FIRST "SUPERSTAR" CLAIMS $30,000 LOTTERY PRIZE

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Sharon Bolin Wins First Top Prize Playing "Superstar Cash" Scratch Game

DES MOINES, Iowa – The Iowa Lottery's latest instant-scratch game, "Superstar Cash," caught the eye of an Appanoose County woman at the Iowa State Fair, and she ended up winning a $30,000 prize!

Sharon Bolin of Unionville bought the Superstar Cash game at the State Fair and won a $20 prize. On her way home, she stopped to buy another one and won the first top prize of $30,000!

Sharon bought the ticket on her way home, but didn't scratch it until the next day while at work.

"I couldn't believe it. I said, 'I think I won $30,000,' so a co-employee looked at it, and he said, 'Yeah, you did!'" Bolin said.

Bolin's co-worker was the only one in the room with her when she scratched it. Bolin, 54, works as an office manager for Smith Fertilizer and Grain in Centerville.

"He said, 'Make sure you sign the back of that ticket!'" she said.

After discovering her win, Bolin took the ticket back to the convenience store to have it validated. She said the clerk told her she'd have to visit an Iowa Lottery office to claim her prize.

Bolin claimed her prize Friday at the Iowa Lottery's headquarters in Des Moines. She bought her winning ticket at Centerville Amoco, 1000 N. 18th St. in Centerville.

Bolin has told her husband, children and grandchildren about her win as well. She said they were all shocked, and that her husband didn't believe her at all.

"I had one granddaughter that said, 'Now, you're not lying to me, are you Grandma?' and I said, 'No, I'm not!'" Bolin said.

Bolin plans to use her winnings to pay bills and save the rest.

Superstar Cash is a $3 scratch game. Players try to win a prize by matching "Your Numbers" to the corresponding numbers on the "Super Star." If players match all of the numbers in a horizontal line, they win the prize shown for that line. Players can win bonus money by uncovering "$" symbols. Prizes in the game range from $3 to $30,000. The game has overall odds of winning of 1 in 3.78.

Six top prizes of $30,000 are still available in Superstar Cash, as well as 12 prizes of $5,000 and more than 175 prizes of $500.

Since the Iowa Lottery's inception in 1985, more than $2.4 billion has been awarded in prizes and more than $1.2 billion has been raised for state programs.