The Role of The Wyoming Lottery in Statewide Gambling

Wyoming has a long and complicated history with gambling as a leisure activity. It has had its ups and downs, and while the state seems to be progressing, they aren’t doing it in any sort of expeditious way. The state lottery is one of the newest improvements to Wyoming’s overall gambling environment, which is kind of a piecemeal combination of multiple entities coming together to form a gambling community. While it is excellent that Wyoming residents have access to these options, the rules and laws around them can be a bit confusing sometimes. To better understand the role of the Wyoming State Lottery in today’s environment, one must first understand the history of gambling in the state, how the lottery works now, and how it may usher in new gambling laws in the future.

Better Luck Next Time

To understand why it took so long for the lottery to be initiated and why it still isn’t as scaled up as many other states’ systems, you must first understand the history of gambling in Wyoming. Although it may seem like it is in the Midwest, Wyoming was one of the first states to be settled in the Wild West, and it still has the moniker of The Cowboy State. So, when the state was first being settled it was pretty rough and tumble, and gambling was everywhere. In 1901, the state legislators passed a bill prohibiting all gambling in the state, but it wasn’t until the 1950s that there was an emphasis on enforcing the law.

The state saw another change in the 1970s when the legislature brought back some gambling in a limited fashion in the form of charitable gambling. These games included things like bingo and pull tabs, and the laws surrounding charitable gaming are still around today and shape Wyoming’s landscape with bingo halls. Another significant change came in the early 2000s when the native tribes of Wyoming successfully fought for and won the right to operate their own class three casinos on tribal land, which led to Wyoming’s first legitimate gambling establishments. It wasn’t until 2013 that Wyoming’s gambling culture would shift again with the introduction of the state lottery system.

Wyoming Is Winning

There is much to unpack about Wyoming Lottery laws, which are very different from those of other states. To start, while you can find some multi-state lottery games, like Powerball and Mega Millions, Wyoming does not belong to the Multi-State Lottery Association. Wyoming also offers a few state-only lotteries like 2by2 and Cowboy Draw. While these games of luck are now legal in the state, you still are not allowed to make, sell, or buy scratch-off tickets in Wyoming. You must purchase physical tickets from a store as they can’t be purchased online like some other states have begun to allow.

Every state uses its funds for different projects, but Wyoming cuts straight to the point and divvies up its lottery earnings to counties and cities to help fund the local governments. One more notable aspect of the Wyoming lottery is that since it isn’t bound by the rules of the Multi-State Lottery Association, it has more leeway to hold events like the occasion raffle. Although there haven’t been changes to the way the Wyoming Lottery operates in the past decade, it is possible there will be changes soon as the state’s gambling laws continue to evolve.

The Importance of the Lottery and Where It’s Heading

As one of the newest forms of gambling in the state, the Wyoming lottery plays an essential role in the state for both funding and entertainment. Most lottery players will tell you it’s about the potential to win, but they also won’t shy away from the fact that the minute when those numbers are being called is exhilarating. The lottery is more of a big piece of the larger puzzle that gives Wyoming gamblers options in a state where gambling has been historically frowned upon. It has also opened the gates for more gambling options to come after it.

More recently, Wyoming has legalized sports betting both at physical locations and online. This is largely considered a win for residents of the state, but it doesn’t fix every problem. One of the biggest issues facing Wyoming residents today is a lack of options for gambling outside of the handful of Native casinos in the middle of the state. Since the lottery was introduced, and now online sports betting in 2021, Wyoming residents have been pushing for the option to gamble online, but every bill legalizing online gambling has unfortunately been shut down.

The Wyoming Lottery Is a Pillar in the Gambling Community

Despite its relative youth compared to charitable games and Native casinos, the Wyoming state lottery is one of the pillars of Wyoming gambling. It allows those on the outskirts of the state who don’t have access to casinos, race tracks, and bingo halls to still get a piece of the action. Not only is it essential for the state to help fund local governments, but it is also a sign that Wyoming is lifting its gambling moratorium bit by bit. The Wyoming lottery may not be the best state lottery there is, but it shows potential to grow to be on par or better than other states, and as it grows, it will likely help boost other gaming options in the state in the process.