Is Waterloo the Luckiest City in Iowa? Another Big Lottery Winner!

A Waterloo woman started off the new year a few thousand dollars richer.

In a recent release from Iowa Lottery officials, for the fourth time in several months someone from the same town won the exact same lottery prize.

Lisa Moore of Waterloo went into 2025 with an additional $30,000 thanks to a simple scratch off ticket. The lucky Iowan purchased this lifechanging ticket at Ray's Supermarket and then went to claim her prize at the lottery's regional office in Cedar Rapids on New Year's Eve.

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Moore wasn't the only one to win some massive prize out of the Cedar Valley in 2024. Quite a few people ended up winning similar prizes to her!

How Many Other Waterloo Residents Have Won the Lottery Over the Past Few Months?

In just the last few months of 2024, four Iowa Lottery winners were from the city of Waterloo. All of these lottery ticket buyers not only live in the Waterloo/Cedar Falls area, but they also won by playing the same game.

Every single person won $30,000 by playing the "Tree-Mendous Crossword" scratch game.

Here's the most recent timeline:

• Jolene Wilder bought her ticket at the Hy-Vee in Waterloo, located at 2834 Ansborough Avenue. Claimed prize on October 25th, 2024
•  Nicole Russell bought her ticket at the Kwik Star at 7500 Nordic Drive in Cedar Falls. Claimed prize on December 19th. 2024
• Alix Theele bought her ticket at Kwik Star, 1717 E. San Marnan Drive. Claimed prize on December 23rd, 2024
• Lisa Moore bought her ticket at Ray's Supermarket at 1975 Franklin Street in Waterloo. Claimed prize on December 31st, 2024.

Due to the number of winners over such a short period of time, officials from the Iowa Lottery had to make a comment about it.

"Four winners from the same city is just a coincidence. People there have simply gotten lucky," officials wrote on the official IA Lottery website. 

"Winning tickets are randomly distributed, so not even the lottery knows where the next one will hit."

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