News writer; Opinion columnist
Some states have more players, and others have more games, but no state lottery earned as much money as New York. After paying out winners and other operating expenses, the state lottery commission collected over $3.7 billion for the last fiscal year, and almost all of it will go toward funding K-12 educational programs.
Of course, if the state wins big, the players are, too. Several ticket buyers took home multi-million dollar prizes in 2023, including the biggest jackpot in New York State Lottery history.
Eleven-figure winner
The total New York Lottery revenue for the fiscal year was $10.545 billion, an increase of $189.2 million or 1.8% over the previous year’s earnings. The state’s share of this money adds up to 3.6% of its total operating funds for the year.
Part of the success is due to the 51% tax rate that New York collects on gross gaming revenues, which is the highest tax rate in the country.
Multi-state millions
Multi-state draw games, such as Powerball, Mega Millions, and New York’s own NY LOTTO, were some of the state lottery's leading revenue generators.
Gaming Commission chairman Brian O’Dwyer attributes the games' success to their giant prizes.
“Multiple massive jackpots mean more opportunities to win life-changing money while benefitting New York’s public schools,” O’Dwyer said in a statement. “Even if a New York player’s numbers don’t get called, every ticket purchase is a win for New York state’s taxpayers and businesses.”
The commission noted that lottery drawings with jackpots over $500 million drew some of the highest participation rates, even though no New Yorker has won a Powerball top prize since 2020.
The October 11, 2023, Powerball drawing alone, which blew up to $1.76 billion after 36 consecutive drawings with no winners, generated $189 million in ticket sales revenue, $66.1 million of which went to New York K-12 schools.
Big winners
Of course, the state wasn’t the only one that took home big prizes. While no New Yorker held a winning Powerball ticket, Empire State players collected plenty of major jackpots for the year.
The biggest winner of 2023 was Queens resident Johnnie Taylor, who won the $476 million Mega Millions jackpot from the April 14, 2023 drawing. This wasn’t just the biggest win of the year but the biggest prize in the history of the New York lottery. The ticket was purchased from Liberty Beer & Convenience in Ozone Park, Queens.
Taylor chose the cash option and collected $253 million before paying taxes.
The state’s second biggest winner was another Mega Millions player, who won $20 million in the July drawing on a ticket they purchased at Church Wine & Liquor in East Syracuse. The winner chose to remain anonymous and selected the cash option, collecting $6,859,856 in winnings.
The biggest winner for an in-state draw game was an anonymous player who cashed in a New York LOTTO ticket worth $9.6 million from the September 2nd drawing.
Two different players collected $10 million from scratch-off tickets, the highest payout for an instant-win game.
Lottery officials announced that Onondaga Country resident Patrick Smith won the top prize playing a $10,000 A Week for Life scratcher with a guaranteed minimum payout of $10 million. Smith opted for the lumpsum payout and collected $4,280,973.
Wayne Murray may be the luckiest man in New York after he won his second $10 million scratch-off jackpot in a year when he claimed the top prize playing the 200X scratcher in December 2023. He won his first eight-figure prize playing the Black Titanium game in December 2022.
Lucky store
While lottery winners come from all over the state, one New York store has become famous for creating million-dollar winners.
Smoke 4 Less is a cigar store and a millionaire-making machine in Newburgh, New York. In 2023 alone, the store sold six million-dollar tickets, including a $2 million winner for the October 7 Powerball drawing.
The store has become so famous that lines wrap around the block whenever the Powerball or Mega Millions jackpots increase to hundreds of millions.
Part of their success may be attributable to their partnership with Jackpocket, an app that allows players in certain states to buy tickets online. After placing an order, a courier buys a physical ticket with the requested numbers from an authorized retailer. So even if they are ordered online, Smoke 4 Less receives credit for selling the tickets.
According to a Lottery spokesperson, “These tickets are produced at the Smokes 4 Less store in Newburgh, and any winning tickets ordered through Jackpocket’s courier services platform are reported as winning tickets sold from the Smokes 4 Less store in Newburgh.”
Despite all its success selling winners, the store still hasn’t collected a bonus prize because it has never sold a jackpot-winning ticket.
No igaming
While New York has seen tremendous growth in lotteries and sports betting, Empire State players should expect to have the opportunity to try igaming anytime soon. New York state senator Joseph Addabbo, a strong proponent of legalized gambling, filed a revised bill in the state senate to create a legal authorization for igaming, but Governor Kathy Hocul did not include it in her 2025 executive budget.
