DES MOINES, Iowa – A Mason City man couldn’t believe it when he won his second big lottery prize purchasing a scratch ticket from the same store.
John Jamtgaard, 69, won an $8,000 top prize in June 2010 after purchasing the “Fat Cat Doubler” scratch game at Kum & Go, 1224 N. Federal Ave. in Mason City. This time, he won an even bigger top prize of $10,000 playing the lottery’s new “Triple Fortune” instant-scratch game.
“The same guy who sold me the ticket today is the guy who sold me the ticket two years ago,” Jamtgaard said. “It was a Friday last time and this time too!”
Jamtgaard said he scratched his ticket at Winnebago where he works as a welder in Mason City. One coworker was there when he scratched the ticket.
“I get tired of playing the same ones all the time so I’m always looking for the new ones,” Jamtgaard said as he claimed his prize Friday at the Iowa Lottery’s regional office in Mason City.
Jamtgaard said he plans to use some of his winnings to pay bills. He is the first top prize winner on the Triple Fortune game.
Triple Fortune is a $2 scratch game. Players scratch the “cash and prize column.” If they find the “money bag” symbol they win the prize shown for that symbol. If they find the “$$$” symbol, they win triple the prize shown for that symbol. If they find the “bank vault” symbol, they win all ten prizes shown. The overall odds of winning in the game are 1 in 3.79.
Twenty-three top prizes of $10,000 are still up for grabs in Triple Fortune, as well as 49 prizes of $1,000 and more than 245 prizes of $100.
Players can enter eligible nonwinning scratch tickets online to earn “Points For Prizes™” points. The point value will be revealed to the player on the website upon successful submission of each eligible valid ticket. There is a limit of 30 ticket entries per day. To participate in Points For Prizes™, a player must register for a free account at ialottery.com. Registration is a one-time process. Merchandise that can be ordered by using points will be listed on the website in the Points For Prizes™ online store. Players can choose from items in categories such as apparel, automotive, jewelry, sporting, tools and more.
Since the lottery’s start in 1985, its players have won more than $2.8 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.
