Courtesy Photo / Iowa Lottery
Cheryl Singleton of Valley won $36,000 in the Iowa Lottery’s Pick 4 game.
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A Valley woman has won $36,000 in Iowa Lottery prizes on a pair of tickets she purchased in Council Bluffs.
Cheryl Singleton won the prizes in Saturday’s midday Pick 4 drawing. She made two $3 wagers on straight plays in the game, meaning that a prize is won only by matching the numbers in the exact order drawn. She matched all four numbers selected in Saturday’s drawing (7-7-7-7) to win $18,000 on each of her plays.
“I was just waiting for that day, because I’ve always played these numbers,” Singleton said Tuesday as she claimed her prizes at lottery headquarters in Clive.
Singleton bought her tickets the morning before the drawing at Casey’s, 27111 S. 24th St. in Council Bluffs. She said she checked the winning numbers after the drawing and realized she’d won.
“But at the time, I didn’t realize how much I won,” said Singleton, a corrections sergeant. “I went to my vehicle and I saw exactly: I had two tickets with $3 on each ticket. I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh! I won $36,000!’ That felt great.”
Pick 4, which has been offered in Iowa since September 2003, 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 for the chance to match a four-digit number combination from 0000 to 9999.
Plays made up of identical numbers prove especially popular in the game. There were 19 wins in Saturday’s midday draw ranging from $6,000 up to $120,000.
Singleton said she plans to save her winnings for now, but is eying a trip to Jamaica early next year.
“I went for a wedding the first time, and after that, I decided to go back every year for my birthday,” she said.
