$83 million Texas lottery ticket sparks investigation. ‘Time we take a deep look’
The fifth-largest prize ever won in the Texas Lottery has one government official searching for answers.
“This is not the way the lottery was designed to operate,” Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said in a video posted to X, formerly Twitter, after the $83.5 million ticket was sold through an Austin retailer owned by a lottery courier.
The jackpot prize was won Feb. 17 in the Lotto Texas game and was the largest jackpot offered in the game since April 2023. The game’s jackpot had been growing since the June 26, 2024, drawing.
Both the Jackpocket courier service and Winners Corner, a board game store where the ticket was sold, are affiliated with DraftKings, the lieutenant governor said, calling the situation a dilemma.
Lottery couriers, according to the Coalition of Texas Lottery Couriers, offer “a secure and convenient way for” Texans to purchase lottery tickets online. They cater to a “younger demographic” and rural players who do not live close to a lottery retailer.
“Using lottery courier digital platforms, age and location-verified players place orders for lottery games that are fulfilled on a user’s behalf at a licensed lottery retailer in Texas, in compliance with state law,” the coalition says. “A scanned image of the ticket is sent to the user before the ticket is securely stored.”
The courier service is in the same building as Winners Corner but closed off to shoppers. The winning ticket was processed at Winners Corner, though the ticket was purchased through the app Jackpocket, KXAN reported.
Winners Corner is already familiar with multi-million dollar lottery wins. The business has sold two $2 million tickets, one in March 2021 and another in December 2024, KTBC reported.
Patrick said Winners Corner selling the $83.5 million ticket raises “a lot of questions.”
“Do you not see an issue where the public might lose confidence if the courier service ... at this one location in the entire state of Texas sold an $83 million winning ticket, and they also own the location that printed the ticket?”
The win coincides with the Texas Lottery Commission asking the Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Feb. 14 to regulate courier services.
A Texas Lottery Commission spokesperson told KXAN it was investigating whether the winning ticket was bought in Texas. The investigation is a standard practice, the spokesperson said.
“It’s time we take a deep look at these courier services and these retail units, especially when they are owned by the same company,” Patrick said.
This story was originally published February 19, 2025 at 10:26 AM with the headline "$83 million Texas lottery ticket sparks investigation. ‘Time we take a deep look’."