The Texas Lottery is getting a lot of attention from lawmakers right now.
When it surfaced that a recent jackpot-winning ticket was bought through a third-party “courier service,” Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick went to investigate the store where the ticket was printed. He posted a video to social media pointing out that the store was connected to the third-party app Jackpocket that sold the ticket – both owned by gambling company DraftKings.
𝐈𝐂𝐘𝐌𝐈: Recently, there have been many questions raised about the integrity of the Texas Lottery. On Monday night, an $83 million winning ticket was sold in Austin. Turns out, the retail establishment that sold the winning ticket in the front of the store was owned by the… pic.twitter.com/D62kVnZMw4
— Dan Patrick (@DanPatrick) February 19, 2025
Now, a bill has been introduced in the Texas Senate that would ban the use of third-party apps like Jackpocket. Gov. Greg Abbott is calling on the Texas Rangers to investigate recent jackpot wins connected to the app. State Sen. Paul Bettencourt went so far as to accuse the agency of “money laundering.”
And in the midst of all this? Lottery Commissioner Clark Smith resigned from the department late last week. Not to mention last year’s Houston Chronicle investigation into how wealthy investors were gaming the lottery system.
Dallas Morning News watchdog columnist Dave Leiber has been following the various controversies at the lottery commission over the past few years. He spoke with Texas Standard about the allegations against the commission and what legislators want to do about it.
This transcript has been edited lightly for clarity:
Texas Standard: Anything illegal happen in that $83 million jackpot win from what you can tell?
Dave Leiber: Yeah. Well, most likely they’re using the phone apps and the computer apps and the iPad to buy tickets.
Is that against the law?
Yeah. You know, the way the law was set up was you’re supposed to have a brick-and-mortar store. You’re supposed to go and give the guy behind the counter cash and you get your ticket.
Well, now you’re going to have to explain to me. This was a courier service that actually made the purchase. What’s a courier service in this context?
It’s these electronic devices.
An electronic device. A messenger, a person representing the company goes down and purchases the ticket, or what?
Well, no, they order their tickets. They don’t buy them, but they order them for the customer.
And so then the person who ultimately prints the ticket, what would that be, a mom-and-pop shop or something?
It’s the courier. But as it turns out, they didn’t even print the winning ticket. They store them in a computer, and if the person wins then they pull it out, they give him a copy and then they can go claim their money.
And you’re saying that under current law, well, that’s not allowed?
It’s not allowed. But they’ve been doing it for several years and getting away with it.
If the law says you can’t do this, how on earth are they actually placing their bets with the Texas Lottery Commission?
Well, they have these four actual brick-and-mortar stores that they work through. So they have frontmen that actually handle the purchasing. But they’re selling lottery tickets all over the world when they should only be allowed to sell them in Texas.
» GET MORE NEWS FROM AROUND THE STATE: Sign up for Texas Standard’s weekly newsletters
Okay. Do you have any insight on why the lottery commissioner resigned here last week?
Well, no, not exactly. He didn’t leave any comments out there. He just kind of disappeared. But the heat is on. I mean, this is not a good time to be connected to the lottery.
You say the heat is on. What do you mean?
Well, Senator Paul Bettencourt from Houston calls this “the largest fraud in Texas history,” which is quite a compliment, you know, for the fraudsters.
Well, what does he suspect is going on?
Bettencourt says he thinks there’s a 99% chance that they’re laundering money through the lottery in Texas.
That’s a pretty serious allegation. Has the lottery commission responded in any way?
Well, for a long time, they had their head in the sand. They just pretended like everything was fine and they had everything under control.
But then yesterday, for the first time, they said, we’re going to put these couriers out of business if they have connections to brick-and-mortar stores, and we’re going to start to regulate them.
Now, they said they weren’t going to do that. Now all of a sudden they say they are.
These controversies sort of seem to predate the most recent jackpot win, because I know that back last April, former lottery director Gary Grief retired abruptly. Is there any connection from what you can tell?
Oh, definitely a strong connection. In fact, Gary Grief’s name doesn’t come up as much as it should, but his lawyer put out a statement that he will help with any investigation that’s going to happen.
But the truth is, the Sunset Commission, which was looking at the 10-year annual review of the Lottery Commission, said that when Gary quit, he refused to help them in their investigation.
Do you anticipate that we’re going to see lawmakers drafting more regulations for the Texas Lottery? What’s the blowback here?
Well, when you have what Senator Bettencourt called the largest fraud in Texas history, I’d say the odds are great … that they’re going to pass a law to regulate the lottery and tighten it up.
Listen to an extended interview with Dave Leiber in the audio player at the top of this story.
