The Powerball jackpot rose to over $564 million last week, before three winners split the prize. This is the highest Powerball total since Wyolotto launched in August 2014.
Wyolotto participates in two multi-state games, the Powerball and the Mega Millions, and the revenue made from these games contributes to Wyoming’s cities and the Wyoming Public Education Trust.
The jackpot was won on February 11, and winnings in Wyoming totaled over $70,000 for that drawing. That is up from around $39,000 in the previous drawing.
The day before the jackpot was won, Jon Clontz, the chief executive officer of Wyolotto, said that the increase in winnings is mostly due to the large jackpot, with many more tickets being sold as the jackpot rose.
“We are seeing people flocking to retailers to get in on the next drawing for the jackpot,” Clontz said. “We encourage everyone to play what you can afford and don’t go overboard.”
Around 440 retailers across the state contract with Wyolotto to sell the tickets. Zach Williamson, a local cashier, said that one local lottery retailer, Snowy’s Store, had a sharp increase in sales before the big draw.
“Our sales went up a lot,” Williamson said. “I would say we average around $100 a day. We had over $1000 in sales the day of the drawing.”
The largest winner in Laramie won $500, and multiple people around the state won more than $20,000.
Richard York won $25,000 on Jan. 20 in Fort Bridger, and Kelley T. won $20,000 on Jan. 24 in Wheatland.
The Wyoming Lottery will begin selling an “in-state” lottery called Cowboy Draw on Mar. 15. This lottery will be similar to those in many states around the country, with weekly drawings.
All proceeds for the Cowboy Draw will remain in Wyoming, meaning residents will be more likely to win the larger prizes.
According to a Wyolotto press release, the Cowboy Draw will have an approximate payout of 68 percent, as opposed to the estimated 50 percent payout available with a Powerball or Mega Millions ticket.
The total amount of money won in the Wyoming Lottery is $1,280,255 according to the Wyolotto website, with over 230,000 winners.
Clontz said that the money made from the lottery is put to use across the state in different ways.
“According to statute the first 6 million of revenue after prize payments and all operational costs goes to Wyoming cities, towns and counties,” Clontz said. “Everything above 6 million will go to the Wyoming Public Education Trust. We are proud of our developing lottery and look forward to transferring revenue to the state very soon once all loan debt is paid.”
