It’s better to be lucky than good.

Last month, the $457 million Powerball winning ticket was sold in Lancaster County. The winner will collect the largest jackpot ever won in the state, according to Lottery Executive Director Drew Svitko.

“It seems that St. Patrick’s Day has brought some great luck to this fortunate Powerball player and we are anxious to meet our big winner or big winners,” Svitko said in a Philadelphia Tribune article.

According to the Philly Trib article, the winning ticket was sold at a Speedway gas station in Manheim. The municipality is a small town about 90 minutes outside of Philadelphia.

PA Lottery expecting more big wins this May

It seems that 2018 will be an unprecedented year for the Pennsylvania Lottery and the $457 million Powerball winner has nothing to do with it.

This May, the Lottery will roll out online versions of some of their games. Additionally, there will be video lottery terminal games (VLTs) at Pennsylvania bars.

These VLTs are different than the video gambling terminals (VGTs) included in the gambling expansion bill. VLTs are strictly PA Lottery machines, whereas VGT’s will offer table games and slots of various types and are only allowed to be installed in certain facilities. Also, there is an opt-out list for VGTs.

Perhaps the main reason why VLTs differ from VGTs is the threat they post to PA casinos. VLTs aren’t necessarily going to pull someone away from a brick-and-mortar casino. However, VGTs could coax gamblers away from land-based casinos as well as future satellite casinos slated to be built.

The future of PA Lottery: draw, Keno, scratchers, and virtual sports

While the PA Lottery won’t be launching any games that state residents can access via a computer, phone or tablet, there are plans to expand beyond terminals found in bars.

The line-up of gambling options includes draw games, Keno, scratchers, and virtual sports, each of which has their own nuances.

There is no indication as to how similar online and land-based games will be. For example, at the time of publishing, online Powerball and MegaMillions were not slated for launch this May.

Also, the scratch-offs that people can buy at gas stations and convenience stores any number of retail locations may not be congruent with what you can access online.

Other factors to keep in mind:

  • You have to be 18 years old to play
  • Credit cards are prohibited at iLotto terminals
  • You can add yourself to a five-year self-exclusion list
  • Keno, scratch-off and draw games are coming in May
  • Virtual sports will launch in June on VLTs

All regulations and timelines are based on information available at the time of publishing.

However the rollout takes place, Pennsylvania Lottery Spokesperson Gary Miller said he anticipates that the variety of games available to players will increase their interest in the lottery.

“We anticipate that by attracting new players and broadening their awareness of lottery games, it will help to grow sales of traditional games,” Miller said.

In the meantime, with no winner coming forward to collect that Powerball prize yet, it will be a race to see which comes first: a name of a new multi-millionaire or the launch of Pennsylvania’s online lottery.