They already have the first $10,000 Winner:
ATLANTIC WOMAN WINS $10,000
April Zarbano Wins Top Prize in Scratch Game
A Cass County woman rode into the sunset with a large lottery prize! April Zarbano of Atlantic won $10,000 playing "The Duke" instant-scratch game. She purchased the winning ticket at Kum & Go, 701 Poplar St. in Atlantic. [about an hour and a quarter west of Winterset.]
Zarbano claimed her prize at the Iowa Lottery's regional office in Council Bluffs. "I was sitting right outside the door of Kum & Go [when I scratched the winning ticket]," she said. "I started crying and shaking and the [clerk] came running out and said, 'How much did you win?'"
Zarbano said she called her husband right away to tell him the good news. As it turns out, it was his birthday that day!
She said she's pretty sure how they'll use her prize money. "We've been looking for a house, so I believe we're going to use most of it for a down payment," she said.
The Duke is a $2 scratch game commemorating the 100th birthday of legendary screen actor and Iowa native John Wayne. If a player matches any of "their numbers" to a "winning number," they win the prize shown for that number. If they find a "horseshoe" symbol, they win that prize instantly. The overall odds of winning in the game are approximately 1 in 4.
Zarbano claimed the first top prize in the game, which went on sale beginning May 14. The game is already nearly sold out. Nine top prizes of $10,000 are still up for grabs in the game as well as more than 250 prizes of $100.
Since the Iowa Lottery's inception in 1985, more than $2 billion has been awarded in prizes and more than $1 billion has been raised for state programs.
For those who are concerned about how Iowa Lottery proceeds are spent:
Lottery profits have helped the state in a variety of ways through the years. When legislation authorizing the Iowa Lottery was signed into law in 1985, lottery profits were earmarked for the Iowa Plan, a long-term economic development program.
In 1991, lottery profits were designated for environmental and cultural programs. But after one year, all lottery proceeds were directed to the state general fund. Most lottery revenues have continued to go to the general fund since that time. More than 60 percent of the money in the general fund goes to Iowa's public K-12 schools and higher education. Other programs that receive money from the general fund include justice programs, health and human services and agricultural programs.
The Lottery also provides a portion of its revenues to the state Gambling Treatment Program, which administers the 1-800-BETSOFF helpline for those concerned about program gambling. Through the years, the lottery has provided more than $12 million in funding to the gambling treatment program.
Lottery revenues also were used to secure financing for the Vision Iowa program. Vision Iowa was created in 2000 to provide funding for tourism attractions and school repairs in the state. Bonds for the program were issued with direct funding provided by state revenues from racetracks and casinos, and lottery revenues used as a backup over the 20-year payback period of the bonds.
The Lottery sells tickets in three general categories: instant-scratch, pull-tab and lotto games. Lottery products are sold at more than 2,600 retail locations in Iowa.
The Iowa Lottery is a state-run program and *ALL* lottery profits go into helping fund state programs; they are not getting rich or lining their pockets. Because of their situation, the Lottery could not donate to the new Museum directly, but donated 10% of the licensing fee (so the licensing fee was $24,000).
Wayne Davis
Birthplace of John Wayne
http://www.johnwaynebirthplace.org
