Des Moines woman claims $100,000 lottery prize after winning $10 holiday scratch game

Tyler J. Davis | The Des Moines Register

Show Caption Hide Caption Iowa Lottery: A billion-dollar cash cow for state government Iowa has received billions of dollars for various projects thanks to the state's lottery system.

One Des Moines woman's holiday season is off to a prosperous start thanks to a scratch-off game.

Cathy Lewis, 57, has claimed a $100,000 prize after a fortuitous $10 scratch-off ticket, according to an Iowa Lottery news release sent Wednesday. She purchased the "Holiday Dazzle" card game while getting gas from the Casey's General Store located at 2150 East Army Post Road and redeeming a separate lottery ticket that won her $10.

Lewis told lottery officials she and her husband, Steve, were in disbelief when they realized they won the six-figure top prize from the scratch-off.

“(I thought) that it wasn’t real; that something was wrong,” she said, according to the release. “We’ve been doing them for a long time, and to win that much money — we were just really excited, but it took a while to sink in.”

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She claimed the money Tuesday at lottery headquarters in Clive. It's the second top prize won from a "Holiday Dazzle" scratch game, lottery officials say.

“That’s the first thing we’re going to try to do: look for a new car, and then let it sit there and figure out the rest,” she said.

"Holiday Dazzle" features seven top prizes of $100,000 and overall odds of 1 in 2.80.

Previous stories about Iowa Lottery:

Iowa Lottery says nonwinning holiday scratch tickets can be entered into the Ho Ho Dough Play it Again promotion from now through 8:59 a.m. Jan. 7. The replay event includes $200,000 in cash prizes. Tickets can be entered online or through the LotteryPlus mobile app. For more information, visit www.ialottery.com.

Follow the Register on Facebook and Twitter for more news. Tyler Davis can be contacted at tjdavis@dmreg.com or on Twitter @TDavisDMR.

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