The Connecticut State Lottery was created in 1971 following a sustained campaign by State Representative John A. "Tony" Miscikoski. Known as ‘The Father of the Lottery’, he presented legislation for nearly a decade that would authorise lottery sales before finally seeing his idea come to fruition. The Lottery, which began selling tickets for a single weekly draw in February 1972, was the fourth in the US and offered a jackpot of $5,000.

Nowadays the state offers games including the three-number Play3, four-number Play4 and five-number Cash5, as well as Lotto!, which sees six numbers drawn from 44, and Super Draw, which has been drawn every New Year’s Day and Independence Day since January 2011. Connecticut also sells tickets to the multi-state Mega Millions and Powerball draws, with a $254.2m Powerball jackpot ticket purchased in the state in November 2011.

Since its inception the Connecticut Lottery has paid out over $13bn to winners and donated more than $7.5bn to the state’s General Fund, including a record one-year contribution of $310m in June 2012.