That's it for courier services — unanimous decision kicks couriers out of Texas
Includes video report
By Kate Northrop
The Texas Lottery Commission voted to officially ban lottery couriers in Texas and approved rules that allow the agency to take action against the license of any retailer in violation.
It's official — lottery couriers are banned in Texas after the Texas Lottery Commission (TLC) formally voted to approve a policy change proposed in February.
During the TLC meeting on Tuesday, commissioners unanimously voted in favor of banning lottery couriers after enduring months of pressure and scrutiny from disgruntled legislators about two Lotto Texas jackpot wins involving courier services.
The initial policy statement was issued by then-Texas Lottery Executive Director Ryan Mindell, who resigned from his position last week, to "align with state law and legislative efforts to address the serious concerns from players and state leadership," Lottery Acting Deputy Executive Director Sergio Rey said during the meeting.
The ban consists of amendments to three lottery rules relating to the suspension or revocation of retailer licenses, penalties, and restricted sales. It requires the TLC to revoke the license of any retailer that works in concert with a courier service via ownership, private arrangement, or otherwise.
During the 30-day public comment period leading up to the vote, the Texas Food & Fuel Association, which represents over 16,500 common brick-and-mortar retail businesses including convenience stores, truck stops, and gas stations, voiced support for the amendments. Physical lottery retailers have historically opposed direct online ticket sales and lottery couriers, citing fear that online sales detract from ticket sales that bring in additional foot traffic.
However, sales data from other state lotteries, such as North Carolina, has shown that retail ticket sales grew at a faster pace than in states that did not offer direct online sales.
The Coalition of Texas Lottery Couriers, which is comprised of courier companies like Jackpocket, Jackpot.com, and Lotto.com, opposed the policy amendments during the public comment period, with Lotto.com Chief Legal Officer Rob Porter making a final plea to commissioners to consider the repercussions a sweeping ban on couriers would have on lottery revenue and players.
According to Porter, banning courier services would harm responsible private business that contribute "millions of dollars" to the state, jeopardize the jobs of dozens of Texans, and cut off 5% of lottery sales revenue on an annual basis. However, that figure could be even higher, since lottery couriers accounted for about $173 million in revenue in 2023, or as high as 9% of the Lottery's total draw game sales.
Additionally, the ban disenfranchises elderly seniors, disabled residents, shift workers, and others who cannot physically travel to a retailer to play the lottery.
Lotto.com filed a lawsuit against the Texas Lottery on Thursday to reverse its "about-face" decision to ban courier services.
Lottery Commissioner Mark A. Franz said he had originally voted against the ban on March 4 when it was initially proposed since he believed that the actions the agency had taken against bulk purchasing were enough. He felt it would be best to wait for state legislature to come to a final decision on how they would like to regulate couriers before acting prematurely.
After "weighing the evidence," however, Franz told fellow commissioners that he was persuaded that "doing the maximum allowable amount under our current statute" was the optimal way to proceed for now. Then, he reasoned, the TLC should wait to see what legislators officially decide, and the TLC would follow and "fine-tune" the direction handed to them by the state.
If legislators decide to regulate couriers instead of banning them, Lottery General Counsel Bob Biard clarified, the TLC would need to once again adopt new rules to implement the law, and the current amendments would be repealed or modified to conform to it.
VIDEO: Watch the commission meeting
Not a very good idea. Just regulate them. I hope this is not some abracadabra to enable them to wiggle out of paying the big winner.
Meanwhile, Megamillions sales are still 50% lower in the number of tickets sold since the increase to $5.00 per ticket change.
Worse, the jackpot creeps up by $10 million a draw. We'll get to $1 billion by 2026 at this rate.
The people have spoken! 5 bucks is ridiculous! I miss the dollar days...
Why would you want an entity playing. That can buy every possible combination?
MM may have to go back to the $2 dollar rate if it takes that long to reach a billion. Like kill it in a few months while PB surges past by.
I feel bad for Texas residents losing access to lottery couriers. This was all started because of that jackpot buyout, and the lottery allowed people who have no idea what they're talking about to convince legislators to think couriers had something to do with it. I like the folks at the Texas Lottery, but this one is on them. Sadly, the lottery will lose revenue and Texas residents will be disenfranchised and lose access to a valuable service.
they're not going back to $2. Wish it was $3. that option.
For now, we still have a lottery. I think that's what all the wrangling is about. The lawsuits have forced the states hand to protect the people of Texas.
Texas has the 4th largest lottery in the nation, about $8.5 billion annually. Don't think it will collapse losing $173 million.
It's also a win for the brick and mortar retailers, many of who are local mom and pop operations. That lottery ticket sale to them means additional revenue in the form of soda, chips, a sandwich, etc. Third party couriers could mean the difference in their ability to survive.
