Winning ticket sold in Rock Springs

Someone is more than $2 million richer after a winning Cowboy Draw lottery ticket was sold in Rock Springs Monday.

The winning draw took place Monday afternoon, with the winning numbers of 1, 7, 28, 30 and 34 being tracked to the Kum & Go store at 1540 9th St. The total cash prize amounted to $2,251,267.

Jon Clontz, the CEO of the Wyoming Lottery Corporation, said a man has come forward to claim the prize, but hasn’t decided if he wants to make his name public or not. The lottery’s rules in Wyoming allow a jackpot winner to remain anonymous if they chose.

Now, the process of validating the ticket begins. Clontz said a security and enforcement person will travel to Rock Springs Wednesday to review the store video footage of the ticket purchase and other information to verify the transaction. The numbers on the ticket will be verified again when the man travels to Cheyenne to formally claim the prize.

“We do a pretty thorough job of validating those tickets,” Clontz said.

Clontz said the process is the same for people winning a jackpot for the Powerball and Mega Millions games, which are overseen by the Multi-State Lottery Association. While Cowboy Draw is owned by the Wyoming Lottery Corporation, the verification process is seen as a best practice amongst lottery corporations. Clontz said the Cowboy Draw continues to be a popular game in Wyoming, which he attributes to the western branding and high payout rate. He said the game pays out at 68% and usually pays $60,000-$70,000 a month in $1,000 wins.

In Sweetwater County, there have been 593 high-tier winners, which are defined by people winning at least $500. In total, $4.58 million has been paid out in the county.