Ex-Texas Lottery Chief ‘Rigged’ $95M Jackpot, Claims Lawsuit

Posted on: February 17, 2025, 07:35h. 

Last updated on: February 17, 2025, 07:38h.

Philip Conneller @casinoorgphilc Read More
Expertise: Gaming Business, Regulation, Tribal Gaming.
  • In April 2023, a shadowy syndicate bought 25.8 million Texas Lottery tickets
  • This covered every possible combination for the April 22 draw, winning $95M jackpot
  • Lawsuit accuses former lottery chief Gary Grief of facilitating syndicate

A class-action lawsuit accuses former Texas Lottery chief executive Gary Grief of laying the groundwork for a “criminal conspiracy” that allowed a Europe-based syndicate to game the system and win a $95 million jackpot.

Texas Lottery, Gary Grief, lawsuit
Ex-Texas Lottery chief Gary Grief, above, allegedly helped Lottery.com to print and sell “illegal” lottery tickets in Texas, according to the lawsuit. (Image: Dallas Morning News)

Grief, who led the lottery commission for 15 years, denied wrongdoing via his lawyer Sunday.

The April 22, 2023 Texas Lottery draw was stacked against all the players in the state. That’s because the syndicate bought 25.8 million tickets, enough to cover all possible winning combinations.

After 93 rollovers, it was one of those rare occasions when a lottery becomes mathematically exploitable. With the jackpot standing at $95 million, the syndicate spent $25.8 million, a dollar for each ticket, to cover all the numbers. This would guarantee at the very least a share of the jackpot and most of the other secondary prizes as well.

‘Conspiracy’ Outlined

There was a logistical problem for the syndicate, of course. Namely, how do you go about buying 25.8 million tickets for a draw that typically only sells one to two million tickets per week?

The complaint claims Grief, over a number of years, “fraudulently” enabled the conditions to exist for a syndicate to exploit the lottery to the detriment of players in Texas.

The lawsuit was filed last week by Dawn Nettles, the founder of a lottery watchdog website LottoReport.com, on behalf of all Texas Lottery players.

The “conspiracy” began in 2017 when Gary Grief traveled to California to lobby the founders of Lottery.com to relocate their business to Austin, Texas, the lawsuit claims.

“From that moment on until Mr. Grief’s sudden retirement in early 2024, the Lottery Commission and Lottery.com became a combined single criminal entity,” it asserts.

Lottery.com, also a defendant in the case, is an online lottery courier service and one of a handful that was enlisted by the syndicate to buy up and process the millions of tickets required to cover every possible combination of numbers.

‘Bypassed Legislature’

The lawsuit accuses Grief of bypassing the normal legislative process to change regulations to allow tickets to be bought on cell phones, opening up the potential for courier services like Lottery.com.

He also permitted the 24-hour printing of tickets and anonymous claims for winners, rules which were designed to enable lottery couriers and, ultimately, the syndicate, according to the lawsuit. He is also accused of allowing Lottery.com to print hundreds of thousands of tickets on credit.

In a 2019 letter from Grief to Lottery.com co-founder Tony DiMatteo, submitted as evidence, Grief writes that Texas Powerball tickets could be purchased by “foreign jurisdictions” as long as the sales were legal where the player was located.

The lawsuit asserts all these measures were against Texas Lottery regulations and seeks recovery of funds “fraudulently obtained by the Texas Lottery Commission, as well as declaratory and injunctive relief to prevent further misconduct.”

Grief retired in early 2024, just months before The Houston Chronicle broke the news on how the syndicate had gamed the Texas Lottery and its players.