Iowa lottery sales still going strong

Charles “Richard” Crawford hasn't escaped the stress of rising gas prices and a floundering economy, but the 77-year-old Marion man still finds a few bucks to play the Iowa Lottery a couple of times a week.

It's just something I started doing,” Crawford said, speculating that maybe it's the hope of what could be that keeps him playing.

“I think about it a lot when I get the tickets,” he said. “Wouldn't it be nice if I'd win?”

On June 17, Crawford did. He cashed in a Hot Lotto ticket for $30,000 at Woody's One Stop in Springville. Although most lottery players don't win that big, Iowa Lottery officials say that hasn't seemed to matter - even in this weak economic climate.

Lottery sales in Iowa were on the rise during the fiscal year that just ended. Although final counts aren't in for the entire budget year - July 1 through June 30 - revenues were at $249.1 million through May 31, compared with $234.6 million for the same period last year, said Mary Neubauer, vice president of external relations for the Iowa Lottery.

Linn and Johnson counties saw the same upward trend in sales.

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Iowa Lottery financials

“We have been following it over the past couple of years, since the economic turmoil started,” Neubauer said, “and lotto products today are what they have always been - a local, affordable entertainment option.”

Iowans might be cutting back on bigger expenditures, like vacations and high-priced electronics, but Neubauer said people still love to dream about an end to their financial worries.

“I think everyone does look for an escape these days,” she said. “They think, ‘What would I do if I won this money?' And it's something to give you a break and a smile.”

Lottery sales aren't totally impervious. Neubauer said she and her colleagues at the state gaming organization keep an eye on gas prices, which have proved to be one of the single-biggest determinants in sale ebbs and flows.

“So many tickets are sold in gas stations,” she said. “So when gas prices spike, people don't feel like they have that extra dollar to spend anymore.”

When gas prices rose in May to near $4 a gallon in some places, “we were getting concerned,” Neubauer said.

Sales remained steady, though, and Neubauer said Iowans seem to be “rolling with the punches” better than in the past.

J.J. Hesnard, for one, hasn't noticed any slowdown in the lottery craze. The manager at the Cedar Rapids Hy-Vee at 1843 Johnson Ave. NW, which was on pace to sell the second-most lottery tickets in the state in fiscal 2011, said the lines at customer service are constant.

“Lottery is the No. 1 service that we do at customer service,” he said.

New scanning machines rolled out statewide between March and June have helped ease some of the workload by allowing customers to check their winnings themselves, but Hesnard said clerks remain in charge of selling tickets.

Between 55 percent and 60 percent of Iowa Lottery sales go back to players in the form of prizes, and 25 percent to 30 percent is returned to the state and used to support education, agriculture and veterans.

Pat Herman, 51, of Mason City, said he viewed his three-to-four lottery ticket purchases a week as a donation to those state programs - until May 24.

That day, he bought a $5 scratch ticket and won $50. Instead of pocketing the cash, he turned around and bought a $20 ticket. He went to his truck with his second game of the day and got a huge rush of adrenaline when his scratching revealed these words: 40K a year for 25 “I knew right away what it was,” he said.

Instead of taking $1 million over 25 years, Herman took the lump sum, which totaled $455,000 after taxes. He bought a truck, took a trip to Canada and put the rest in savings for an early retirement.

“I never thought I'd win anything like that,” he said.

Marion winner Crawford almost didn't. He was buying another lottery ticket when he found an old one stuffed in his wallet.

“I didn't realize I had it,” he said. “It was mixed in with the other ones, I guess.”

When he turned it in, the cashier told him he had a winner and that he was about a month away from its expiration.

“It was quite a shock,” he said.

Had he stopped playing because of economic worries, Crawford said, he never would have gotten the financial cushion he's now sitting on.

“So yeah, I think I will keep playing,” he said. “I always have a couple of dollars to spend.”