There’s a new millionaire out there somewhere in the Afton, Wyoming, area.
WyoLotto has announced that a Cowboy Draw player who bought a ticket from a liquor store in Afton is now holding a ticket that’s worth $1.418 million.
The winner’s ticket was bought from AJ’s Discount Liquor at 295 Washington St. in Afton on Monday.
The jackpot-winning numbers are 6, 15, 25, 33 and 44.
After selling a Cowboy Draw ticket worth $381,000 in May 2023, maybe AJ’s Discount Liquor should consider changing its name to Lucky’s.
“Yeah, that’s pretty cool,” said Glenn Magee, who owns AJ’s with his wife, Chrystal. “Our other store sold a $381,000 ticket last year, too.”
That other store is about 20 miles away between Thayne and Etna, Wyoming.
That both would have significant Cowboy Draw winners that close to each other — especially being in a very rural area — is exciting for the business, Magee told Cowboy State Daily on Tuesday morning.
“We’re all pretty excited around here,” he said. “The drawing went off yesterday, and our lotto machine usually does pretty well.”
While the business doesn’t make much money selling WyoLotto tickets, just having them available helps bring people through the doors, Magee said.
So, what does it mean for a business that sells a winning ticket?
“I think when we sold that $381,000 ticket, WyoLotto sent a gift basket for the staff with T-shirts and stuff, and also a $500 check,” he said. “I don’t know if that number's bigger if it’s more money or not.”
What If I Won?
Anyone with those numbers is encouraged to call WyoLotto at 855-995-6886 if they believe they have the winning ticket to find out what their next steps are.
In general, winnings of $50,000 and under can be claimed by mail. Anything over that must be claimed in person at the WyoLotto headquarters in Cheyenne.
Although that is a big payday, the public may never know who has the winning ticket. That’s because Wyoming allows jackpot winners to remain anonymous.
Cowboy Draw winnings are generally paid out in a lump sum, minus 24% withholding for taxes. That would make the payout on the $1.418 million ticket $1.077 million.
Wyoming doesn’t have state income taxes, but there are federal taxes.
“We are excited to meet our newest jackpot winner,” WyoLotto CEO Jon Clontz said in a prepared statement.
Wyoming’s Cowboy Draw game was launched in March 2015 and since then has had 41 jackpot winners.
Cowboy Draw was authorized in 2013, when Wyoming entered into agreements with other U.S. lotteries for multistate games.
Cowboy Draw costs $5 for two sets of five numbers. Now that there’s been a winner, the jackpot has reset to its starting amount, $250,000, and the next drawing is Thursday.
Other Wyoming lotteries include Lucky for life, started in 2016, and the game 2by2, started in 2021.
When it comes to Monday’s winner, the odds would say the winner is someone local to the Afton area, Magee said.
“I would say the majority of our sales is local, but we do have people passing through that buy tickets, too,” he said.
Now having sold two large winning tickets, Magee said he’s fine if his rural stores get a reputation for being lucky.
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
