Tickets for Iowa’s first cash raffle game went on sale Sunday. Iowa Lottery spokesperson Tina Potthoff says a lot of people have already shelled out 20 bucks for their chance to win $1 million.
"Within our first four days, we’ve sold more than $116,000 in tickets, which equals out to about 6,000 $20 tickets. We’re very pleased with that," Potthoff said. The lottery has capped the raffle to 120,000 tickets. Even if some tickets go unsold, sales will end on June 14.
"The drawing date is scheduled for June 17th, but if tickets sell out early, the drawing date will be moved up to approximately three working days after all tickets have been sold. We’re anticipating that this game will be a sell-out, especially since it is Iowa’s first cash raffle game," Potthoff said.
Lottery officials are hoping Iowans will spend $20 on a ticket, knowing their chances of winning a large prize are better than other games. Potthoff says the chances of winning the Powerball jackpot, for example, are about 1 in 146-million. The odds of winning the $1 million top prize in the raffle are 1 in 120,000.
The raffle will also include one prize of $100,000, 10 prizes of $5,000, and 100 prizes of $500. Lottery officials say the state will "break even" when two-thirds of the tickets for the game are sold.