The contentious battle between Texas lawmakers, the Texas Lottery Commission (TLC), and lottery courier services has caught an unsuspecting player in limbo of losing out on an $83.5 million jackpot she won in February.
On Feb. 17, the woman purchased 10 tickets for the Lotto Texas jackpot through the courier Jackpocket. One of those tickets happened to be the winning combination of 19-21-25-45-47-52.
Expecting to receive $83.5 million from the TLC, has instead found herself waiting to be paid amid an investigation launched on Feb. 18. Days later, the TLC made a blanket statement banning all courier activity in Texas.
A controversial past Lotto Texas jackpot win in 2023 through couriers is at the center of the recent controversy. However, that issue could lead to this jackpot being withheld, likely spurring legal action by the player, especially as she had bought her winning ticket before any kind of ban was in place in Texas.
Stephen Piepgrass, Partner at Troutman Petter Locke law firm, spoke to PlayTexas about how he foresees this situation likely ending.
“I think that with that kind of money involved, that’s a question that will be resolved by the courts, most likely. My sense is that that is something that will likely be litigated, especially given the fact that the purchase took place before this (ban) announcement. So, we’ll have to see what the courts do with it, but I think that’s a case that is ripe to be litigated, and we’ll see what happens with it.”
Previous courier win in 2023 the real catalyst
This situation really begins in April 2023. It was then that a group called “Rook TX” purchased 99% of the outcomes of a Lotto Texas jackpot worth $95 million, using the aid of multiple couriers to buy nearly $26 million worth of tickets.
That incident drew a lot of criticism from Texas lawmakers to the TLC, accusing the group of willfully turning a blind eye to the scheme. The TLC responded by requesting direction from the legislature on how it should proceed.
That back-and-forth went on until February, when this more recent Lotto Texas jackpot was won by a ticket purchased through a courier. The next day Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick visited the retailer where Jackpocket purchased the winning ticket and wasn’t happy with what he saw. He called for an immediate investigation into the win.
On Feb. 24 Gov. Greg Abbott called on the Texas Rangers to investigate both Lotto Texas wins through the couriers. Attorney General Ken Paxton also announced an investigation into couriers days later.
It would also be on Feb. 24 that the TLC released a statement saying it was banning couriers moving forward
February winner still hasn’t seen a dime
The Texas Lottery confirmed to MySA the holder of the February 17 Lotto Texas jackpot-winning ticket has come forward. TLC noted that “the claim is being reviewed under the Commission’s claim validation requirements and is the subject of external investigation.”
The winner’s lawyer, Randy Howry, told MySA his client still hasn’t been paid as of April 18. They are in the process of sending demand letters and preparing for litigation against the Texas Lottery Commission and DraftKings, which owns Jackpocket. He told the news outlet:
“The Texas lottery wants to complain about what happened in 2023 and this bulk purchase of tickets, that’s not my client. She played, just as the typical player plays. She bought $20 worth of lottery tickets and she won, and now she should be paid. To suggest that she did anything wrong and refused to pay her is unreasonable, and that’s what’s being intimated here, is that she somehow did something wrong, by playing by the rules that were in place at the time. So enough, pay her or we’ll see you in the courthouse.”
Decision may set precedent for other state lotteries
This situation is garnering more and more attention in the state and nationally as it drags on.
Lauren Fincher, another Partner at Troutman Pepper Lock told PlayTexas that lottery regulators around the nation will be closely watching the situation as it unfolds.
“I think that’s a question on everyone’s mind (the outcome to this situation). This whole situation has gotten a lot of press, but certainly this individual who actually won has been interviewed by a lot of local news stations, and it’s certainly top of mind in this discussion.”
Over a dozen US states have couriers operating in their borders. Some through regulatory agreements with the respective state lotteries, while others operate in a gray area. In most cases they exist in the absence of a state-run online lottery.
Further muddying the situation is the abrupt change in stance the TLC took on Feb. 24, declaring a ban after saying for years that it didn’t have legal authority to intervene. To Fincher, the answer to the jurisdictional issue depends on whom you ask.
“If you would ask our state lieutenant governor, Dan Patrick, who posted on X pretty closely after the announcement of this winning. He essentially said just that, that the fact that now there is a change in regulatory authority to an outright ban, tells us what we’ve known all along, which is that the commission has had regular regulatory authority, but it hasn’t exercised it.”
“I think that’s been sort of the most consistent criticism that I’ve heard in the legislature, is that the commission itself has allowed these businesses to sort of flourish without regulating them, even though it had the authority to do so. But again, I think there are others who would tell you that there has been open dialog between the courier organizations and the Texas Lottery Commission, and that the understanding has always been that they were not regulated and that they didn’t have the authority to regulate. So again, I think it depends who you ask there.”
If the situation does produce a court case, there is likely to be more at issue than the player’s winnings. Such a case would likely touch on some of these deeper issues of how much authority the commission has to set rules for third party businesses like couriers.
