$16.5 million Hot Lotto winner is game's third-biggest prize ever

Some lucky winner in Iowa is going to ring in the New Year in style.

Iowa Lottery officials said Thursday a lottery ticket sold at a Des Moines convenience store won Wednesday's $16.5 million Hot Lotto jackpot. That marked the third-largest prize ever offered in the game and the seventh time an Iowa Lottery player has won a Hot Lotto jackpot.

The jackpot-winning ticket was purchased at a Quik Trip on Des Moines' northeast side. It matched all six numbers selected in Wednesday's Hot Lotto drawing (3, 12, 16, 26, 33 and Hot Ball 11), lottery officials said. Employees at the Quik Trip, which will receive a $5,000 bonus for selling the jackpot-winning ticket, said Thursday morning that they had not yet heard from anyone who may be the big winner.

“Iowans are having quite a run of luck with Hot Lotto, winning seven jackpots in just eight years,” said Iowa Lottery chief executive officer Terry Rich. “It's always fun for us at the lottery to meet the winners, learn their stories and share in their excitement. And this win will definitely give a nice end to 2010 for someone – or a group of someones.”

Rich encouraged the jackpot winner to get financial or legal advice before claiming the prize and to store the winning ticket in a secure place until presenting it to the lottery claim the jackpot.

“A lot of us right now are wrapping up our records for the past 12 months and making year-end decisions about our taxes and income,” he said. “It's good timing for our newest winner or winners to get advice from a financial planner or legal advisor.”

The Hot Lotto game began in April 2002, offering Powerball-style play but with easier odds. Hot Lotto tickets are sold in Iowa, 13 other states and the District of Columbia.

To play, Hot Lotto participants choose five numbers from a pool of 39 and another number, called the Hot Ball, from a pool of 19. The Hot Lotto jackpot starts at $1 million and grows until someone wins it. Tickets in the game cost $1.

Here are Iowa's six previous Hot Lotto jackpot winners:

• John Hall of Indianola, who won a $19.97 million jackpot in January 2007. It was the largest prize offered in the game to date.
• Moses Bittok of West Des Moines, who won a $1.89 million jackpot in September 2005.
• Danny Good of Des Moines, who won a $1.65 million jackpot in December 2003.
• Todd Brobston of Fort Madison, who won a $1.3 million jackpot in November 2003.
• Don Sporrer of Denison, who won a $2.7 million prize in December 2002.
• Darlene Becker of Dubuque, who won the first jackpot ever claimed in the game, a $2.6 million prize in the drawing on July 10, 2002.