March sees a Des Moines Register Iowa Poll showing that an overwhelming 74% of Iowa’s adult population would like to have a lottery within their State. On April 18th – Law is passed in Iowa creating the Iowa State Lottery when Governor Terry Branstad signs the Lottery Bill. From the outset – Iowa Lottery proceeds are to go towards the Iowa Plan which is a long term, ecconomic development program.
Just 122 days later on August 22nd – the sale of the very first Iowa Lottery tickets go ahead at the Iowa State Fair. These first tickets are Instant, Scratch tickets for a game called SCRATCH, MATCH and WIN.
Also this year – the Iowa Lottery introduce its own in-house online lottery – the Iowa LOTTO 6/30 game.
1987
On September 16th – the Multi State Lottery Association – MUSL – is formed by six USA Lottery companies. As well as the Iowa Lottery – other founding MUSL members are the DC Lottery, West Virginia Lottery, Kansas Lottery, Oregon Lottery and Rhode Island Lottery companies.
1988
On February 3rd – the newly formed Multi State Lottery Association – MUSL – launch their first multi-state US Lottery game. LOTTO AMERICA has a matrix of 7/40, costs US$ 1 per game and offers jackpot odds of 1 in 18,643,560.
The first LOTTO AMERICA draw is conducted by the MUSL on February 13th. Iowa Lottery players take part from the outset.
1989
The Multi State Lottery Association change the matrix of LOTTO AMERICA on February 5th to 6/54. IA Lottery players now get 2 games for US$ 1.
February 8th sees the first draw of LOTTO AMERICA with the new game configuration.
1990
On April 30th – the Iowa Lottery introduce a new game – LOTTO CASH.
1991
The proceeds from Iowa State Lottery games will now go towards environmental and cultural programs such as the CLEAN Fund.
1992
The Iowa Lottery introduce its first US$ 2 Multi-Dollar tickets.
From this year – Iowa Lottery proceeds will now go towards the State’s Genaral Fund.
January 28th sees the Iowa Lottery introduce a new game – $100,000 CASH. The new game has a matrix of 5/35 and is drawn Monday through Saturday at 6.28pm.
On April 18th – the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) conduct the last draw of the LOTTO AMERICA game.
The following day sees the launch of a bigger and better game from the MUSL – POWERBALL – which replaces LOTTO AMERICA. The Iowa Lottery begins selling POWERBALL tickets on April 19th.
The first Iowa POWERBALL draw takes place on April 22nd. POWERBALL has a double matrix of 5/45 + 1/45, costs US$ 1 per play and offers jackpot odds of 1 in 54,979,155.
1994
The minimum age at which people can play Iowa Lottery games is changed this year from the more common 18 years – to 21 years of age.
1996
A new game is introduced by the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) on September 16th – DAILY MILLIONS. Iowa Lottery players can win a top prize of US$ 1 Million by picking 2 numbers from each of three sets of 21.
1997
The POWERBALL game is given some changes by the Multi-State Lottery Association – MUSL. November 2nd sees the matrix change to 5/49 + 1/42 and players are given the option to take jackpot winnings in the form of a cash lump sum. The annuity option is also changed from 20 to 25 years.
November 5th sees the first Iowa POWERBALL draw with the new matrix in place.
1998
The Iowa Lottery introduce a new online, numbers game – PICK 3 with nightly draws.
On March 29th – the MUSL retire the DAILY MILLIONS game.
March 30th sees the launch of a new game by the MUSL – CASH4LIFE – where Iowa Lottery players can win US$ 1,000 a week for life.
1999
The Iowa State Lottery introduces a new game – FREEPLAY RELAY – with draws every Wednesday and Saturday at 6.28pm.
2000
On September 7th – the Multi-State Lottery Association retire the CASH4LIFE game.
A new game – ROLLDOWN – is introduced by the Multi-State Lottery Association on September 8th with draws on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Iowa Lottery players take part right from the first draw on September 9th.
2001
On March 4th the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) add a significant feature to the POWERBALL game – POWERPLAY – a multiplier whereby players can increase their non-jackpot winnings by up to 5 times.
March 7th sees the first POWERBALL drawing including the new POWERPLAY multiplier feature.
2002
On April 6th – the Multi-State Lottery Association discontinue the ROLLDOWN game.
The following day – the MUSL introduce a new multi-state game which is added to the Iowa Lottery portfolio – HOT LOTTO. Tickets are first sold on April 7th.
April 10th sees the first drawing of the new Iowa HOT LOTTO game which uses a double matrix of 5/39 + 1/19.
