Adel Man Claims Lottery Prize Of $25,000 A Year For Life
Michael Pietz is Iowa's 12th Big Winner In Lucky For Life®
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CLIVE, Iowa - A central Iowa man admits he carried a lottery ticket winning a prize of $25,000 a year for life around in his wallet for a couple weeks before he ever realized he'd hit big.
"I happened to check the ticket, I had a few of them in my wallet, figured it was time to check them to see if I had enough to buy a couple more," Michael "Micky" Pietz of Adel said with a laugh as he claimed his prize in the Lucky for Life game on Thursday at Iowa Lottery headquarters in Clive. "I ended up with a little bit more than that."
Pietz, 37, who works in the gas and utilities industry, said he was using a self-checker at a local store to check the results of his tickets and didn't notice at first the amount that the machine displayed for one of them.
"I was talking with the clerk and not overly paying attention," he said. "I scanned it and he's like, 'Wait a minute, what did that say?' And I said, 'I don't know, probably something like $10.' And I scanned it again and I thought, 'That can't be right.' And I scanned it again and then I had him scan it."
Still in disbelief, Pietz said he then went home and asked his wife to scan the ticket using the lottery's mobile app. All the results showed a ticket winning a prize of $25,000 a year for life.
"I still didn't quite think it was real," he said.
Pietz won his prize in the Oct. 13 drawing of the Lucky for Life game. He is Iowa's 12th big winner in the game since it debuted in the state in January 2016.
Lucky for Life is a $2 game with drawings each night. Its top two prize levels are described as "lasting as long as you do," meaning that they are truly for life. The minimum guaranteed payout for those two prize levels is 20 years, and there is a lump-sum option for players who prefer that rather than lifetime annuity payments.
Pietz chose to receive his winnings in a lump-sum payment of $390,000. He said that he and his wife planned to use the lottery winnings to pay off debt, invest for their future, and establish educational accounts for their four children.
The winning numbers on Oct. 13 in Lucky for Life were: 13-16-18-23-33 and Lucky Ball 17. Pietz's easy-pick ticket matched the first five numbers but missed the Lucky Ball to win the game's second prize of $25,000 a year for life.
He bought his winning ticket at Kum & Go, 409 Nile Kinnick Drive S. in Adel. Kum & Go will receive a $500 bonus from the Iowa Lottery for selling the winning ticket.
Pietz admits he didn't really think he would ever hit big.
"Maybe a couple hundred here, or something like that. Nothing more than a thousand," he said. "I definitely did not expect this."
With his own story in mind, he had sage advice for other winners checking the results of their tickets.
"Pay attention to them," he said with a smile.
Players in Lucky for Life choose five numbers from a pool of 48 for the white balls and 1 out of 18 numbers for the Lucky Ball. Players can win the game's top prize of $1,000 a day for life by matching all six numbers selected in one of its drawings. The game's second prize – for matching the first five numbers but missing the Lucky Ball – is $25,000 a year for life. Other prize levels in the game range from $3 up to $5,000.
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