A Texas Lottery jackpot was "bought" last year, but legislators are pushing wrong solution

Comment #47

txwinr — Fri, 15 Nov 2024 06:12:53 GMT

Anyone else feel like there is another attempt in the making for lotto? Will tlc 'help' another customer to win again? Or have they learned that it's not a good idea? Totally feels like they helped rig it for one customer so I'm hoping they don't do it again.

Comment #46

txwinr — Tue, 29 Oct 2024 17:42:23 GMT

as a texas player, this whole thing really pissed me off. The TLC screwed over players AND retailers, small retailers by enabling this, basically cheating as far as i'm concerned. If enough people got together we could probably do a class action lawsuit. TLC rigged the game in favor of this group.

Comment #45

Powerball765 — Tue, 22 Oct 2024 18:45:25 GMT

Well l never let anyone Check my ticket but they can check my B....

Comment #44

Artist77 — Tue, 22 Oct 2024 10:38:03 GMT

I think the top things that erode player interest and trust are dishonest store clerks and lottery employees.

Comment #43

KY Floyd — Tue, 22 Oct 2024 08:23:37 GMT

Well, the lotteries themselves don't agree because when this happens they always react to make sure it doesn't happen again. It erodes player interest and trust.

Why would anyone with a lick of sense play a game of chance when they know that the lottery lets some of the players have a far better chance at winning? How many people would play if they knew that the advertised jackpot was probably only half as much as the ads say it is? Based on sales for PB and MM when the jackpots get really... [ More ]

Comment #42

Powerball765 — Mon, 21 Oct 2024 21:19:30 GMT

Am curious if the winners of the two mega millions tickets bought at the same store in California Gamed the system so far Only one ticket has been claimed for the $395,000,000 and the other tickets expires this December this is another big mystery

Comment #41

Todd — Mon, 21 Oct 2024 21:02:05 GMT

There is so much history of news available at Lottery Post, sometimes it's fun to go exploring.

Comment #40

raincrow — Mon, 21 Oct 2024 20:51:37 GMT

Thanks Todd! I read the article and find it amazing how many people with deep pockets

are trying to figure out a way to make easy money off the lottery.

Comment #39

Todd — Mon, 21 Oct 2024 16:49:18 GMT

Actually, that is the type of game that was taken advantage of in Massachusetts. They eventually canceled the game.

https://www.lotterypost.com/news/241723

Comment #38

raincrow — Mon, 21 Oct 2024 15:18:27 GMT

Here is another solution: Cap the progressive jackpot at $40 million, then put the rest of the money

into the non-jackpot prizes until somebody wins the jackpot. This lowers the big money bait that

lures the syndicates into trying to game the system.

Comment #37

Todd — Mon, 21 Oct 2024 11:26:21 GMT

Well, the lotteries themselves don't agree because when this happens they always react to make sure it doesn't happen again. It erodes player interest and trust. My purpose for suggesting a targeted solution is to help them from implementing a solution that would make things worse.

Comment #36

Artist77 — Mon, 21 Oct 2024 09:56:27 GMT

See response from Kao above. One could set up multiple entities and I just do not see the problem. If someone can legally game a system, go for it. The state is not losing money. They just want to decrease the volume of potential winners. What about that family that gamed a state jp that had all the prize roll downs? I admire the creativity and mathematical genius.

Comment #35

Powerball765 — Mon, 21 Oct 2024 09:27:11 GMT

l want to add extra adjustment to my above Proposal instead of lossing 50 percent to the state l want to make it flexible so it will be now lossing between Fifty percent to seventy five percent back to the state the extra 25 percent is punitive Damages to the players this will go towards more prices on Scratch off . This my idea will simple Discouraged future Conspirators This will send a Clear Message Don't Mess With Texas

Comment #34

KY Floyd — Mon, 21 Oct 2024 06:36:54 GMT

the jackpot would be worth $57.8 million. Then, the top federal income tax rate of 37% cuts the cash value amount to around $36.4 million.

