Iowa City 'Die Hard Lottery Player' Wins $30,000 Prize

Media Release

An Iowa City man initially thought he had won $30 in the Iowa Lottery’s new “Jumble®” instant-scratch game, instead of a top prize of $30,000.

“I couldn’t believe it so I said, ‘Let’s just take it up to the store because I’m not sure we’re playing this game right,’” said Jim Hayslett, 59. “The girl ran it through her scanner and said, ‘No, it’s a $30,000 winner.’”

Hayslett, who works for an advertising company in Iowa City, claimed the fourth of 26 top prizes of $30,000 in the Jumble® game. He claimed his prizeMonday at the lottery’s regional office in Cedar Rapids.

Hayslett said he started telling his family, friends and co-workers as soon as his winning ticket was confirmed.

“I’m a diehard lottery player,” he said. “I don’t go sit in bars or anything like that; that’s kind of my entertainment. I like doing it and that’s kind of why I do it.”

Hayslett purchased his winning ticket Saturday at the same convenience store where he regularly buys lottery tickets - Hawkeye Convenience Store, 2875 Commerce Drive in Iowa City.

Hayslett and his wife, Joy, said they plan to take a trip to Las Vegas next year with their lottery winnings.

Jumble® is a $3 scratch game. Players reveal the 18 “your letters” and scratch all matching letters found in each of the five Jumble games.  If they match all the “Jumble” letters in a word with “your letters,” they win the prize shown for that game.  The overall odds of winning a prize in the game are 1 in 3.64.

Twenty-two top prizes of $30,000 are still up for grabs in Jumble® as well as 185 prizes of $1,000 and thousands of prizes of $100.

Since the lottery’s start in 1985, its players have won more than $3.1 billion in prizes while the lottery has raised more than $1.4 billion for the state programs that benefit all Iowans.

Today, lottery proceeds in Iowa have three main purposes: They provide support for veterans, help for a variety of significant projects through the state General Fund, and backing for the Vision Iowa program, which was implemented to create tourism destinations and community attractions in the state and build and repair schools.