West Virginia Hits Jackpocket With Online Lottery Service

Written By Marian Rosin on November 15, 2022 – Last Updated on February 3, 2023

Jackpocket app expands West Virginia online gambling market

Now you can literally phone it in when it comes to West Virginia online gambling and purchasing lottery tickets. That’s because you can now get lottery tickets online through Jackpocket, the leading third-party lottery app in the US.

Jackpocket launched in the Mountain State on Nov. 4 — just in time for the record-breaking $2.4 million Powerball jackpot — with an offer of a free lottery ticket to new players (Jackpocket promo code WEST).

The kickoff makes West Virginia the 14th jurisdiction to offer the lottery app.

As convenient as WV online gambling

With Jackpocket, West Virginia takes another step into the digital age of lottery play. Peter Sullivan, Jackpocket’s CEO and founder, said:

“We’re excited to offer West Virginians a new way to participate [in a record Powerball drawing]. Jackpocket’s mission is to make the lottery more accessible and convenient to play.”

Jackpocket includes some of the lottery’s most popular games, such as:

Powerball
Mega Millions
Lotto America
Cash 25
Daily 3
Daily 4

Once downloaded, Jackpocket’s platform is secure and easy to use. Prizes worth up to $600 get delivered to players directly on the app. They can transfer winnings to a bank account or use them to play again.

But if a player wins more than $600, they can pick up their ticket in person or get it delivered. Then they can claim their jackpot at the West Virginia Lottery offices.

Ensuring responsible lottery play

Jackpocket is a member of the National Council on Problem Gambling. To that end, the app offers guardrails to protect its users, including:

Daily deposit and spending limits
Self-exclusion
In-app access to responsible gaming resources

Also, Jackpocket uses geolocation to ensure players live within an applicable area.

WV Lottery brings $520M annually to social programs

The West Virginia Lottery generates more than $1.1 billion annually, generating more than $520 million for the state.

Since the lottery’s first ticket sales in 1986, West Virginians have won more than $3 billion in prizes. More than $9 billion has gone to these beneficiaries:

$3.6 billion to schools and education
$1.4+ billion to senior programs and services
Almost $1.3 billion to state parks and tourism

WV lottery retailers worry about online lottery

In some places, such as Massachusetts, the advent of people buying lottery tickets through online apps reportedly caused skepticism. WV lottery retailers also have revenue at stake.

But John Nyers, director of the state’s lottery, told Play WV that lottery retailers in other states aren’t economically harmed by online lottery.

West Virginia retailers get a 7% lottery sales commission and a 1% bonus for selling winning tickets. And those who sell a winning draw-game ticket could receive a jackpot bonus of up to $100,000. Jackpocket receives the same percentages, Nyers said.

In addition, in-person customers may purchase store items along with their lottery tickets, adding to overall revenue.

While it may seem counterintuitive, having an available online ticketing service in Pennsylvania seemed to boost in-person sales, at least initially.

In 2020, Pittsburgh’s WPXI reported that its viewers favored purchasing lottery tickets at stores rather than online by 74% to 26%. That may have been helped somewhat by the lottery initially offering online coupons for tickets at retailers, much as Jackpocket is doing.