The cost of the tickets is a tax deduction If you only pay the regular ticket price spending $26 million to win $57.8 million leaves you with a taxable income of $31.8 million. Losing 37% of that to federal taxes leaves just over $20 million of after tax income/profit. Since it's a NJ based group I'll figure they'd lose about another $3.2 million to NJ t... [ More ]

Comment #33

Powerball765 — Mon, 21 Oct 2024 03:10:11 GMT

You all already know me and l always have the best solution to any Problems. So here is my Solution so you all tell me what you think .

Number one if nobody buys all the possible combinations when jackpot is low and all of a sudden when it is very high buy all the possible combination the Solution is simple when that happens during payout or security review if that is in fact what happened based on Data who ever used this method should first and foremost forfeit Fifty Percent of the win

Comment #32

Todd — Mon, 21 Oct 2024 01:19:06 GMT

It's happened a few times across a few states.

The possibility that a jackpot can be bought turns off players, who don't think it's fair and makes the game seem pointless to play. Which is why it's in the best interest of the lottery (and to players who think it's unfair) to eliminate the possibility.

Setting a high purchase cap that nobody would ever encounter hurts not a single player in fact it would be one of those many rules that exist but nobody really even knows they're there but... [ More ]

Comment #31

kao1632 — Mon, 21 Oct 2024 01:13:15 GMT

How do you define an entity?

If Company X can't buy all the tickets they want, what is to stop them setting up Company XX+1 and double what they can buy.

Also, how do you stop any given entity from buying as many tickets as they want?

I think this is a solution in search of a problem.

We hear about it when a group makes a profit.. But haVe we heard of cases where they suffered a major loss (because they have to share the jackpot).

How often has this happened

Comment #30

Todd — Mon, 21 Oct 2024 00:59:06 GMT

Why not

Comment #29

Artist77 — Sun, 20 Oct 2024 22:50:08 GMT

Setting a very high limit on the number of tickets that one entity could buy is not going to be a reasonable solution

Comment #28

cottoneyedjoe — Sun, 20 Oct 2024 22:23:35 GMT

terminals will QP all combinations of a lottery until every combination has been sold at least once before duplications.

I'm pretty sure that's not true. I have only ever heard of some states restricting number of combinations sold for Pick 3/4, but not jackpot games.

Comment #27

Dead_Aim — Sun, 20 Oct 2024 12:38:48 GMT

Good to see ya again Todd, and thanks for the info. It was just something I seen in passing and thought to rich for my blood. Lol

Comment #26

Todd — Sun, 20 Oct 2024 12:34:22 GMT

Hey Dead_Aim, nice to see you! It's Mega Millions you're referring to, going to $5 in 2025: https://www.lotterypost.com/news/352211

The big multi-state games have such large odds and would require so many tickets to be purchased that I think they are untouchable by these buying groups. It's more the in-state games that are the targets.

Comment #25

Dead_Aim — Sun, 20 Oct 2024 06:06:36 GMT

If I recall correctly. PB tickets are going to $5 dollars for a single play ticket soon. That could make all the difference in the world....at least for that game...

Comment #24

PrisonerSix — Sun, 20 Oct 2024 03:32:40 GMT

Thanks for the article. It's a fine piece of work that gave more insight into the controversies of huge buying partnerships. Some of it reminds me of what I read about the Jerry Selbee story how some lottery vendors were skirting the rules for him and others who were doing what he did to outsmart the lottery.

I'm not sure if any laws were broken here, but I think they may have been bent a little. Thanks for the good article, and keep up the great work.

Comment #23

PrisonerSix — Sun, 20 Oct 2024 02:51:45 GMT

I had something similar happen to me once. During one of the billion dollar jackpots, I went to a store to get tickets and I was told it would be a while because another customer asked to print 1,000 tickets. Luckily, there are multiple stores close by that sell tickets so I went to one of those instead.

