DES MOINES MAN CLAIMS $1 MILLION POWERBALL® PRIZE

Richard Smith Won Prize In Saturday Drawing

DES MOINES, Iowa – A Des Moines man claimed a $1 million Powerball prize Wednesday that he’d won with a ticket he bought at a West Des Moines supermarket.

Richard Smith, 84, of Des Moines bought his $1 million-winning ticket at Hy-Vee, 1700 Valley West Drive in West Des Moines, for Saturday's Powerball drawing. It was the only ticket nationwide to win a $1 million prize that night and came close to winning a share of the Powerball jackpot.

Smith's ticket originally matched the first five numbers but missed the Powerball to win a $200,000 prize. But he also had added the Power Play® option to the winning play, which multiplied his prize to $1 million. Saturday's Powerball jackpot was won with a ticket sold in Florida.

The winning numbers in Saturday's $189 million Powerball drawing were: 12-24-48-50-57 and Powerball 22. The jackpot returned to $20 million for Wednesday's drawing.

When the Powerball game was redesigned in January, one of the changes made was specifically for the prize you win if your ticket matches the first five numbers and you've added the Power Play. The prize for that play is always $1 million, no matter what the Power Play number is for that drawing.

Lottery CEO Terry Rich said Iowa's three $1 million Powerball winners this year show that the updates to the game are delivering what players want: continued big jackpots, but the chance to win other big prizes as well.

"Iowa has really been collecting millionaires," Rich said. "We think more people are aware of the Power Play option – and it pays off when they win $1 million rather than $200,000 for an extra $1."

In August, two couples who were camping at the Iowa State Fair won a $1 million prize by adding the Power Play option to their Powerball ticket. Rick Hamilton and Sharon Sulser, both from Chariton, and Vickie and Terry Chambers, both from nearby Columbia, split the $1 million prize they won with a ticket they purchased while making an ice run to a Pleasant Hill gas station.

And in February, a Marshalltown man won a $1 million prize by adding the Power Play option to his Powerball ticket. Ricky Rushton, who worked in the cafeteria at the Swift & Co. pork-processing plant in Marshalltown, bought his $1 million-winning ticket at a Marshalltown convenience store.

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