{"id":328860,"date":"2024-08-26T14:10:26","date_gmt":"2024-08-26T19:10:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=328860"},"modified":"2024-08-26T14:53:46","modified_gmt":"2024-08-26T19:53:46","slug":"texas-lottery-rule-change-after-system-gamed-for-95m-jackpot-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/texas-lottery-rule-change-after-system-gamed-for-95m-jackpot-win\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas Lottery Implements Rule-Change After System Gamed for $95M Jackpot Win"},"content":{"rendered":"

Unusual requests to the Texas Lottery from vendors who suddenly want to scale-up on ticket processing machines will be treated with a higher degree of scrutiny. That\u2019s after a New Jersey-based syndicate<\/a> walked away with a $95 million jackpot after buying up 25.8 million tickets from pop-up vendors.<\/p>\n

\"Texas
A gaming syndicate arranged to have 25.8 million Texas Lottery tickets processed by pop-up vendors who requested additional terminals for the scheme. The legislature moved to narrow this loophole last week. (Image: Texas Lottery)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From now on, requests from vendors for large quantities of processing equipment will be referred to the Texas Lottery\u2019s executive director for closer investigation, especially when those vendors have no previous record of selling large numbers of tickets.<\/p>\n

State Sen. Tan Parker (R-Flower Mound) said that the integrity of the lottery was \u201clost in the process\u201d as a result of the jackpot win.<\/p>\n

Jackpot Exploited<\/strong><\/h2>\n

After 93 rollovers, the April 22, 2023 lottery draw was one of those rare occasions when the game becomes mathematically exploitable<\/a>. The jackpot stood at $95 million, which meant that buying up every possible combination of numbers \u2013 or 25.8 million tickets at a dollar a ticket \u2013 would all but guarantee not only the jackpot but most of the other prizes as well. And that\u2019s exactly what the mysterious syndicate did.<\/p>\n

Because the prize was $57.8 million after taxes, the syndicate knew it was looking at a likely $22 million profit from the jackpot alone.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Even if it were unlucky enough to share the first prize with another winner, it would still make a profit of around $3 million. That\u2019s before you consider the additional prizes, which it would be more likely to share with other winners.<\/p>\n

A three-way split would have been a disaster, but that was an unlikely outcome and a risk worth taking for the syndicate.<\/p>\n

The real problem was logistical. How do you go about buying 25.8 million tickets for a draw that typically only sells one to two million tickets per week? According to the state legislature, it was all way too easy.<\/p>\n

Lottery \u2018Collaborated\u2019 in Scheme<\/strong><\/h2>\n

All of the tickets bought up by the syndicate were processed at just four outlets, three of which had sold no tickets at all in the months leading up to the draw, according to an investigation by The Houston Chronicle. <\/em><\/p>\n

That meant each outlet needed to order enough equipment from the Texas Lottery to process millions of tickets in the three days between the draws. The state agency was only too happy to oblige.<\/p>\n

\n

Lottery officials have said there is no rule against buying up all combinations of tickets. But lawmakers were clear this week that the syndicate\u2019s scheme violated the spirit of the lottery, and they reserved some harsh words for the Texas Lottery.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

State Rep. Matt Shaheen (R-Plano) accused the agency of \u201ccollaborating\u201d with a \u201cgroup of sophisticated players.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA significant percentage of lottery sales in Texas is to lower-income individuals, and I think they were taken advantage of,\u201d he said, as reported by The Chronicle.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Unusual requests to the Texas Lottery from vendors who suddenly want to scale-up on ticket processing machines will be treated with a higher degree of scrutiny. That\u2019s after a New Jersey-based syndicate walked away with a $95 million jackpot after buying up 25.8 million tickets from pop-up vendors. From now on, requests from vendors for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":328861,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13699,61],"tags":[91635,91639,90651,91637,90650],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTexas Lottery Rule-Change After System Gamed for $95M Jackpot Win<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Texas Lottery ordered to narrow loophole that allowed persons unknown to game the system and win a $95 million jackpot.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/texas-lottery-rule-change-after-system-gamed-for-95m-jackpot-win\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Texas Lottery Rule-Change After System Gamed for $95M Jackpot Win\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Texas Lottery ordered to narrow loophole that allowed persons unknown to game the system and win a $95 million jackpot.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/texas-lottery-rule-change-after-system-gamed-for-95m-jackpot-win\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-08-26T19:10:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-08-26T19:53:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Texas-Lottery.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"621\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/texas-lottery-rule-change-after-system-gamed-for-95m-jackpot-win\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/texas-lottery-rule-change-after-system-gamed-for-95m-jackpot-win\/\",\"name\":\"Texas Lottery Rule-Change After System Gamed for $95M Jackpot Win\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/texas-lottery-rule-change-after-system-gamed-for-95m-jackpot-win\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/texas-lottery-rule-change-after-system-gamed-for-95m-jackpot-win\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Texas-Lottery.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-08-26T19:10:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-08-26T19:53:46+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Texas Lottery ordered to narrow loophole that allowed persons unknown to game the system and win a $95 million jackpot.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/texas-lottery-rule-change-after-system-gamed-for-95m-jackpot-win\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/texas-lottery-rule-change-after-system-gamed-for-95m-jackpot-win\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/texas-lottery-rule-change-after-system-gamed-for-95m-jackpot-win\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Texas-Lottery.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Texas-Lottery.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":621,\"caption\":\"The syndicate arranged to have 25.8 million Texas Lottery tickets processed by pop-up vendors who requested additional terminals for the scheme. 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