CEDAR FALLS MAN TAKES CHANCE ON TICKET,
WINS $30,000 LOTTERY PRIZE

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Michael Frazier Wins Top Prize of $30,000 Playing the "Treasure Hunter" Scratch Game

DES MOINES, Iowa – A recent Des Moines Area Community College graduate from Cedar Falls will have some money to tide him over.

Michael Frazier, 21, won the top prize of $30,000 playing the lottery's "Treasure Hunter" instant-scratch game.

"I went home, put away my groceries, talked to my roommate and then sat down and scratched it. I wasn't even looking at what I could win until there was one square left with a treasure chest. I was like, 'There’s no way,' and the next thing you know I looked up and saw the coordinate," Frazier said.

Frazier said he usually plays the lottery's "Wild Bingo" game, but wanted to try something different.

"It was a good day to try something different!" he said.

Frazier is a recent DMACC (Ankeny campus) graduate. He said the money will definitely help while he looks for a job.

The first person to know was Frazier's roommate, who double-checked the ticket for him. The next person he told was his fiancée, Nicole Adkins.

"We're going to have a really nice wedding now," Frazier said.

Frazier said of all the people he called to tell, no one believed he had won. He even had to drive to his parents' house to show them the ticket.

"My fiancée made me send her a picture because she was at work!" he said.

Frazier claimed his prize Wednesday at the Iowa Lottery's headquarters in Des Moines. He bought his winning ticket at Hy-Vee, 6301 University Ave. in Cedar Falls.

"I never thought it would happen; I was always hoping to win $1,000. The most I've won before this is $50." Frazier said.

Treasure Hunter is a $3 scratch game. Players win a prize by first uncovering the "Coordinates For Treasure Map" and then uncovering the corresponding squares on the "Treasure Map." If a player completely uncovers a symbol, they win the prize shown in the prize legend for that symbol. Players can win up to $30,000. The overall odds of winning in the game are about 1 in 3.93.

Five prizes of $30,000 are still up for grabs in Treasure Hunter as well as 13 prizes of $3,000 and more than 175 prizes of $300.

Since the Iowa Lottery's start in 1985, its players have won more than $2.4 billion in prizes while the lottery has raised more than $1.2 billion for state programs.