DES MOINES, Iowa ñ A Cerro Gordo County woman said she decided to check a few Powerball® tickets on a whim one day and discovered she’d won a $10,000 prize in the Aug. 20 drawing.
Ruth Skluzacek, 59, said she often lets a few of her Powerball tickets accumulate and has them validated at a local retailer whenever she gets the chance, but she never dreamed one would turn out to be a big winner.
“She said, ‘You’re a winner!’” Skluzacek said. “And when it was for $10,000 I was really happy.”
Skluzacek said it was hard to believe she was such a big winner at first.
“I thought, ‘Wow, this is wonderful!’” she said.
The first person Skluzacek told was her husband, Greg. She said he couldn’t believe it either, so she had to show him the ticket as proof.
Skluzacek claimed her prize Monday at the Iowa Lottery’s regional office in Mason City, just hours after discovering the win.
“We just sold our house and are going to start building a new one, so we’re going to use it for that,” she said.
Skluzacek, who recently moved to Ventura, purchased her winning ticket at Eddy’s, 1839 Madison Ave. in Council Bluffs.
The winning numbers in the $35.8 million Powerball jackpot drawing on Aug. 20 were: 2-17-23-28-47 and Powerball 36. The Power Play® multiplier was 2. Skluzacek won a $10,000 prize by matching four of the first five numbers and the Powerball. Had she added the Power Play to her ticket, Skluzacek would have multiplied her $10,000 win by two to win a $20,000 prize.
There was no jackpot winner in the Aug. 20 drawing.
Players can increase their prizes with the Power Play (except the jackpot) up to five times. The cost is $1 per play. The Power Play number, 2 through 5, is chosen at the beginning of the drawing indicating the amount prizes (except the jackpot) will be multiplied if that number is drawn.
For players who choose the Power Play and match five white balls (regularly a $200,000 prize), the multiplier will always be 5, so those players would win an instant $1 million.
Winning numbers may be checked at the lottery website at www.ialottery.com or through the winning numbers’ hot line at (515) 323-4633. Winning numbers may also be checked with lottery retail outlets or by calling the lottery at (515) 725-7900 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday.
Players may visit the Iowa Lottery at 2323 Grand Ave. in Des Moines or go to one of the lottery’s regional offices in Council Bluffs, Storm Lake, Mason City or Cedar Rapids to claim prizes.
Since the lottery’s start in 1985, its players have won more than $2.7 billion in prizes while the lottery has raised more than $1.3 billion for the state programs that benefit all Iowans.
Today, lottery proceeds in Iowa have three main purposes: They provide support for veterans, help for a variety of significant projects through the state General Fund, and backing for the Vision Iowa program, which was implemented to create tourism destinations and community attractions in the state and build and repair schools.
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