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Davenport Woman Wins Second Large Lottery Prize

Mary Starks Claims Top Prize In 'Hit It Big!' Scratch Game

Mary Starks

CLIVE, Iowa — A Davenport woman has now won two lottery prizes of $100,000 in a little more than two years.

Mary Starks' latest $100,000 prize came in the Iowa Lottery's "Hit It Big!" scratch game. In fact, she claimed the first top prize available in that game.

"It was exciting and kind of scary and unbelievable," said Starks, who also won a $100,000 prize in March 2020 in a different scratch game. "Really unbelievable to have it happen twice."

Starks bought her winning Hit It Big! ticket at ExpressLane, 321 N. Division St. in Davenport. She said she usually plays Crossword tickets, but decided to try something new.

"You just think that you'll win a little bit – maybe, $20, $30, $50, $100, you know? But not $100,000," she told officials on Tuesday as she claimed her prize at the lottery's Cedar Rapids regional office. "You just buy the tickets for a little entertainment. And then when you scratch it off and get that amount of money? I don't know, it's exciting."

Starks said she plans to use her winnings to pay off debt and maybe start a business.

Hit It Big! is a $10 scratch game that features 10 top prizes of $100,000 and overall odds of 1 in 2.96. For more information about this game, and the number of prizes still available, visit www.ialottery.com.

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