Texas Lottery Announces Ban on Lottery Courier Services
The Texas Lottery has outlawed lottery courier services from operating in the state.
LISTEN TO THIS ARTICLE:Yielding to pressure from state legislators, the Texas Lottery has implemented a policy change that prohibits lottery courier services from conducting business in Texas.
Announced on Monday, the Texas Lottery Commission (TLC) stated that it deemed couriers illegal under Texas law and will take action to stop this activity, including “identifying and investigating any licensed lottery retailer suspected of working in concert with a courier and initiating an enforcement action to revoke the retailer's sales agent license.”
Couriers’ Ties to Lotto Wins Raised Red Flags
The ban may have been prompted by recent controversy over two Lotto Texas drawings, where winning tickets were sold at retailers affiliated with a lottery courier service.
In April 2023, a New Jersey-based group called Rook TX won a $95 million Lotto Texas jackpot after spending $26 million to buy nearly every possible number combination. The winning ticket was sold at Hooked on MT in Colleyville, a storefront owned by Lottery Now, a lottery courier that topped sales for the drawing with nearly 11 million tickets of the 28 million tickets sold statewide.
The jackpot buyout and its tie to a lottery courier was met with heightened criticism and allegations of unfair gaming practices from local and national media and state legislators.
The second incident involved a winning ticket for an $83.5 million Lotto Texas jackpot purchased online through a lottery courier’s digital platform. The latest win poured gasoline on the flames of criticism already surrounding the lottery's handling of the $95 million jackpot.
State legislators were grilling Texas Lottery officials over the $95 million jackpot controversy, and then another huge Lotto Texas jackpot was won by a ticket sold through a lottery courier, further fueling the criticism.
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Although the Lottery introduced new protections to prevent future organized buyout attempt after the $95 million jackpot win, legislators remained unsatisfied and questioned Lottery Executive Director Ryan Mindell during a recent Senate Committee on Finance hearing.
While buying every number combination to win a lottery jackpot isn’t illegal, lawmakers are concerned that online third-party services could be used for nefarious purposes like underage gambling and money laundering.
Potential Fallout of Courier Ban
The ban on lottery couriers, which has garnered support from many who believe the TLC should have acted sooner, would inevitably come with severe consequences. With no plans to sell lottery tickets online, the Lottery stands to lose hundreds of millions of dollars in draw game sales.
It also means that access to the lottery would be cut off for many Texans, including elderly seniors, people with disabilities, and shift workers who cannot physically visit a retailer and depend on online lottery couriers.
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