The only people who offered support was the third party couriers themselves who were voting to fill their pockets and not in the best interest of the people of Texas. Lottery.com offering their voice is laughable. They file a lawsuit saying the commission doesn't have a ban, so when the commission meets to approve a ban, they show up to prevent it. What choice did the commission have?
These third party couriers are afraid other states will soon follow Indiana and Texas in banning their activities with good reason. When they question how much these online places actually contribute vs how much they take out of the local economy, it's a no brainer.
* l wonder if AG Ken Paxton had anything to do with this, he's notorious for sticking his nose in stuff he should leave well enough alone. Just saying..
😝
You feel bad that a corporation can't swoop in and buy all the winning combinations? I just wish out of state players could play game from different states. Perfect example is my state switched to random number generator games. I would like to have the option to play ball draw games in a different state. Because my state no longer has them. But I know it would turn into the Texas situation. Mabye one day they will figure something out. But it's definitely not going to be today. 😜
I've got a feeling we're not out of the woods yet as to whether the lottery is going to survive in Texas. There are legislators that have wanted to kill it and with it being zeroed out of the budget, this may be it. Time will tell.
I agree. We're far from our of the woods. With lawsuits on both sides the state finds itself trying to patchwork their actions to motivate the circumstances.
Texas is turning into the battle ground between states and third party couriers. Couriers realize if they lose here their existence nationwide is endangered. If the states lose it becomes open season on any and all lotteries by those who have the money to buy it.
It's in the interest of the small money players not to be taken in.
If you lean to the belief the lottery is a tax on the poor, Senator Hall and the commission look like champions of the poor.
Senator Hall's question about money laundering is still open. But when you have someone in the Isle of Man sending money to Malta where it's routed to London, and thru an attorney's Detroit office to buy out the Texas lottery for an investment group, Rook TX, incorporated in Delaware, what do is there to think?
Right now the State is in a good place to not lose the lottery, if they take the proper steps to ensure it stays in the hands of the small money players.
I still hope the lottery will weather this mess. But it is far from over
Point taken (or given). The large corporations don't even play a lottery until it is large enough to provide a profit. The small money every draw players continually contribute and the vultures swoop in to buy it.
In Texas as long as the couriers were responsible in their actions, there was no problem. But once they saw the opportunity to stuff their pockets with state money, they forgot that responsibility.
The small money players lose to the vultures willing to buy a lottery and to the couriers who charge a fee for their service.
The fact that you believe lottery couriers have anything to do with buying all the combinations is troubling, especially with the number of times it has been debunked here.
Yeah, who cares if homebound people can't play, because you can make it to the store yourself just fine.
When we look at the government websites for homebound Americans the estimates are 36.5 million Americans over the age of 65 with an estimated 3.65 million total being classified as homebound. 3.65 million is the number throughout the entire U.S.
Now we have to determine how many of the 3.65 million have any interest in playing the lottery. I can't find that data.
In any case, homebound elderly is a very small percentage who are not being prevented from buying lottery tickets.
Justifying third party couriers with homebound elderly is a very weak argument. I'm 70, live in area which is primarily senior/older/elderly. I see kids leave every year to make their life in the cities. To me, that argument is moot
These people put more in the Sunday collection plate than in lottery.
I don't rationalize sidelining people less fortunate than myself by taking comfort in how few of them there are, according to government websites.
That's commendable on a personal level, but unfortunately not the way government works.
So a company leases and or buys a building stuffs it full of lottery machines. To print endless amounts of tickets is alright with you? If find it troubling you think it's OK.....
I mean I get both sides of the argument. I guess..... But I don't think a corporation should be able to buy endless amounts of tickets. And i dont think stores should house a buncha machines to give a company an advantage. But then that brings up another problem. Do they cap tickets? Best solution to this problem is limit how many machines per store. And even that's not full proof. But at the end of the day. I don't live in Texas. So its one of thouse its not my tent not my circus situations for me. I just wanna win before these entities/corporations. Start ruining these games.
Wow, they got this done really fast. The community is now safer from the dangerous lottery couriers.
I'd like to reiterate that banning couriers will not solve the problem. Jackpots have been "purchased" by a large group (buying all the combinations) without couriers before. Have you read our investigation? Highly recommend you give it a read for more clarity, it also explains how a buyout was accomplished without the help of a courier and how they are being punished when there is actually a simple fix for it.
I agree. You can't write a foolproof law that prevents corporations from working through these third party couriers to buy a lottery. Depending on who you believe the courier here used two sites, one in Austin and another in Waco, working around the clock. Another version is they used multiple sites.
So limiting the number of tickets any single terminal can process daily will not prevent the couriers from using more locations. The state and the commission recognized this flaw and saw the ban as the only real solution.
They've limited the number of terminals to 5 per any retailer/site, but couriers would just put five each in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Fort Worth, Austin, Waco, El Paso, and beat the reason for the terminal limits.
