Search

Bill would allow Texas Lottery winners to pay for anonymityNews Story
Texas lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow big lottery winners to keep their identity a secret, but they would have to pay for that privilege. Right now, Texas Lottery winners are not allowed to remain anonymous. In some cases, individuals have established a trust or turned their winning ticket over to a trust to claim the prize for them. But, Texas law requires that someone come forward to participate in a news conference and collect the money. House Bill 1504 would change th
Feb 18, 2015, 9:37 am - Lottery News

Texas Lottery has its best week of scratch-off sales in 23-year historyNews Story
Scratch-off sales for last week totaled nearly $76 million Last week, the Texas Lottery had its highest scratch-off ticket sales in the Lottery's 23-year history. Sales for scratch-off games totaled $75,677,650 beating the previous record of $75,360,138 set in March 2013. We are thrilled with last week's scratch-off sales as revenue generated from these games benefits public education and veterans in Texas, said Gary Grief, executive director of the Texas Lottery. When Texans are playi
Feb 10, 2015, 10:23 am - Lottery News

$14.5M Texas Lotto jackpot claimedNews Story
Winner requested minimal publicity The winning ticket for the $14.5 million New Year's Eve Lotto Texas drawing was claimed today at the Texas Lottery's headquarters in Austin. Brandi Jackson of Cypress, Texas, selected the cash value option and will receive the prize in one lump sum payment of $10,392,246.79. On behalf of the Texas Lottery, I want to congratulate Brandi on this exciting win and start of the new year, said Gary Grief, executive director of the Texas Lottery Commission.
Jan 5, 2015, 4:52 pm - Lottery News

Players seek $250 million from Texas Lottery contractorNews Story
More than 500 players of a lottery scratch-off card filed suit against the game's developer seeking about $250 million in contested prize money. Confusion over the rules led many to believe they had winning tickets, but those tickets were not honored by the state. The suit contends that the lottery's contractor, GTECH Corporation, owes prize money to the players because they wrote the rules and programmed the scanners to identify the winners. GTECH Corporation spokeswoman Angela Wiczek sai
Dec 16, 2014, 9:36 am - Lottery News

Texas Lottery Director joins Lottery Industry Hall of FameNews Story
Public Gaming Research Institute has inducted Gary Grief, executive director of the Texas Lottery, to its Lottery Industry Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony took place at the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries conference in Atlantic City. I want to congratulate Executive Director Grief for his much-deserved honor, said J. Winston Krause, chairman of the Texas Lottery Commission. Gary's knowledge, experience and leadership are key elements to the continued success
Oct 8, 2014, 4:25 pm - Lottery News

Is it game over for the Texas Lottery?News Story
Some Texas lawmakers say it may be time to scratch out the lottery. More than two decades after Texas voters legalized the game of chance in the state, a group of lawmakers will soon start reviewing whether to end at multibillion-dollar industry that pumps more than $1 billion a year into schools. Critics say they fear that the game financially hurts some of the most vulnerable Texans and doesn't do enough to help the state. Supporters disagree and question where $1 billion a year can be f
Aug 2, 2014, 8:31 pm - Lottery News

Legislative committee to discuss killing the Texas LotteryNews Story
The Texas Legislature's discussions about eliminating the state lottery are moving forward. House Speaker Joe Straus on Thursday announced his appointments to the Legislative Committee to Review the Texas Lottery and Texas Lottery Commission, a new panel charged with studying the ramifications of ending the lottery, along with examining charitable bingo and how its revenue is distributed. The appointees include three Harris County lawmakers, one of whom is a vocal lottery critic. Housto
Jul 25, 2014, 11:23 am - Lottery News

Lottery mystery yields clues to $7.5 million prizeNews Story
By Peter Mucha, Philly.com Third of three parts See Part 1 and Part 2 Ever notice that instant lottery tickets are consecutively numbered? Ever wonder if those numbers could help in a hunt for riches? They theoretically can, at least in Texas. They helped us create a list, predicting the whereabouts of a missing $7.5 million ticket. A $50 scratch-off game called $7,500,000 Fortune started out with three top prizes among about 190,000 packs of tickets. Our list of likely susp
Jul 3, 2014, 8:16 am - Lottery News

$12 million Texas lottery jackpot unclaimedNews Story
Somebody lost millions of dollars Monday evening that they probably never knew was theirs. Six months after beating astronomical odds to win the Lotto Texas jackpot, the simultaneously lucky and cursed person failed to materialize before a deadline to redeem the winning ticket officially worth $12 million, and $7.5 million in immediate cash. It was biggest unclaimed Lotto prize since 2001 and the third largest since the game started in 1992, according to the Texas Lottery Commission. I
Jul 2, 2014, 5:09 pm - Lottery News

Lottery legend Joan Ginther known as bigtime ticket buyerNews Story
By Peter Micha, Philly.com People confirm what statistics suggest: Lottery legend Joan Ginther bought thousands of high-priced scratch-off tickets on her way to winning millions of dollars four times. A store clerk named Victoria said she sold Ginther countless tickets, entire rolls of $50 scratch-offs at a time, according to a report by Houston TV station KPRC. And that was at just one of eight stores in and around Ginther's home town of Bishop, Texas, where she won 28 prizes ranging f
Jul 2, 2014, 3:59 pm - Lottery News