Texas Lottery Courier Services Banned as Rangers Investigate Jackpots

• Texas Lottery U-turns and moves to ban lottery couriers
• Commission faces scrutiny over syndicate’s $95M jackpot win
• Texas Rangers investigating two jackpots

The embattled Texas Lottery Commission has said it will ban lottery courier services and revoke the license of any outlet that sells tickets to such businesses.

Texas Lottery Executive Director Ryan Mindell explained in a statement Monday the commission’s new position was based on a review of state law.

The about-turn on the legality of couriers comes days after the resignation of Texas Lottery Commissioner Clark Smith amid intense legislative scrutiny of the commission. The state’s Lt. Gov., Dan Patrick (R), has said that he would scrap the lottery altogether unless couriers were banned.

System Gamed

Critics have accused the commission of welcoming lottery couriers, which allow players to purchase tickets remotely, without the explicit approval of the legislature. This paved the way for a shadowy European syndicate to buy 25.8 million tickets, enough to cover all possible winning combinations for the April 22, 2023 draw.

The syndicate scooped a $95 million jackpot and millions in secondary prizes.

Also on Monday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) announced that the Texas Rangers were investigating the jackpot, along with another, a $83.5 million prize won last week by someone who also purchased their ticket via a lottery courier.

“Texans must be able to trust in our state’s lottery system and know that the lottery is conducted with integrity and lawfully,” Abbott said in a statement.

The February 17 winning ticket was purchased via a courier called Jackpocket.com, which is owned by DraftKings.

DraftKings says there was nothing unusual about the purchase. It wasn’t a bulk buy, and the winner was a Texas resident who bought 10 tickets.

How Do Texas Lottery Couriers Work?

Couriers allow their users to choose their numbers and buy tickets through an app. Then the courier will fulfill the order by buying tickets through a licensed brick-and-mortar lottery retailer. The courier then scans the tickets and sends them back to the customer.

Because lottery couriers deal with a large volume of tickets, they use licensed retailers that are specially equipped with enough lottery terminals to fulfill bulk orders. Sometimes, they own these outlets themselves.

In a report published last July, SAC reserved harsh words for the lottery commission, asserting it had become “stagnant” and “passive” in its failure to react to the courier loophole.