News writer
St. Patrick's Day weekend brought some luck to one lucky Iowa Lottery player. The big winner bought a Powerball ticket and added on the popular new Double Play option, which helped them win $500,000 on the March 16 drawing.
The $500,000-winning Powerball Double Play ticket was purchased at the Kwik Star convenience store at 1502 S. Federal Ave. in Mason City.
The Double Play option for Powerball players
For Powerball players in Iowa, the new Double Play option made its debut in November 2023. A Powerball ticket normally costs $2 to play, but for an extra $1 per play, players can add the Double Play option to their Powerball tickets. This will put the total cost of one ticket to $3.
By selecting the Double Play option, the numbers on that ticket will now be eligible to win twice — once in the regular Powerball drawing and once in a separate Double Play drawing held the same night.
If all goes well for the lucky Powerball player, they could possibly win a prize in both the regular Powerball drawing and the Double Play drawing on the same night.
In both drawings, five winning numbers are picked from a main pool of 1 to 69 (for Powerball, the drawing balls are white; for Double Play, the drawing balls are black), and one red Powerball number is selected from a pool of 1 to 26.
Players have the same odds of winning Double Play as Powerball. While it's a rolling jackpot for Powerball, the Double Play has a set top cash prize of $10 million. To win the jackpot in either drawing, a ticket must match all five winning numbers and the Powerball number. However, there are eight other ways to win in each drawing, starting with a prize for matching just the Powerball number.
The $500,000 winning ticket in Iowa
The winning white ball numbers for the March 16 Powerball drawing were 12, 23, 44, 57, and 61, and the Powerball number was 5. The winning black ball numbers for the March 16 Double Play drawing were 9, 11, 13, 29, and 69, and the Double Play Powerball number was 12.
The winning ticket purchased in Mason City happened to match all five black ball numbers for the Double Play drawing but missed the Powerball number. That means the lucky ticket won $500,000, which was the only ticket in the country to win a $500,000 prize on March 16.
For selling the $500,000-winning ticket, the Iowa Lottery will be giving Kwik Star a $500 bonus.
Claiming a prize in Iowa
If you happen to be the lucky purchaser of this $500,000-winning ticket in Iowa, then you must claim the ticket at the Iowa Lottery headquarters in Clive. The office is open Monday through Friday, and they highly recommend making an appointment for claims like this.
If you would like to make an appointment or have any questions, you can call the lottery office at (515) 725-7900.
Prizes won in Iowa for the Powerball Double Play must be claimed within 180 days of the drawing in which they were won.
Enjoy playing the Iowa Lottery, and please remember to play responsibly.
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