Davenport man wins Iowa lottery jackpot without buying ticket

The Iowa Lottery announced that on Thursday, May 10 a Davenport man claimed a life-changing $4.38 million prize courtesy of a free lotto play via “Lotto Surprise.” The lottery promotion runs from April 29 – May 26 where 1, 5 or 10 free plays are given to random Powerball, Mega Millions, Lucky for Life and Lotto America players when a qualifying lotto ticket is purchased for that particular week.

Fifty-two-year-old Chuck Anderson’s winning ticket reportedly came from the Davenport Kwik Star convenience store when he purchased a qualifying Powerball ticket during the first week of May, which subsequently generated Iowa’s first jackpot-winning ticket in Lotto America just six months into the game’s start.

All six of the numbers, 8-15-18-32-45 and Star Ball 1, on Anderson’s winning ticket, matched the numbers drawn on Saturday’s Lotto America.

According to the Iowa Lottery, Anderson said that it wasn’t until a couple of days after the drawing that he checked the results of his tickets on the lottery website. He said when he first saw the winning number he had to do a double-take for the fact that he had matched all six numbers to sink in.

Anderson has reportedly enlisted the help of legal and financial advisors so that the prize money is invested responsibly. The lucky winner chose to receive a lump-sum of about $2.6 million of the $4.38 million prize and said that he is excited that he has the opportunity to help his family.