Iowa Lottery Pick 3 General Information and Links

How to Play Iowa Pick 3 Lottery

From a Iowa Lottery retailer (a gas station, a convenience store, a food store, etc. which plays IA Lottery) get a Pick 3 playslip. A playslip contains five different play areas. Each play area represents a different Pick 3 play.

Each Pick 3 play area contains three colums of the digits 0 to 9. Mark the first digit of your number on the first column, the second digit on the second column, and the third digit on the third column. So, if you want to play the number 409, then 4 will be marked in the first column, 0 in the second column, and 9 in the third column. Next select and mark the amount (50 cents or $1), then select the type of play - Straight, Box, or Straight/Box.

If you are playing Front Pair, mark only the first two coluns of the digits and leave the last one blank, then mark "Front Pair". If you are playing Back Pair, mark only the last two coluns of the digits and leave the first one blank, then mark "Back Pair".

The numbers you are playing are valid only for the next draw. You may specify either the day or evining draw, or both. In fact, playing both draws doubles the price.

Next, present the completed playslip to the lottery retailer to receive your printed ticket. Check your ticket immediately to ensure that the numbers, dates, and play type match your request.

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Play Types and How You Win the Iowa Pick 3 Lottery

There are five ways you can play and win the Iowa Pick 3 game - four basic types and one shortcut of the basic types. These types together with how much is paid for a winning Iowa Pick 3 game type are listed below. We have to mention here that Iowa Pick 3 has the highest prizes in the US.

The basic Pick 3 play types are:

1. Straight: You win by matching the winning Pick 3 number in the exact order drawn. For example, if you play the Pick 3 number 409 as Straight, you'll win only if the winning number is exactly 409; you don't win anything if the winning number is 049 or 408.

   The prize of Iowa Pick 3 Straight game is $600 for a $1 game and $300 for a 50 cents game.

2. Box: You win by matching the winning Pick 3 number in any order. For example, if you play 409 as Box, you'll win if the Pick 3 winning number contains the three digits 0, 4, and 9 in any order, such as 049 or 940; but not if any one is missing like 408.

   The prize of Iowa Pick 3 Box play depends on whether one of the digits is repeated or not. A number such as 409, where none of the digits repeats is called a 6-way box and pays $100 for a $1 game and $50 for a 50 cents game. If one of the digits is double, like 007, then it is called a 3-way box and pays $200 for a $1 game and $100 for a 50-cents game. There is no Box play for numbers with all three identical digits such as 777. These Pick 3 numbers can only be played straight.

3. Front Pair: Just select the first two digits to win $60 for a $1 game and $30 for a 50-cents game. For example, if you play the front pair 40 (i.e., 40X), you'll win as long as the first two digits of the winning number are 40 in exact order. So, you'll win with 400, 401, etc., but not with 940 or 049.

4. Back Pair: Just select the last two digits to win $60 for a $1 game and $30 for a 50-cents game. For example, if you play the back pair 09 (i.e., X09), you'll win as long as the last two digits of the winning number are 09 in exact order. So, you'll win with 009, 109, etc., but not with 490 or 094.

And the shortcut play type is:

5. Straight/Box: is simply a combination of a 50-cent Straight play and a 50-cent Box play. This play type is designed simply to save you time; it is a shortcut of playing one game of straight and another game of box of the same number. That is, instead of filling one panel for 50-cents Straight and another panel for 50-cents box, of the same number, you might as well fill out just one panel and mark it as Straight/Box. Note that the minimum amount for a Straight/Box game is $1.

The prize of a Straight/Box play is the sum of a 50 cents Straight game and a 50-cents Box game. For example, if you play 409 as Straight/Box, and if the winning number is 409, then you'll win $350 ($300 for the Straight part + $50 for the Box part). If the winning number is 490, you'll win only $50 for the box part since you did not match it Straight. How much do you win with Straight/Box of the number 007? (Answer)

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Prizes and Odds of Iowa Lottery Pick 3

How much does Iowa Pick 3 pay for Straight or Box? The following is a summary of winner prize payouts and the odds of winning.

Note that a 6-way Box is a number with three non-identical digits, a 3-way Box has one of the digits doubled. Pairs are printed on your ticket with X representing "any", e.g. front pair 40X and back pair X09, which means that X can be any digit.

For Iowa Lottery general rules and how to claim prizes, please see Iowa Lottery general info page.

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Links to some Pick 3 pages of the Iowa Lottery Official Web Site

Although we have tried to cover all the pertinent information of the Iowa Pick 3, we recommend that you also look at the following pages at the Iowa Lottery official web site.

• Iowa Lottery Pick 3 game information
• Iowa Lottery Pick 3 Game Rules

Iowa Pick 3 at US-Lotteries.com

The main purpose of this web site (US-Lotteries.com) is to present a well formatted latest and past results; analysis and statistics of past winning numbers, digits, pairs, triads; search to see if your favorite numbers have ever won or have come close to winning the jackpot; mathematical tools such as combinations generators and wheels. The complete list of all Iowa Pick 3 pages of this web site are listed below.

• Iowa lottery Pick 3 summary of page contents with latest and recent results
• All past winning numbers of the Iowa lottery Pick 3 displayed on a monthly calendar
• Search for the past performace of any Iowa lottery Pick 3 with full or partial match
• Yearly Iowa lottery Pick 3 winning numbers on a calendar for printing
• Classification and history of Iowa lottery Pick 3 Boxes(Combos)
• Data on Iowa lottery Pick 3 triple-digit numbers
• Frequency and last appearance of Iowa lottery Pick 3 individual digits
• Iowa Pick 3 exact order statistics with least and most frequently drawn, never drawn numbers
• Iowa Pick 3 any order (box) statistics for the different groups
• Frequency and last appearance of Iowa lottery Pick 3 front, back and split pairs
• Statistics of Iowa lottery Pick 3 sum of digits
• Generate Iowa Pick 3 combinations from a number with 2 or more digits

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