I'm not sure if anything can be done about these huge groups buying all these tickets. Someone will always find a workaround no matter what.

Comment #22

Todd — Sat, 19 Oct 2024 22:29:01 GMT

For those who want to see full coverage of the 1992 Virginia Lottery jackpot that was bought , here is Lottery Post's coverage:

Part 1: https://www.lotterypost.com/news/322127

Part 2: https://www.lotterypost.com/news/322259

Comment #21

Stack47 — Sat, 19 Oct 2024 21:06:06 GMT

You missed the link I gave to a Washington Post story about the Aussie syndicate.

terminals will QP all combinations of a lottery until every combination has been sold at least once before duplications

In Ohio and Kentucky each terminal is independent of the other terminals so theoretically there could be several identical QPs without selling even a third of all the possible combos. Don't know if it's the same in Texas, but even if the every combination before duplicates and every tick... [ More ]

Comment #20

LoFi Lottery — Sat, 19 Oct 2024 17:19:01 GMT

Comment #19

lottobrain — Sat, 19 Oct 2024 17:15:52 GMT

Seeing Todd's post about how quickly the total number of combinations could be obtained, it seems there would be 2 ways to now go......fill out pay slips with every combination to insert through a lottery machine which could be done in advance anticipating the time when using them would make sense, and having them in Texas to do so. or as my understanding in the past has been.......terminals will QP all combinations of a lottery until every combination has been sold at least once before duplicat... [ More ]

Comment #18

LoFi Lottery — Sat, 19 Oct 2024 16:36:05 GMT

Comment #17

winsumloosesum — Sat, 19 Oct 2024 15:14:18 GMT

I thought the same thing. How many other lotteries were won by out of state groups who have big pockets.

They look for any lottery where the jackpot is x times the maximum game matrix total sets.

Let the lottery commissions from each state figure this out.

Spend $25,827,165 to win $95 million. What average person has that kind of money??

Didn't this also happen in Massachusetts many years ago

Comment #16

konane — Sat, 19 Oct 2024 13:17:58 GMT

Great article Kate! I like Todd's solution with respect to capping the number of tickets a single entity or person can purchase.

The solution is to set a very high limit on the number of tickets any individual or group can purchase, Northrop continued. Make the limit so high that it will never be reached by any big pool of players, such as a company where the employees pool their money together to buy many tickets, yet low enough that the risk/reward ratio is destroyed for someone looking t... [ More ]

Comment #15

kao1632 — Sat, 19 Oct 2024 09:29:32 GMT

The take away from this is..

The punters took a major risk and got lucky ..

Cash value after tax of ~$36m. Total investment ~$26m...

If one other ticket has the winning combination.. They go from a $10m profit (Plus probably a million or so in lower tier prizes) to an $8m loss.. No way lower tier prizes are worth $8m.. so a loss

If 2 other tickets win.. their share is $12m, or a loss of $14m....

I'm all for letting people trying to buy a jackpot'... The states... [ More ]

Comment #14

Stack47 — Sat, 19 Oct 2024 03:48:47 GMT

Lots of lotteries changed their rules after an Australian gambling syndicate bought out the Virginia Lotto in 1992. The issue then was tying up terminals and preventing other players from purchasing tickets. There were about 5 million possible outcomes then compared to 13 million outcomes most lotto games have today.

Saying it's not fair to players that a group has an advantage buying more tickets is almost saying it's not fair that the person in front of you is buying more tickets than you.... [ More ]

Comment #13

EnReval — Sat, 19 Oct 2024 03:07:44 GMT

Yes it's open app would be great but they were greedy

Comment #12

BaltimoreRon — Sat, 19 Oct 2024 02:42:31 GMT

I did not have the patience to read that Bible can someone sum it up if normal people filled out game slips to win this every combo said jackpot? Thanks for the info as that article was way to long for me.

Comment #11

Todd — Fri, 18 Oct 2024 22:51:40 GMT

You can use Lottery Post for that for free.

