Wyoming is starting a state lottery and vendors interested in selling tickets can now start submitting applications. Brian Gamroth is Chairman of the Wyoming Lottery Corporation. He says they’ve set a firm date of August 24 to begin selling the tickets. “With the applications out now, our first retailers will be picked in the next five or six weeks. And machines will start going out, training will start…There’s a lot to get done in a short amount of time.”
The plan is to sell Powerball and Megamillions--both multi-state games-- and move into Wyoming games later on. The first $6 million raised after expenses is required by law to go to cities and counties, as well as to gambling counseling programs. Gamroth expects to easily reach that amount in the first year.
A Wyoming lottery has been in the works for a long time. It was voted down in the legislature numerous times over the last decade before finally passing last year. Gamroth says lawmakers were finally convinced by data showing a Colorado lottery outlet located just over the Wyoming border was the best in that state.