The Multi-State Lottery Association – MUSL – changes the matrix of the POWERBALL game on October 9th. The new configuration is 5/53 + 1/42 and another feature added to the game is the Match 5 BONUS.
On October 5th – the Iowa Lottery takes part in the debut of the POWERBALL INSTANT MILLIONAIRE TV game show in Las Vegas.
2003
The Iowa Lottery retire its FREEPLAY RELAY game on September 20th.
The following day – September 21st – sees the IA Lottery introduce a new game – PICK 4 – with draws twice every day and once on a Sunday.
On the same day – an extra draw is added to the PICK 3 game – which up until now has been nightly. Draws for both the PICK 3 and PICK 4 will now be held at 12.40pm and 9.20pm Monday through Saturday and at 9.20pm on Sunday.
2004
September 25th sees the Multi State Lottery Association retire its POWERBALL INSTANT MILLIONAIRE TV show.
An Iowa POWERBALL jackpot of US$ 14.4 Million is won on October 16th when Jacquelyn Moore – a cereal mill worker from Omaha, Nebraska – selects the POWERBALL winning numbers of 5, 20, 22, 36, 42 and a POWERball of 11.
2005
The Iowa State Lottery place VIDEO LOTTERY terminals at over 2,600 restaurants, bars, grocery stores and convenience stores.
The POWERBALL matrix is given another change by the Multi-State Lottery Association on August 28th – this time to 5/55 + 1/42.
A massive jackpot of US$ 113.2 Million is won on the IA POWERBALL by Hugh Hawkins from Des Moines on December 14th. This is the largest jackpot won to date on the Iowa POWERBALL and today still ranks as the second biggest jackpot ever won on the Iowa Lottery POWERBALL. Hugh chooses to take the cash lump sum payment of US$ 54,799,833.72.
2006
A world record POWERBALL jackpot of an incredible US$ 365 Million is won by a group of Nebraska factory workers following the drawing on February 18th. This still stands as the largest lottery jackpot won in the world to date on a single lottery ticket.
The Iowa State Fair in Des Moines plays host to a live broadcasting of the POWERBALL draw on August 12th.
A huge jackpot of US$ 200.8 Million is won on the Iowa POWERBALL on September 23rd by Tim and Kellie Guderian from Fort Dodge. This win is the largest jackpot won in the history of the Iowa Lottery. The lucky winners decide on the cash option of US$ 95,974,824.23.
2007
An Iowa Lottery player – John Hall from Indianola – wins a massive jackpot on the Iowa HOT LOTTO of US$ 19.7 Million on January 13th. This still ranks today as the largest jackpot ever to be won in the history of the HOT LOTTO game.
The first multi-state Scratch game is introduced in September when the Iowa Lottery and Kansas Lottery companies bring out the MIDWEST MILLIONS.
2008
January 3rd sees the Multi-State Lottery Association introduce its “Sizzler” option for the HOT LOTTO game. Iowa State Lottery players are now able to play the HOT LOTTO with the “Sizzler” add-on and multiply their winnings.
From this year – the Iowa State Lottery dedicate a portion of its proceeds from some of its Instant, Scratch games to the Iowa Veteran’s Trust Fund.
2009
January 4th sees some significant changes to the POWERBALL game – the intention being to create larger jackpot prizes and produce even more winners. Iowa Lottery players will now see jackpots starting off at a vastly increased
US$ 20 Million. Also a new prize level is created – where players can win US$ 1 Million with the Match 5 BONUS feature using POWERPLAY. The Powerball matrix changes to 5/59 + 1/39 and draws for the Powerball move to Orlando’s Universal Studios in Florida – with the Florida Lottery now also joining the MUSL in selling Powerball Tickets.
On October 9th an agreement is made between the Mega Millions Consortium and the MUSL – Multi-State Lottery Association – to allow the cross-sales of MEGA MILLIONS tickets within states that offer the POWERBALL game and the sale of POWERBALL tickets within states that offer the MEGA MILLIONS game. The Iowa Lottery will begin selling MEGA MILLIONS tickets come January.
2010
On January 31st the Iowa Lottery sells its first lottery tickets for the multi-state MEGA MILLIONS game – as a result of the recently made cross-selling agreement between the Mega Millions Consortium and the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) – in October 2009.
The first US$ 1 Million win on the Iowa MEGA MILLIONS occurs on April 9th when Robert Boehm strikes lucky. Robert match the 5 main MEGA MILLIONS winning numbers correctly and played with the MEGAPLIER option.
April 18th sees the Iowa Lottery celebrating its 25th Anniversary. Since it began – US$ 4.8 Billion worth of IA Lottery tickets have been sold.