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Woman Wins $83.5M in Texas Lottery. Three Months Later, the State Won't Pay Out Her Prize, She Claims
People.com ^ | May 21, 2025 | David Chiu

Posted on 05/23/2025 6:56:33 PM PDT by lowbridge

A woman who won an $83.5 million Texas lottery jackpot in February has filed a lawsuit after allegedly not receiving her prize amid controversy over the use of third-party couriers for buying tickets.

Howry, Breen & Herman, LLP, an Austin-based law firm representing the woman, who chose to remain anonymous, announced the suit on Wednesday, May 21, against Sergio Rey in his official capacity as acting deputy executive director of the Texas Lottery Commission.

“It shouldn’t take a lawsuit to get paid when you win the lottery,” according to the complaint, which was filed in Travis County District Court and obtained by PEOPLE. “But that’s exactly what has happened here. Because the Texas Lottery has not acted with integrity, has not acted with responsibility, and has not paid Ms. Doe as the rightful and undisputed winner, she had to bring this lawsuit to get paid as the undisputed winner of the $83,500,000.00…”

In an interview with the Austin American-Statesman published on March 18, the woman said she came forward to claim her winnings from the Feb. 17 Lotto Texas jackpot drawing but did not receive them.

NBC affiliate KXAN reports that the woman used Jackpocket, an app that allows users to play "official state lottery games on your phone," according to their website.

Jackpocket is a subsidiary of sports betting company DraftKings, which also owns the Winner’s Corner store located in North Austin, where the winning ticket was purchased, according to Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, according to CBS affiliate KHOU. 

On X, Patrick shared a clip of his visit to the Winner’s Corner the day after the Feb. 17 drawing. In the video, a person at the store, who says he is the manager, tells Patrick that the winning $83.5 million ticket was purchased through a courier.

(Excerpt) Read more at people.com ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat
KEYWORDS: lottery; texas; texass
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1 posted on 05/23/2025 6:56:33 PM PDT by lowbridge
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To: lowbridge

This is why you have to take the cash payout if you win, you could never count on 20 years of payments


2 posted on 05/23/2025 7:03:27 PM PDT by mykroar ("It's Not the Nature of the Evidence; It's the Seriousness of the Charge." - El Rushbo)
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To: mykroar

Good advice.


3 posted on 05/23/2025 7:05:25 PM PDT by No name given ( Anonymous is who you’ll know me as)
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To: lowbridge

State lottos are a rip off (except for those who run them).


4 posted on 05/23/2025 7:07:49 PM PDT by from occupied ga (Your government is your most dangerous enemy - EVs a solution for which there is no problem)
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To: lowbridge

What exactly is the alleged problem with the use of couriers?


5 posted on 05/23/2025 7:10:17 PM PDT by Petrosius
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To: lowbridge

The ticket purchase was illegal because they have to be purchased in person and not through a courier service.


6 posted on 05/23/2025 7:11:37 PM PDT by EastTexasTraveler
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To: EastTexasTraveler

So to buy the ticket the courier had show his ID. If I were the courier I’d claim the ticket


7 posted on 05/23/2025 7:18:48 PM PDT by Fai Mao ( All Democrats are pedophiles )
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To: lowbridge

I believe Illinois stopped paying/suspended payments for a while a few years ago.


8 posted on 05/23/2025 7:19:21 PM PDT by rey
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To: EastTexasTraveler
The ticket purchase was illegal because they have to be purchased in person and not through a courier service.

then-executive director Ryan Mindell said that lottery ticket courier services “are not allowed under Texas law and that the Commission would move forward with proposed rule amendments prohibiting such services in the future.”

If couriers are illegal, why are they having to "move forward with proposed rule amendments prohibiting such services in the future."

Plus she's been doing this for years, and has always been paid for her winnings.

9 posted on 05/23/2025 7:19:31 PM PDT by chaosagent (Remember, no matter how you slice it, forbidden fruit still tastes the sweetest!)
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To: lowbridge

Texas Lottery Commission desolved and replaced.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqpB1kogcUI&t=1s


10 posted on 05/23/2025 7:28:12 PM PDT by Liberty Valance (Keep a Simple Manner for a Happy Life :o)
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To: chaosagent

The Texas Lottery Commission is so corrupt that the legislature has just voted to abolish the commission. It would be better if they would abolish the lottery.


11 posted on 05/23/2025 7:28:54 PM PDT by EastTexasTraveler
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To: rey
There seems to be a lot of reports recently of state lottos and casinos not honoring big jackpot payouts for one lame reason or another.

I’m glad gambling isn’t one of my vices.

The rest are far less expensive and aggravating.😁

12 posted on 05/23/2025 7:29:33 PM PDT by daler
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To: Fai Mao

Now, after taxes, she’s going to have to split the remainder with the damned lawyers 50/50. It’s why they took the case in the first place. She’s gonna get almost nothing. Maybe $15 million.


13 posted on 05/23/2025 7:29:55 PM PDT by 4Runner ("I gotta join a union just to get a job loafin'?" " Sure ya do!" --Abbott & Costello)
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To: lowbridge

Pay whoever possesses the ticket. If the ticket is stolen, that’s another issue. If she gave the ticket away as a gift and it hit, the recipient couldn’t claim the prize?


14 posted on 05/23/2025 7:45:05 PM PDT by mikey_hates_everything
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To: 4Runner

“almost nothing”. I’ll take “almost nothing”. I think I can get by with 15 million.


15 posted on 05/23/2025 7:48:00 PM PDT by GMThrust
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To: rey

I remember that.
They were sending winners IOUs.


16 posted on 05/23/2025 7:50:11 PM PDT by RandallFlagg (Democrats should have been barred from elections since The Battle Of Athens.)
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To: lowbridge

The state government is like this:
The “Naked City” episode “A Run for the Money” Season 2, Episode 22 which aired on March 14, 1962.

It features a woman who wins a large amount of money on the numbers, but the man who took her money doesn’t pay up.


17 posted on 05/23/2025 7:50:19 PM PDT by frank ballenger (There's a battle outside and it's raging. It'll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls. )
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To: EastTexasTraveler
#6: "they have to be purchased in person and not through a courier service."

Americans with disabilities act might have something say.

18 posted on 05/23/2025 8:15:47 PM PDT by Governor Dinwiddie ( O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is gracious, and His mercy endures forever. — Psalm 106)
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To: frank ballenger
LOL! "Naked City" immediately caught my attention:
“There are 8 million stories in the naked city.”
Loved that show. Also "Route 66", "77 Sunset Strip", "Hawaiian Eye". LOLZ.

19 posted on 05/23/2025 8:21:08 PM PDT by Governor Dinwiddie ( O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is gracious, and His mercy endures forever. — Psalm 106)
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To: mykroar

A problem I’d love to have!

Of course, I always do take the cash when my $2 Scratcher hits.


20 posted on 05/23/2025 8:23:33 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom (“Diversity is our Strength” just doesn’t carry the same message as “Death from Above”)
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