CLIVE — A Clear Lake man said his co-workers were incredulous when he told them he’d won a lottery prize of more than $48,000.
“No one believed me because it was April Fools’ Day,” Michael Burris, 59, told officials on Monday as he claimed his prize at the lottery’s Mason City regional office. “What a great day to win a lot of money, because no one’s going to believe you. It was awesome, just awesome.”
He won a Jumbo Bucks Progressive InstaPlay jackpot of $48,053.85 on a ticket he purchased at Casey’s, 14 E. Congress St. in Nora Springs. Burris, a welder and pipefitter, stopped at the store for a breakfast pizza on his way to a jobsite, and decided to pick up a lottery ticket at the same time.
He checked the ticket when he got to work, then used a co-worker’s phone to scan it with the Iowa Lottery mobile app, which confirmed his win.
The Jumbo Bucks Progressive jackpot starts at $5,000 and increases with every ticket sold statewide until it is won.
Burris said he and his wife plan to use the winnings to pay off their camper and save for an eventual retirement to Florida.
InstaPlay games combine features from instant-scratch and lotto games to give players an option with no numbers to pick, playslips to fill out or wait for a drawing. InstaPlay tickets are known as “scratchless” because they have no security coating that needs to be removed to determine the prize won. The tickets are printed on demand from the lottery terminal.