To play Pick 3 in Iowa, visit any lottery retailer and select a three-digit combination from 000 to 999. There are also various other choices to make before you are issued with your ticket. Here’s a rundown of the steps required to play Pick 3.
Select three numbers from 0 to 9, or ask for an Easy Pick if you want a random set. Each number is drawn from a separate field, so the same number can appear multiple times.
Decide how you want to play. There are five options available - Straight, Box, Straight/Box, Front Pair or Back Pair.
You can choose how much to wager, from as little as $0.50 per play. The more you pay, the larger the prize you can win, so you can spend $1, $2, $3, $4 or $5 on most play types.
Select the Midday draw, Evening draw or both, and decide how many to enter. You can enter up to 16 consecutive drawings at a time.
Once you have filled out all your selections, you can purchase your tickets. The total cost is a combination of your wager amount and the number of draws entered. For example, if you enter both the Midday and Evening drawings and submit a $3 wager, it would cost $6 altogether (2 x 3).
Draws take place at 12:20 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. The cut-off time for buying your entries is 20 minutes earlier.
The play type you select dictates your odds of winning, and also how much you can win (in proportion to your wager amount). Here's more about each play type:
This is also known as an Exact Order play. You win if you match all three numbers in the same positions. With a Straight, you can select any combination of three numbers, even three identical digits such as 333.
The three numbers you pick still all need to be drawn for you to win a prize, but they can appear in any order. Depending on the combination of numbers you play, it will be described as a 3-Way or a 6-Way wager.
Your numbers can appear exactly or in any order. Half the cost goes on a Straight and half on a Box (a $0.50 wager is not available with a Straight/Box). You win both parts of the prize if your numbers match exactly, or just the Box prize if they match in a different order. For example, if you play 123 and the numbers drawn are 213, you wouldn't receive the full payout but you would get the Box portion.
You only have to select two numbers for a Front Pair, so you can leave the third column blank. Match them exactly to win the associated prize.
For a Back Pair, pick the numbers which you predict will be drawn in the second and third positions. Leave the first column blank on your playslip.