Posted on 03/21/2025 12:43:03 PM PDT by Responsibility2nd
Last month, one Texas lottery winner got lucky, scoring an $83.5 million Lotto Texas jackpot. Maybe a little too lucky, in Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick's opinion.
The winner purchased her ticket Feb. 17 through Jackpocket, a third-party lottery "courier" service that sells tickets to customers through an app online and processes them at a brick-and-mortar storefront called Winner's Corner. The Texas location sits at 7817 Rockwood Ln #101b in Austin.
Here's a rundown of the legal issues preventing this Texas lottery winner from claiming her prize.
Patrick's investigation On Feb. 18, Patrick conducted an in-person investigation at the Winner's Corner store front.
"We're not suggesting anything illegal, but this is not the way the lottery was designed to operate," Patrick said in a video update to X. "It was designed to operate by someone coming into a store, giving someone cash, and getting a ticket back."
The lottery winner says she played by the rules.
"I literally spent $20. I didn't spend $26 million to run every single possible combination of numbers," she told the Austin-American Statesman. "If (the Lottery Commission) didn't do an investigation into the (April 2023 jackpot winner), that's on you. That's not my fault."
According to Patrick, the fault may lie within the lottery game's legal loopholes.
During his investigation, the store would not allow Patrick's team to film beyond the front room. However, Patrick claimed he saw "terminal after terminal after terminal" processing lottery tickets purchased by customers through Jackpocket.
"The bottom line is, if people are going to have confidence in the lottery, we have to be sure that no one has an advantage."
How it works Winners Corner is owned and operated by Jackpocket, which is a DraftKings subsidiary. According to Jackpocket CEO Peter Sullivan, the purchasing process is straightforward, KXAN reported.
"Jackpocket receives the order from the customer and then that Jackpocket employee goes into the retailer and purchases the ticket — a physical ticket — from that retailer," Sullivan told KXAN. If it's a winning ticket, the prize is either credited to the customer's account or given to the customer physically, depending on the amount."
The Texas Lottery Commission states that licensed lottery retailers "cannot be in the sole business of selling Texas Lottery tickets" in order to legally operate in the state.
Sullivan says Winners Corner is operating within the bounds of that law.
"Winners Corner is a licensed lottery retailer ... We are not in the sole business of selling lottery tickets," he added. "We are open to the public, so someone can go in and order an official lottery ticket directly in the store."
The Texas Lottery Commission ban In a Feb. 24 news release, the Texas Lottery Commission stated that — under mounting pressure from state lawmakers — it would move to ban third-party lottery couriers like Jackpocket to ensure "the integrity, security, honesty and fairness of lottery operations."
"Ticket courier services are not allowed under Texas law," the agency wrote, noting that they "will move forward with proposed rule amendments prohibiting lottery courier services within the state" and that any "retailer that works in concert with a courier service would have their lottery ticket sales agent license revoked."
On Feb. 27, the Texas Senate voted to approve Senate Bill 28 which would ban online lottery ticket sales and prevent third-party services from operating in Texas.
According to the Statesman, the ticket winner's lawyers said Texas Lottery officials did not give a timeline on when, or if, she may be able to claim her prize money. As of Friday, the Texas Lottery's "Lotto Texas" winning number details page says "there was no Lotto Texas jackpot winner for drawing on 03/17/2025."
"The holder of the Feb. 17 Lotto Texas jackpot-winning ticket has come forward," the Texas Lottery said in a statement. "The claim is being reviewed under the Commission’s claim validation requirements and is the subject of external investigation."
Sounds like the state has the big advantage in that they claim they don't have to pay for a winning ticket and now I have zero confidence in their lottery.
From the very prophetic book 1984:
They were talking about the Lottery. Winston looked back when he had gone thirty metres. They were still arguing, with vivid, passionate faces. The Lottery, with its weekly pay-out of enormous prizes, was the one public event to which the proles paid serious attention. It was probable that there were some millions of proles for whom the Lottery was the principal if not the only reason for remaining alive. It was their delight, their folly, their anodyne, their intellectual stimulant. Where the Lottery was concerned, even people who could barely read and write seemed capable of intricate calculations and staggering feats of memory. There was a whole tribe of men who made a living simply by selling systems, forecasts, and lucky amulets. Winston had nothing to do with the running of the Lottery, which was managed by the Ministry of Plenty, but he was aware (indeed everyone in the party was aware) that the prizes were largely imaginary. Only small sums were actually paid out, the winners of the big prizes being non-existent persons. In the absence of any real intercommunication between one part of Oceania and another, this was not difficult to arrange.
If not for the fee, I don't think there would be a problem. The fact that they are a money making operation involving the state lottery is the problem. This enters organized crime territory in my thinking.
little more detail here
https://www.lotteryusa.com/news/investigation-unveils-3-europeans-won-texas-95m-jackpot
My guess is that it would not be hard to find a jury to rule in favor of this women- With interest and damages added on.
She bought the ticket illegally, so it is not valid.
Friggan lottery is as bad as the numbers racket the mob ran.
Matter of fact, you had more odds of collecting off the rackets than off the lottery.
Thank you for that..Definitely more info regarding the mention of April 2023. Is this solely a TX thing?
I wonder how many Lt. Gov. get involved with active investigations in their states. Very impressive. Guess if he wants answers, he needs to get them himself. That usually works better!!
“ Ticket courier services are not allowed under Texas law,” the agency wrote…”
That which is not specifically allowed is prohibited. Seems familiar…
The State may be on sold ground here. I just checked ot the site. You can pay by credit card. Buying lottery tickets with a credit card is not lawful. The loophole is they are a reseller.. not sure if it is valid or not.
It isca quote from the woman complaining that an earlier winner got her mega winnings without an investigation.
Great insight. The lottery is a fixed method of taxing poor people.
Play Stupid Games. Win Stupid Prizes.
and
Play Stupid Games. Do Not Collect Winning Prizes.
I don’t understand why she just didn’t go to a lottery retailer to buy her tickets. They’re on every street corner.
They also sell board games and gifts.
She bought it through an app. Closer than a street corner.
WOW - they should definitely have known that....How else would one pay if not by credit/debit card if they are not at the actual site?
Everyone uses credit/debit cards today. I’m the only one in the grocery store where I go weekly who still writes checks..Too old to change and won’t unless I’m forced to...I dread the day the whole system changes and I guess it just might from the scary news anyway!
But illegal.
If Patrick were so concerned about the lottery’s history, he’d ensure the lottery revenue goes to education only. Until then Patrick, screw you and pay the person.
No. It’s a program designed to benefit the state. Large industrial operations buying tens of millions of tickets enmasse makes it a rigged game. That means regular people will no longer play the game because they know it’s rigged for one of the big operations. At the moment the Texas lotto is crooked, and they are right to withhold his payment for fraud.
If she has the physical ticket and it’s signed by her, I suspect that she’s going to get paid.
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