
people understand that help is available for those
who have a gambling problem or are concerned about
the effects that gambling may have on a loved one.
The Iowa Problem Gambling Services provides
treatment, counseling and outreach programs for
those concerned about gambling. It also runs the
1-800-BETS OFF helpline that's available 24 hours a
day, 7 days a week. The Iowa Lottery is committed to
responsible play. Each year, the lottery provides
information about 1-800-BETS OFF in millions of ways.
The lottery includes messages about the helpline on
its tickets, brochures and point-of-sale materials
and also includes that information in its
publications. The lottery also provided more than
$15.7 million to the Iowa Gambling Treatment Fund
through the years.
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