The Lotto Matrix: Unlucky Break For Powerball Winner, Jackpocket Has Historic Month, More

Welcome to this week’s “Lotto Matrix,” a weekly Friday compilation of the lottery industry’s most significant, interesting, or absurd happenings.

Good News and Bad News

The Iowa-based winner of a $2 million Powerball score from Nov. 2023 died just one day after claiming his prize from Iowa lottery officials. Basically, a version of one of the subplots in Alanis Morissette’s somewhat misguided but classic track, Ironic.

Mark Krogman, a 72-year-old man, was shocked to learn that his Powerball ticket had won $2 million in the Nov 25, 2023 drawing. The winning white ball numbers for that draw were 27, 33, 63, 66, and 68, while the Powerball number was 9.

Krogman bought the ticket from a local liquor shop in Clinton. His winning ticket matched all five white balls from that drawing but didn’t match the Powerball number to win the $337.9 million jackpot that night, so he did not win the jackpot. Luckily, for matching the five white ball numbers, Krogman won a nice $1 million prize. He also purchased the Power Play option, which multiplied his winnings to $2 million. To add to Krogman’s bragging rights, he was the only person in the country to win a $2 million prize. 

Krogman did not claim his prize right away and was pushing the 180-day deadline Iowa enforces. That said, he did come forward to lottery officials on Apr. 17. Unfortunately, a day after claiming his prize, Krogman died at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinic.

According to his obituary, Krogman loved animals and had many different pets over the years. He also loved river boating on the Mississippi, pitching a tent, and camping on Coney Island. He leaves behind his wife, Judith “Judy” Brennan, whom he married in Nov. 1973.

Iowa lottery officials said that because Krogman claimed the money, it belongs to him and now his estate. Iowa law dictates that if a winner dies, the money goes to the estate where a payment plan is arranged either by the estate or the courts. 

New all-time high

Many iLottery operators have piggybacked on the hype of huge billion-dollar Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots. None more so than Jackpocket, an operator who most certainly felt the boom.

In a statement this week, number crunchers estimated that ticket purchases through the Jackpocket app accounted for 3.6% of national Powerball sales prior to the $1.33 billion jackpot drawing. In fact, Jackpocket experienced “its third highest week in number of orders and active users in company history during the run-up to the $1.33 billion Powerball jackpot on April 6th,” the press release said.

Of course, such success makes sense as there is heightened interest in the lottery when the jackpots reach the billion-dollar range. It would not be at all shocking if other lottery couriers experienced similar triumphs.

Out of the 18 jurisdictions Jackpocket operates, user activity spiked the week of April 8, when the Powerball jackpot breached the billion dollar mark. The exact figures are as follows:

• Ohio: +51%
• New Jersey +30%
• New York: +34%
• Texas: +39%
• Massachusetts: +34%

Jackpocket also touted that in some jurisdictions, ticket sales facilitated through its app also occupied a good portion of overall market share:

• 21% in Arkansas
• 14% in New York
• 13% in New Jersey
• 12% in Texas
• 11% in Colorado

These statistics could be a sign of things to come for lottery couriers in the U.S. market.

Sitting on a golden egg

While many grandparents have the gift of the gab, a pair from north of the border had their lips sealed tighter than the Toronto Maple Leafs regarding Auston Matthews’ status for Game 6.

For nearly two full calendar months, Doug and Enid Hannon of Lakefield, Ont., never told their family that they had won a $70 million Lotto Max jackpot. 

“Keeping this secret was killing me,” said Enid while claiming her prize recently at the OLG Prize Centre.

The couple kept the whole thing on the down low because they wanted to plan their next moves carefully. They sought advice from legal and financial experts to ensure that all the pieces fell into place. Once the plan met their fancy, the couple told the young ones.

“We hugged and cried and started talking about this wonderful opportunity we now have to help family and others,” said Doug and Enid.

“This is truly a blessing for us and our family,” said the couple. “Like many people, you always hope to win the lottery, but we never dreamed this would happen to us! We are so very thankful.”

The funny thing is the couple did not even know that they won. It took them checking the OLG website to find out. 

“I was completely unaware that a winning ticket had been sold in our area,” So, when I saw ‘Big Winner’ on the phone screen, I was shaking! My heart was pounding. I had to stare at it for a while and process all those zeros. Then, I had to check it a few more times,” said Doug, who checked his ticket the day after the draw.

Doug, who has been retired for a few years, decided not to mention anything to his wife until she got home from work.

“Doug told me to come into the computer room and the OLG website was on the computer screen, and he told me to check the numbers on the ticket,” said Edin. “When I realized we had won the prize, I first thought it was a $70,000 win. Doug told me to recount all the zeros and that’s when it hit me that we won $70 million!”

The couple said they plan to use the money on their family and renovate their home. What else they will do with it in the future is still undecided.

Best of the rest

Agenda: La Fleur’s 2024 Raleigh Conference is next week (May 6-8) and a Webcast is available here if you cannot attend in person

Tug-of-war: Alabama lottery legalization effort clears house, only to fall one vote short — for now — in Senate

New digs: North Vancouver woman to buy ‘dream home’ with $500,000 lottery win

Joining forces: New Hampshire Lottery joins Mega Money Jackpots

End of an era: North Carolina man’s scratch-off ticket hits the jackpot, ending popular lottery game

Growing footprint: Michigan Lottery placing kiosks in select Walmart stores

Check the prize box and see you next week!