Texas Lottery Fiasco ‘Final Nail in Coffin’ for Casinos, Sports Betting
Posted on: March 3, 2025, 06:30h.
Last updated on: March 4, 2025, 09:34h.
- A scandal surrounding the Texas Lottery is partly to blame for the headwinds hampering approval of legalized casinos and online sports betting in the Lone Star State
- A European syndicate won $95 million last year after using couriers to purchase 25.8 million tickets
- The Texas Lottery Commission, which would oversee legalized gambling, is accused of mismanaging the lottery
Legislation in the Texas House that would legalize land-based casinos and online sports betting has likely died a horrible death thanks to an ongoing scandal engulfing the Texas Lottery.
The lottery “mess” is probably “the final nail in the coffin for gambling legislation” in Texas, Mark Jones, a political scientist and pollster at Rice University, told The Dallas Morning News on Monday.
If Texas can’t operate a lottery, it raises serious concerns about the state’s ability to regulate the “far more lucrative industries of casino gambling and online sports betting,” according to Jones.
Public confidence in the Texas Lottery Commission is at an all-time low following the revelation that a shadowy European lottery syndicate won a $95 million jackpot in April 2023 by buying up 25.8 million tickets, enough to cover all possible winning combinations.
‘Stolen’ Jackpot
To achieve this, the syndicate employed three lottery couriers who were licensed by the Texas Lottery Commission to process tickets on an industrial scale.
This meant the odds of winning that particular jackpot were stacked against regular Texas Lottery players.
Lottery couriers have been operating in a gray area of the law in Texas. Critics accuse the commission of nurturing them without the explicit approval of the legislature, putting ticket sales ahead of the fairness of the game.
Last week, 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 a player who also purchased their ticket via a lottery courier.
In the wake of the scandal, the state’s Lt. Gov., Dan Patrick (R), has threatened to scrap the lottery altogether. Meanwhile, one lottery commissioner has resigned, and retired chief executive of the commission, Gary Grief, is accused of fraud and laying the groundwork of a “criminal conspiracy” in a newly filed lawsuit.
Last week, the Texas Lottery Commission announced it would somewhat belatedly ban courier services and revoke the license of any outlet that sells tickets to such businesses.
Texas Casinos, Sports Betting Doomed?
To be fair, despite gaining some momentum in 2023, the House bills that would ask Texas voters to approve casino gambling and sports betting in a November election were already a heavy lift this year because of a lack of support in the Senate.
It didn’t help that one of the 2023 bills would have given the power to regulate sports betting to the Texas Lottery Commission.
“Lt. Gov. Patrick already had his doubts about the state’s ability to prevent criminal elements from becoming involved in casino gambling in Texas, and those doubts are likely even stronger after the Lottery Commission’s series of debacles,” Jones said.
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Last Comments ( 3 )
I love playing the lottery although I have not won anything big other than a $1,000 win on a $2 Break the Bank ticket and that was over 25 years ago. I won that just after Christmas so it came in handy. I also travel to Casinos in both Louisiana and Las Vegas because Texas has no Casinos. I am all for Casinos in Texas so that I can play here in our State. Keep Texas money in Texas I say. At the Casinos my favorite games are BlackJack and Caribbean Stud Poker. Then I also like the Slot Machines. The key is to never take more money than you can afford to lose and when that is gone LEAVE the Casino. There is always next time.
The Texas Lottery has been a joke over the last ten years. Scratch off tickets used to have reasonable top prizes with people regularly winning mid level prizes. This kept people interested thus repeat buys of the tickets. Last great ticket was the Blockbuster $20 scratcher from 2008. Pick 3/cash4 were better with the sum it up option. 2nd chance games are low percentage winners. The games need to go back to the lower top prize amounts with more mid tier prizes. This gets more interests in the games.
I'm out after years of playing. I spent a few hundred trying to win this jackpot and we were robed. I want my money bac times a million. I want the winners barred. I want money plus the same chance of winning as the cheaters. I wanted gambling in Texas. Now not so much now.