2 Texas Lottery wins quick investigations and stirring public indignation

The unusual circumstances of two of the largest lottery jackpots in the Texas history have touched on a furious debate about the unorthodox methods used to hang the prizes and have led to the Governor and the Lawyer to advertise investigations.

On April 22, 2023, someone won A $ 95 million Lotto Texas Jackpot by spending $ 25 million to buy almost all possible number of combination in the draw. The winner who was only identified as a business unit called Rook txby Scotch Plains, NJ, ended up claiming Klump-SUM payment of $ 57,804,000 before tax.

Then on February 17, someone won a $ 83.5 million Lotto Texas Jackpot by ordering tickets online via jackpocket, a third -party app owned by Draftkings. Jackpocket also owned the store in Austin, which printed the winning ticket. It sold board games at the front and had dozens of lotteropeam minals behind a wall in the back.

Can you buy millions of lottery combinations?

At the beginning of 2023, when the Jackpot in Lotto Texas ballooned over months without a winner, someone figured out a way to almost guarantee a win, according to Ryan Mindell, CEO of Texas Lottery Commission.

In the driveway to the drawing, the person or the persons-it did not clearly work how many people were involved-with four retailers in Texas to order a “significant” number of lotter operates, enough to pump approx. 25 million tickets out and cover almost every possible number of combination, Mr. Mindell.

Then, in the three days until the drawing, people went to the stores and went into millions of number combinations using QR codes loaded on iPads, Mr. Mindell. The Texas Lottery app allows customers to generate QR codes that can be scanned by participating retailers to generate tickets.

The operation caused a huge increase in sales with about 27 million tickets sold in less than 72 hours compared to approx. 2 million in a typical Lotto Texas drawing, Mr. Mindell.

“I remember waking up that Thursday morning and watching the sales numbers and thinking,” what the hell is happening? “” He said.

One of the tickets contained The winning combination -3-5-18-29-30-52-for the $ 95 million jackpot, the third largest in Lotto Texas history. Officials have not revealed who was behind Rook TX, the device that required the price. Texas law allows those who claim lottery prices of $ 1 million or more to remain anonymous.

Operation – As Houston Chronicle has helped to postpone through Comprehensive investigative reporting – Touched indignation during a hearing in the State Senate last month.

“This is probably the biggest fraud ever committed on the state of Texas by any group,” said Senator Paul Bettencourt during the hearing. “We gave up, probably on a fraudulent victory, $ 57.7 million.”

Mr. Mindell said the lottery had taken steps to avert similar “bulk -purchasing” operations by limiting the number of terminals that retailers could book for a short period and uncover the number of tickets that each terminal can print per. Drawing.

“Generally, if a person had a lot of money and wanted to buy as many tickets as they wanted, it’s not contrary to the law,” he said. But he added, “The perception of the justice of the game is significantly wounded.”

A quiet store with dozens of lotter operates.

On February 17, a buyer won a $ 83.5 million jackpot, also one of the largest in the Lotto Texas story, using the jackpocket. The buyer was a Texas customer who had ordered 10 items for the draw and spent a total of $ 20, according to Jackpocket.

The app is one of a number of third -party companies known as Courier Services that allows customers to order online without physically entering a store.

A day after victory Published a video Of his visit to Winners Corner in Austin, the store that had sold the winning ticket through the jackpocket.

He was not happy with what he saw: He noticed that the store, also owned by the Jackpocket, held a large number of lottery terminals in the back, hidden from public point of view. In addition to the lottery tickets, the store seemed to sell mostly board games, he said.

“We do not suggest anything illegal, but that is not the way the lottery was designed to work,” Mr. Patrick in the video. “It was designed to operate by someone who came into a store, give some cash and get a ticket back – not to machines behind walls, and not from a courier service and a retailer who is all connected.”

The store, a licensed lottery dealer, has for years been the best -selling lottery dealer in Texas, Mr. Mindell.

Texas officials say both wins have shaken the public’s confidence in the lottery.

On February 24, Government Manager Greg Abbott from Texas ordered State’s law enforcement officials to investigate both victories. “Texans must be able to rely on our state’s lottery system and know that the lottery is carried out with integrity and legal,” he said.

Same day, Texas Lottery announced that it was moving to ban Courier services like Jackpocket and that it would revoke the license for any lottery dealer who worked with one.

Two days later advertised court lawyer Ken Paxton his own investigation into what he called “suspicious and potentially illegal lottery ‘gains.’ ”

“Texas citizens deserve far better than bad actors who are rich in a lottery system open to exploitation and we will keep everyone involved in illegal activity,” he said.

Peter Sullivan, Senior Vice President of Lottery at Draftkings, said in a statement that the jackpocket would suspend operations in accordance with Texas Lottery Policy. But he noticed that the app had operated in Texas since 2019 with “a proven Track Record for compliance and commitment to Responsible Games” and had complied with guidance from Texas Lottery Commission.

He said the company hoped to work with decision makers to create rules that would allow Courier Services to resume operations. Jackpocket, he said, had run over $ 550 million in the Texas lottery ticket, which helped generate important revenue for public education.