Leo Gillick
A new lotto world record has been set in Iowa, in which everyone was a winner. But three people were bigger winners than the rest.
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The record to beat was the most consecutive people doing a scratch-off lotto ticket at one time. The previous record, held by 550 people, was set by Totalizator Sportowy Lotto in Warsaw, Poland. But the Iowa Lottery thought they could do better. Consequently, they smashed the old record.
On Thursday, Aug. 14, 1,380 people came together at the Iowa State fair to partake in a scratch-off lotto ticket. Each person was given a free Scratch, Match & Win! ticket. They then all took a seat and went about breaking the world record for simultaneous lotto tickets.
The lottery record was well and truly broken as they all tried their luck with their tickets. Everyone was a winner in the eyes of the Guinness World Records. But three people actually took home monetary prizes as well.
One person won $40,000, and two other winners took home $4,000 each. According to local outlet Des Moines Register, Katherine Blank Pierce of Des Moines won the grand prize as well as smashing the lotto record.
A Lotta Love For Lotto Record
The event was more than just a record attempt by the lottery company. It was also a chance for 1,380 people to have their entry in the Guinness World Record books. It’s not easy to get in there, so being a part of something like this was important to many of the participants.
Judy Hemingson, a participant in the world record lotto scratch off, spoke to WOI-DT about the reasons she took part. “I got to thinking, ‘How many years do I have left to live and have a world record?’ So with that, I reached out to my daughter,” she told the outlet. “So it’s like, ‘Hey, you want to do this with me? Because I could be dead tomorrow, but I’d have a world record before I go.”
Now, she’s got her participation in a world record, until it gets broken again, of course. It was a fun family event for the over-21s.
