Officials with the Iowa Lottery said today (Friday), players are continuing to win large prizes across the state. The latest big winner in Cass County for the calendar year 2016, was Soodsanguan Wood, of Atlantic, who won $5,000 in the Super Crossword instant scratch ticket game, with a ticket purchased at an Atlantic Casey’s store.

And, 32-year old Leo Rodriguez, Jr., of Atlantic, was the county’s latest and biggest lotto winner during the same period, winning $3,000 in the HOT LOTTO game with a ticket purchased at a Casey’s store in Atlantic.

Iowa Lottery players won a total of $221.8 million in prizes in fiscal year 2016, the latest complete year for which the lottery has records. However, there are a significant number of prizes that expire each year without being claimed. The lottery reminds its players to double-check their tickets. In fiscal year 2016, more than $1.2 million in lotto prizes expired in Iowa without being claimed.

Prize money left unclaimed after redemption deadlines goes into the lottery’s prize pools for future games and promotions, so it will be used to pay prizes, just not those particular prizes that have expired. On the lottery’s website at www.ialottery.com, there is a current list of unclaimed lotto prizes of $10,000 or more.

Claiming Prizes: Players in Iowa have up to 365 days from the date of the drawing to claim prizes in Powerball, Mega Millions, Hot Lotto, Lucky for Life and All or Nothing. Players have up to 90 days from the date of the drawing to claim prizes in Iowa’s Pick 3, Pick 4 and InstaPlay games. If the expiration date for a particular prize falls on a weekend or holiday when the lottery’s offices are closed, the winner has until the close of business on the next business day to claim the prize.

Prizes in instant-scratch and pull-tab games must be claimed within 90 days of the end of the game. Scratch-game prizes can be claimed at any Iowa Lottery retailer where the games are sold, while prizes in pull-tab games must be claimed at the location where the tickets were purchased.

Players also may visit an Iowa Lottery retailer or go to one of the lottery’s offices in Cedar Rapids, Clive, Council Bluffs, Mason City or Storm Lake to claim prizes.

Winning lotto numbers may be checked by visiting the lottery website or calling the winning numbers hotline at (515) 323-4633. They may also be checked by visiting a lottery retail outlet or calling the lottery at (515) 725-7900 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.