Wyoming Lottery to begin accepting retailer applications

May 13, 2014, 5:25 pm (9 comments)

Wyoming Lottery

Lottery ticket sales expected to begin in August

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Starting May 21, the Wyoming Lottery Corp. will begin accepting applications from Wyoming retail business owners who want to sell Powerball and Mega Millions tickets at their retail locations.

Properly completed and vetted applications will be considered on a first-come, first-served basis.

Beginning May 21, Wyoming retail business owners can either fill out and submit an application online at www.wyolotto.com, download and print a retailer application and return it to the Wyoming Lottery Corporation in person or by mail, pick up an application in person at the Lottery's office, or request an application by calling the Wyoming Lottery at 307-432-9300.

Applications will not be available either online or by request until the May 21 release date.

"Creating the application and the application process has been a collaborative effort," said Jon Clontz, Wyoming Lottery's Chief Executive Officer. "We've incorporated many of the valuable suggestions retailers provided during our statewide retailer workshops. Thanks to their input, we're confident we've developed a fair and equitable process that the majority of retailers who want to sell lottery tickets in Wyoming will be happy with."

Clontz notes that due to the volume of information required of retail business owners, completing the application will probably take 30 minutes or more. "I recommend that retailers download and print the application and review it thoroughly to make sure they have all the required information handy before beginning the online application process," said Clontz.

Applications submitted in person or by mail should be directed to:

Wyoming Lottery Corporation
Attn: Retail Applications
1620 Central Ave, Suite 100
Cheyenne, WY 82001

Wyoming retailers with questions about the WyoLotto application or the application process are urged to contact the Wyoming Lottery.

Clontz says the Wyoming Lottery is on track to begin selling Powerball and Mega Millions tickets on August 24.

Lottery Post Staff

Comments

Gleno's avatarGleno

Hooray for the  Big Sky state of Wyoming for joining the Powerball and Mega Millions lottery games.

Party

noise-gate

I sure would like to know how Wyoming Lottery officials are going to go about" vetting" vendors.Given that corruption starts once a ticket is handed over to the clerk to verify whether it's a winner or not, what is the process whereby the Officials can swear that " this particular vendor" will not fall prey to these Shenanigans? 

Marilyn222's avatarMarilyn222

Here comes the making of millionaires in Wyoming...good luck!

Todd's avatarTodd

Quote: Originally posted by noise-gate on May 14, 2014

I sure would like to know how Wyoming Lottery officials are going to go about" vetting" vendors.Given that corruption starts once a ticket is handed over to the clerk to verify whether it's a winner or not, what is the process whereby the Officials can swear that " this particular vendor" will not fall prey to these Shenanigans? 

The problem is that even if you properly vet a retailer, the lottery can't control who they hire later to work the counter.  And any time you have human beings involved, there is always the possibility they will succumb to temptation.

Hopefully the lottery will — from the start — do the things they need to do to in order to minimize the possibility of having players ripped off by unscrupulous retailers, including:

  • Mandating the installation of self-check ticket scanners at every retailer.
  • Mandating that every lottery terminal play a specific sound when a winning ticket is scanned by the clerk. (And not allowing the volume level to be turned down on the machine.)
  • Any in-state games, including both scratch games and lotto games, should have simple rules for determining if you have won a prize.
  • The lottery's website should be simple and clear, and be easy for any player to find all lottery results, game rules, prize payouts, and contact information.  State lotteries are essentially big marketing companies, so it is difficult for them to resist the urge to make their websites all about marketing the games, but the primary mission NEEDS to be clarity, information, and education.  And for God's sake, don't create a separate "player's VIP site".
  • Every retailer location needs to have clear information available about what to do when you win a big prize.  I would suggest that the terminal itself have some basic information displayed on it.  Players not knowing what to do is often to source of corruption.
  • The lottery terminal should be emblazoned with the words, "You have the right to keep your used lottery tickets, whether they are winners or not. Ask for your ticket back from the clerk after they handle it."

These are basic things, right?  I'm sure there are some other basic things the lotteries should be doing.  Hopefully the new Wyoming Lottery will learn from the past mistakes of other lotteries, and do the right things, right from the start.

Marilyn222's avatarMarilyn222

Quote: Originally posted by Todd on May 14, 2014

The problem is that even if you properly vet a retailer, the lottery can't control who they hire later to work the counter.  And any time you have human beings involved, there is always the possibility they will succumb to temptation.