Lottery Combinations Generator: https://www.lotterypost.com/combinations (in the Resources menu)

I just tested the Lotto Texas matrix (6/54) and on my computer it generated the downloadable list (25,827,165 combinations) in 8.6 seconds.

Comment #10

limitlessmind — Fri, 18 Oct 2024 21:48:18 GMT

Thank you for giving such an in depth article, I wish I could get the software that they used to generate all the number combinations because I'm sure it can be used in other games

Comment #9

mightwin1 — Fri, 18 Oct 2024 21:42:34 GMT

Easy fix, only let a store have one terminal and maybe a self service machine.

Comment #8

noise-gate — Fri, 18 Oct 2024 21:21:36 GMT

* Having a Newark outfit winning a Texas lottery seems to be the issue. I thought money is money

Comment #7

EnReval — Fri, 18 Oct 2024 20:21:47 GMT

I was living in Austin at that time and was mad as heck somebody won outside TX and know where that store is located in Irving, TX

just stay in your own lane greedy people

i bet they wind spend $300mil on th e MM or PB

Comment #6

Lotterologist — Fri, 18 Oct 2024 19:04:55 GMT

Great news story! Very informative.

I learned a lot from reading this.

Thanks

Comment #5

Tony Numbers — Fri, 18 Oct 2024 18:28:58 GMT

Used to be the poor schlubs having a chance at some millions for $2 Now you have to compete with wall street slime

Comment #4

cottoneyedjoe — Fri, 18 Oct 2024 17:42:03 GMT

Great article, most of us outside of TX probably didn't know there was such a big controversy around the investment group buy up nearly all the combinations via a courier service. As you said, a profit is not even 100% guaranteed since they might have to split the jackpot with other winners.

Sometimes a thing only has to appear unfair in order for the gov't to step in and change the rules. The TX lottery should just clear out the gray area and sell tickets online through its own app like hal... [ More ]

Comment #3

rcbbuckeye — Fri, 18 Oct 2024 17:08:02 GMT

I live in the DFW Metroplex, about 12-15 miles from the storefront that sold those tickets. I happened to drive by it a few months ago. Not surprisingly it appeared empty.

I will add that that there will always be those the lottery is rigged folks, and nothing or anyone will change their minds, but to me, the Texas Lottery commission has always run a clean operation. I used to read the minutes of the meetings.

Very good article Kate. Thanks for the work and time you put into it

Comment #2

JustMaybe — Fri, 18 Oct 2024 17:01:22 GMT

This is a very in depth article. Thank you Kate for taking the time to do this.

As a lottery player who plays every single draw for MM and PB and Lucky for Life, sometimes I wonder if everything is above board.

Reading the article and seeing the efforts that the Texas Lottery took to aid the vendor have all the tools in place, I would be heartbroken if they don't lend the same support to a normal 7 Eleven store down the street and at the same rate of speed.

As a human being, I would... [ More ]

Comment #1

Kate — Fri, 18 Oct 2024 16:26:01 GMT

Hi everyone, I don't normally comment under my own stories, but I wanted to say thank you for reading. It took a lot of time, work, and love to put this piece together over the past several weeks. Lottery Post always taken pride in making sure every news story is reported with accuracy and neutrality, and for this report especially, I wanted to ensure that this important topic was treated with utmost care and respect.

This was a historic lottery drawing and a very important topic to cover. I... [ More ]

A Texas Lottery jackpot was "bought" last year, but legislators are pushing wrong solution

Lottery Post — Fri, 18 Oct 2024 15:57:29 GMT

Media echo chamber confuses problem and misleads public

Exclusive Lottery Post investigative report

By Kate Northrop

Last year, a New Jersey-based group essentially bought a $95 million Lotto Texas jackpot by purchasing all the possible number combinations. Now state legislators are eying possible measures to prevent it from happening again, but those solutions may do more harm than good.

A New Jersey-based group called Rook TX gamed the odds by buying nearly every number combin... [ More ]