Cedar Rapids Man Claims $75,000 in Lottery Prizes For A Second Time
Wiley Tuley Claims Another Four Prizes in Pick 4 Lotto Game
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CLIVE, Iowa - A Cedar Rapids man has claimed $75,000 in lottery prizes for the second time in two months.
Wiley Tuley said he knew he had won all the prizes in the Oct. 6 evening Pick 4 drawing, but waited for a bit to claim part of his winnings. He purchased multiple plays of differing amounts involving different types of bets for that Pick 4 drawing and won by matching all four numbers in the exact order drawn: 7-3-2-5.
Tuley claimed half his prizes on Oct. 7. He originally planned to wait until the new year to claim the rest, but changed his mind and instead claimed them on Thursday at the lottery's Cedar Rapids regional office.
He purchased his winning ticket at Kwik Star, 4141 Center Point Road NE in Cedar Rapids. He chose his own numbers, using the employee identification number from the last job he had prior to retirement.
Tuley, who said he plans to save his winnings, is no stranger to big lottery wins. In 2014, he won 42 Pick 4 prizes totaling $200,000. He said his latest win was just as sweet.
"It feels just as good," he said. "I think I was more surprised this time than I was last time. I looked at it and (said), 'You've got to be kidding me!' I was very happy."
For those who aren't familiar with Pick 4, it's a numbers game with a long history along the East Coast. But it also is offered by numerous other lotteries across the country, including the Iowa Lottery. Pick 4 players choose combinations of four numbers from 0000 to 9999. The prize that a player could win depends on the type of bet made.
For example, players can choose the option of winning a prize only when their numbers match the winning numbers in the exact order selected in the drawing. That's called a straight play. Or, players can choose the option of winning a prize if their numbers match the winning numbers in any order. That's called a box play.
It's statistically harder to match the numbers in the exact order drawn, so the odds of winning on a straight play are higher and the prizes that players can win with that option are larger.
Pick 4 players tend to be loyal to a particular set of numbers and often play them more than once for a particular drawing, just as Tuley did.
Pick 4 has been offered in Iowa since September 2003 and features odds of just 1 in 10,000 of winning the game's $30,000 top prize. It offers a variety of play options and wagers from 50 cents to $5.
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