Hopefully the lottery will — from the start — do the things they need to do to in order to minimize the possibility of having players ripped off by unscrupulous retailers, including:

  • Mandating the installation of self-check ticket scanners at every retailer.
  • Mandating that every lottery terminal play a specific sound when a winning ticket is scanned by the clerk. (And not allowing the volume level to be turned down on the machine.)
  • Any in-state games, including both scratch games and lotto games, should have simple rules for determining if you have won a prize.
  • The lottery's website should be simple and clear, and be easy for any player to find all lottery results, game rules, prize payouts, and contact information.  State lotteries are essentially big marketing companies, so it is difficult for them to resist the urge to make their websites all about marketing the games, but the primary mission NEEDS to be clarity, information, and education.  And for God's sake, don't create a separate "player's VIP site".
  • Every retailer location needs to have clear information available about what to do when you win a big prize.  I would suggest that the terminal itself have some basic information displayed on it.  Players not knowing what to do is often to source of corruption.
  • The lottery terminal should be emblazoned with the words, "You have the right to keep your used lottery tickets, whether they are winners or not. Ask for your ticket back from the clerk after they handle it."

These are basic things, right?  I'm sure there are some other basic things the lotteries should be doing.  Hopefully the new Wyoming Lottery will learn from the past mistakes of other lotteries, and do the right things, right from the start.

I Agree!without a doubt.

dallascowboyfan's avatardallascowboyfan

Welcome to the Powerball & Mega madness Wyoming.

noise-gate

Totally agree with you there Todd, my question was geared toward what the criteria would be to qualify as a reliable & trustworthy vendor, are officials looking into their financial background, have the owners served time, or what?

Vetting is a major process.

HoLeeKau's avatarHoLeeKau

Quote: Originally posted by Todd on May 14, 2014

The problem is that even if you properly vet a retailer, the lottery can't control who they hire later to work the counter.  And any time you have human beings involved, there is always the possibility they will succumb to temptation.

Hopefully the lottery will — from the start — do the things they need to do to in order to minimize the possibility of having players ripped off by unscrupulous retailers, including:

  • Mandating the installation of self-check ticket scanners at every retailer.
  • Mandating that every lottery terminal play a specific sound when a winning ticket is scanned by the clerk. (And not allowing the volume level to be turned down on the machine.)
  • Any in-state games, including both scratch games and lotto games, should have simple rules for determining if you have won a prize.
  • The lottery's website should be simple and clear, and be easy for any player to find all lottery results, game rules, prize payouts, and contact information.  State lotteries are essentially big marketing companies, so it is difficult for them to resist the urge to make their websites all about marketing the games, but the primary mission NEEDS to be clarity, information, and education.  And for God's sake, don't create a separate "player's VIP site".
  • Every retailer location needs to have clear information available about what to do when you win a big prize.  I would suggest that the terminal itself have some basic information displayed on it.  Players not knowing what to do is often to source of corruption.
  • The lottery terminal should be emblazoned with the words, "You have the right to keep your used lottery tickets, whether they are winners or not. Ask for your ticket back from the clerk after they handle it."

These are basic things, right?  I'm sure there are some other basic things the lotteries should be doing.  Hopefully the new Wyoming Lottery will learn from the past mistakes of other lotteries, and do the right things, right from the start.

Idaho has a VIP page.  They give you a card to swipe when you buy your tickets, and you accrue points that you can buy stuff with.  I don't belong because the lottery and the Idaho Tax Commission are both state entities.  I don't think there's any law against them sharing info, and you never know when your ticket will win a few hundred bucks.

rdgrnr's avatarrdgrnr

Quote: Originally posted by Todd on May 14, 2014

The problem is that even if you properly vet a retailer, the lottery can't control who they hire later to work the counter.  And any time you have human beings involved, there is always the possibility they will succumb to temptation.

Hopefully the lottery will — from the start — do the things they need to do to in order to minimize the possibility of having players ripped off by unscrupulous retailers, including:

  • Mandating the installation of self-check ticket scanners at every retailer.
  • Mandating that every lottery terminal play a specific sound when a winning ticket is scanned by the clerk. (And not allowing the volume level to be turned down on the machine.)
  • Any in-state games, including both scratch games and lotto games, should have simple rules for determining if you have won a prize.
  • The lottery's website should be simple and clear, and be easy for any player to find all lottery results, game rules, prize payouts, and contact information.  State lotteries are essentially big marketing companies, so it is difficult for them to resist the urge to make their websites all about marketing the games, but the primary mission NEEDS to be clarity, information, and education.  And for God's sake, don't create a separate "player's VIP site".
  • Every retailer location needs to have clear information available about what to do when you win a big prize.  I would suggest that the terminal itself have some basic information displayed on it.  Players not knowing what to do is often to source of corruption.
  • The lottery terminal should be emblazoned with the words, "You have the right to keep your used lottery tickets, whether they are winners or not. Ask for your ticket back from the clerk after they handle it."

These are basic things, right?  I'm sure there are some other basic things the lotteries should be doing.  Hopefully the new Wyoming Lottery will learn from the past mistakes of other lotteries, and do the right things, right from the start.

Excellent points.

They should all be mandatory for all lotteries.

End of comments
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