News and opinion writer
It was an excellent year to be a lottery player in the Cowboy State. While Wyoming is one of America’s smallest states by population, it is also home to some big winners. Over 2.8 winners took home more than $18.5 million playing the lottery.
Read on to learn which games offered the biggest payouts and the most prizes.
Big winners
For in-state exclusive games, nothing beats Cowboy Draw as a millionaire maker. Two different tickets took home at least $1 million, with the biggest prize going for $3.5 million and the other paying out $1.2 million.
The $3,564,227 winning ticket was purchased at a Mini Mart Inc. in Casper for the March 17 drawing, and the $1.2 million ticket was sold at the SPF store in Cheyenne for the October 10 drawing.
To take home the jackpot from Cowboy Draw, players have to pick five numbers from between one and 45. They can also win $1,000 by matching four numbers, $20 by matching three, and $5 by getting two right. Tickets cost $5 for two plays, and winners have 180 days from the draw date to redeem their prize.
Power players
While everyone wants a million reasons to celebrate, no one would complain about cashing out a ticket worth six figures. In 2023, four different Wyoming Lottery players took home prizes north of $100,000.
Keno games paid out big in 2023, with two players hitting their numbers for $200,000 each and 14 more winning at least $10,000. Tickets cost only $1.
Lucky for Life delivered another big score when one lucky gamer correctly picked the five winning numbers and earned a $25,000 check once a year for the rest of their life. However, if they had also matched the Lucky Ball, they would have won $1,000 a day for the rest of their lives.
To win the Lucky for Life jackpot, players must select five numbers between one and 48 and an additional Lucky Ball between one and 18, and all six must match the winning numbers. Matching just the Lucky Ball wins $4. Tickets cost $2 per play.
While no one won the big Powerball prize, one person in Wyoming correctly matched four out of five numbers plus the Powerball to win $150,000 thanks to the x3 Power Play multiplier.
The deuce
The 2by2 draw game created many winners throughout the state for smaller but still substantial prizes. Players need to pick two red numbers from between one and 26 and two white numbers from between one and 26.
The jackpot tops out at $22,000 most days, but players who play a multi-draw in increments of seven can see the prize double to $44,000 if they win on a Tuesday.
WyoLotto
Since WyoLotto was established in 2013, it has paid out just under $140 million to players all over the state. Additionally, the lottery has dispersed over $36.6 million in grants to cities and towns throughout the state and paid out over $18 million in lottery commissions to retailers.
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