The familiar white, numbered balls that have determined the winners of hundreds of millions of dollars in Texas lottery prizes may get bounced.

The Texas Lottery Commission is taking a first, cautious step toward using a computer to replace the rubber balls used since the games began in 1992.

It's early in the conceptual stage, but lottery officials have looked at computerized "random number generator" systems that, linked with animations, are used by a handful of lotteries to pick the winning numbers.

Reagan Greer, the Lottery Commission's executive director, said Thursday that computerized drawings could save a bundle by doing away with the drawings that require staff and studio time to produce.

Greer told lottery commissioners Thursday that an initial test of a computerized drawing system could come in conjunction with the state's upcoming entry into the multistate Mega Millions game. As envisioned by state lottery officials, Mega Millions, now tentatively targeted for a November kickoff in Texas, will include a "multiplier" feature that allows players to increase their winnings by doubling their bet.

Instead of using balls, Greer is looking at using a computerized system to pick the multiplier number.

If it works well, Greer said he can foresee using a computerized drawing system for all games, including Lotto Texas, that now use balls.

Lotteries in Delaware, Minnesota, Washington, D.C., and British Columbia, Canada, use computerized drawings. In Delaware, players see an animated version of balls coming out of the end of a tube. In Minnesota, players see an animation showing ball hoppers in a cabin.

Joni Perkins, the Delaware Lottery's assistant draw manager, said players in her state initially were skeptical when the rubber balls were mothballed five years ago in favor of the computerized system.

Over time, however, the animated system has become accepted, she said.

Gary Grief, the Texas Lottery Commission's deputy executive director, said there's no limit to what can be done with the computer-selected numbers.

"They can flow directly into an animation, and, for example, you can have a herd of longhorn cattle in an animated situation" he said.

Each animal could have a number on its back, and the winning combination could be displayed bovinely.

Lottery Commissioners Jim Cox and Tom Clowe expressed interest in the idea and encouraged Greer to pursue it.

Greer acknowledged a potential public relations hurdle, but likened it to how initial skepticism over using credit cards for online purchases has blossomed into billions of dollars of purchases.

Also Thursday, Greer said the commission has purchased 1,000 self-service terminals at which players will be able to buy tickets for Lotto Texas and the other online games. The machines should be in place early next year.

The Lottery Commission already uses self-service vending machines to sell scratch-off game tickets.