It came down to having to write more laws to counter their every move or an outright ban. I think the state recognized the greater share of their revenue came from foot traffic in the brick and mortar retailers and the small money players were the ones contributing to those large jackpots.
A line had to be drawn and they drew the only one that made sense. The Lottery.com lawsuit no doubt pushed the button and made the decision easier.
How we get through the other three/four lawsuits is another matter.
"Unfortunately not the way the government works."
So legislators are expected to make decisions on our behalf without carefully considering solutions that would benefit everyone in a logical way?
Oh... I didn't realize that we should lower our bar for government officials who are expected to rationalize nuanced situations rather than sensationalize issues for constituent brownie points.
Give you a perfect example the elderly/seniors are truly concerned about: healthcare and social security.
Everyone on social security pays for Medicare and some, those below a certain yearly dollar amount also receive free medicaide.
Doesn't matter if you're $1 over, the law says you don't qualify. Thems the breaks kid.
That's the way government works. They call the shots that they see as fair, even when it's not always as fair as the rest of us would like.
Our bar has been lowered by government in the healthcare matter until our healthcare system is a joke in the eyes the world.
Compare what older Americans pay for care vs Europeans and Texas banning third party couriers will be nothing but a minor inconvenience.
At some point we're going to need healthcare that's inevitable, but nobody will ever die for not having online third party couriers.
If we can't get the important thing right, what chance do we have with the trivial?
I hear what you're saying and understand your perspective re: health care as an illustrator to your point, but it seems like what you are saying is that you are fine being complacent with government incompetence. Although you are well within your right, that's not something I can ever agree with.
You are voicing your thoughts in a place solely dedicated to the love of the lottery - while you might interpret the courier issue as a minor inconvenience and view the lottery as inconsequential compared to other topics, I am positive there are many here who would feel otherwise, or at the very least would feel happy to know that the issues they are concerned with are being taken seriously and not used as points for political grandstanding.
After all, you mentioned that Texas has the 4th largest lottery in the nation, about $8.5 billion annually. That's quite significant, like you pointed out, a lot of public dollars going toward education, veterans, and huge prize payouts to Texas residents. In the interest of Texas players who contribute all that dough, I would say that warrants careful handling by legislators.
"If we can't get the important thing right, what chance do we have with the trivial?"
It's a bleak outlook that we can only hope to change, which is why we are so adamant about pursuing the truth and fostering discussion on Lottery Post. It's also not an accurate or fair way of looking at how the government works. Problems don't just get lumped together and ranked on level of importance (re: "but nobody will ever die for not having online third party couriers."). It's just such a disconnected argument. We can get some things right without having to sacrifice others - I don't agree that our bar should be lowered for everything just because the unrelated problem you value didn't get the treatment you desired.
I totally agree.
The objectives and goals of the courier services is unsavory and has absolutely nothing to do with playing to win like every other average player on an equal playing field.
The argument that courier services provide a vital service to those who cant get to the stores is weak, inferior and petty as the same persons who cant get to the stores do in fact get to the stores by several other means and ways to fill the supplies for the support of life with far more important things in life like food, medicine etc.
I would like to believe that the TX lottery do offer multi-draw options that can allow a player to buy tickets for more than the next drawing.
The lottery is a product of legislation and is primarily a game between the state and its people, where the states creates a bunch of permutations of numbers and challenges its constituents to guess what the out comes will be at a cost of $1 per guess. It is no longer a fair game when an organized group of players have enough money to acquire all or near all of the the permutations of numbers possible.
I find it proper to respect the legislators who are trying to protect the very players who built-up the jackpots at issues and the Lottery leadership who have acknowledge two unintended failures and are doing the needful to install the proper gates to degrade these couriers from repeating their acts.
Kate, I agree we shouldn't lower our bar, but when government gets involved we have very little say in the outcome.
We accept it or we don't but that's the way it's going to be regardless of our feelings.
As I've said, I don't want to see the lottery gone in Texas. But when it comes to no lottery or no third party couriers, then the couriers need to go.
I'm for whatever keeps the Texas Lottery operating.
As you said yourself there are ways to buyout a game without couriers, but it is much, much harder and requires a lot of planning and preparation. Someone halfway around the world wouldn't be able to sit at home on a phone and make those arrangements, as was done this time.
The facts are the operations of a third party courier knowingly assisted in this buyout. It's a case of better to ask forgiveness than to do the right thing. Or as that old cowboy song said, yes, your honor, I killed him, but I'll never ever do it again.
If we're at odds of this issue, that's just life. I have always had the greatest respect for Todd and that doesn't change. And although we've never spoken I have no less for you.
We seem to be on opposite sides but I think we both agree that keeping a lottery in Texas is the ultimate goal.
Whatever it takes, that's where I am.