Powerball creator patents lottery games

Tuesday, July 5, 2005 | 9:26 a.m.

DES MOINES, Iowa -- The co-creator of the Powerball lottery game has patented an international jackpot game and a new lotto game that could some day be played in the United States.

Edward Stanek is president of the Iowa Lottery and one of two men who came up with the Powerball game, which is now played in 27 states.

Although Stanek is one of the state's highest paid executives, he does not receive royalties from his invention, which has generated about $17 billion in sales for lotteries nationwide in the past 14 years.

"The only thing I ever received is this walnut plaque," said Stanek, who keeps the award in his office in Des Moines. The Multi-State Lottery Association, which oversees Powerball game throughout the United States and two other jurisdictions, gave Stanek the plaque "in appreciation for work done on the development of the Powerball game."

Neither Stanek nor Steve Caputo, a former Oregon lottery official who helped to develop Powerball, ever patented the original game.

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