25 Fun Facts about the Colorado Lottery
1. The Colorado Lottery has created more than 367 millionaires since 1983.
2. When the Lottery was launched 25 years ago, the average new home cost
$82,600.
3. The retailer that has yielded the most Lotto jackpot-winning tickets with
the largest collective prize amount, is King Soopers, located at Holly and County
Line Road in Littleton. This retailer has sold five jackpot-winning tickets.
4. Three people, Don Wittman of Denver, Shelley Hedwall of Fountain, and
Fred Sanisteven of Pueblo have won Lotto jackpots twice.
5. The largest jackpot in Colorado Lottery history – a $27 million Lotto
jackpot – was won by Kim Walker of Boulder on Mar. 25, 1992
6. Highest sales ever for one drawing were $9,297,945 for the $27 million
jackpot on Wednesday, March 25, 1992. This was accomplished in four days of
sales (Sun.-Wed.). Sales for that Wednesday alone were $4,943,515, which is
the highest one-day total in Lotto history.
7. Borderline Cantina in Carr, Colorado (just south of the Wyoming border) is
the Lottery’s top retailer, with $2.8 million in annual sales.
8. The largest Lotto unclaimed jackpot in the state of Colorado was for $7.5
million. It expired on August 21, 2003.
9. The Colorado Lottery’s system can sell up to 40,000 tickets per minute.
10. On May 31, 2007, 19-year-old Kevin Sutton became the Lottery’s
youngest Lotto jackpot winner, scoring a $3 million jackpot.
11. On Oct. Oct. 9, 1991, a record 10 winners split a $15 million Lotto
jackpot, (netting $1.5 million each).
12. On Sept. 18, 2007, one winner won the Cash 5 jackpot 10 times! The
winner took home $200,000.
–2– January 17, 2008
13. The winning numbers for Cash 5 and Lotto are generated from Automated
Drawing Machines (ADM), which are stand alone PCs that use a Random Number
Generator (RNG) to select the winning numbers.
14. Each Powerball ball is made of 80 grams of solid rubber.
15. The winning numbers for Powerball are generated using ball drop
machines at a draw site in Iowa. One machine holds the 55 white balls and
another holds the 42 red ones.
16. On average, 1,621 Coloradoans match 3 of 5 numbers on the Powerball,
each drawing.
17. Eight Nebraska meatpackers won a record $365 million Powerball jackpot
in February 2006. The jackpot remains the largest in Powerball history.
18. The average Colorado Lottery player is in their late 30s to mid 60s and
has a household income of more than $40,000.
19. Eighty-three percent of the state’s population has played a Colorado
Lottery game.
20. Downtown Denver’s first playground was built with Lottery funds.
21. The Lottery contributed to the creation of the Colorado Convention
Center through the Capital Construction Fund.
22. The Lottery funds have helped protect 718,171 acres since 1994.
23. Since 1994, Lottery dollars have helped build or restore 700 miles of
hiking and biking trails.
24. The Colorado Division of Wildlife has released more than 200 Lynx into
the San Juan Mountains with support from the Colorado Lottery.
25. Lottery funding has helped educate 500,000 kids annually about the
wildlife in Colorado through the Project WILD Program from the Colorado Division
of Wildlife.