A lottery winner in Texas claims she is being refused her $83.5 million jackpot prize because she bought the winning ticket “legally” online via a third-party courier.
The unnamed woman filed a complaint against Texas’s gaming board on Wednesday, following a three-month wait to receive her prize from the “Lotto Texas” drawing on February 17.
The unidentified player alleged she used the Jackpocket Lottery app to buy $20 worth of tickets from a licensed retailer in North Austin, according to KVUE.
The win was highlighted by the state lottery website, touting that only one ticket had matched the six winning numbers: 19, 21, 25, 45, 47, 52.
The woman went to cash in her prize from the Texas Lottery Commission (TLC) on March 18 — but has yet to receive her massive payout.
“I’m being treated as the bad guy,” the woman told Nexstar Media Group after presenting her winning ticket. “Sometimes there are reasons to investigate things, but I don’t think mine is one of them.”
The woman alleges her ticket went through the proper validation procedures by the commission, which concluded she was the rightful owner of the jackpot-winning numbers.
“At no time has Sergio Rey or the Commission or anyone purporting to act on the Commission’s behalf advised (the woman) that the winning ticket is invalid, inauthentic, obtained by fraud, has an illicit chain of custody, or that any other unlawful conduct was involved in (the woman’s) procurement of the winning ticket,” reads the May 21 lawsuit obtained by USA Today.
Third-party services have been a hot topic in the Lone Star State in recent years as lawmakers and lottery officials have opened up investigations into the legitimacy of the online services.
The Texas Lottery Commission proposed a ban on couriers from state lottery drawings citing unfairness and integrity concerns regarding the use of the online apps.
“Couriers are unregulated companies that take lottery ticket orders from customers online. Upon receipt of funds from a customer, the courier purchases lottery tickets from a licensed lottery retailer with whom the courier has a private business arrangement,” the Texas Lottery Commission (TLC) said on Feb. 24, a week after the drawing.
The commission stated its concern that most couriers and the licensed retailers it uses are based in the same location.
Jockpocket is owned by sports betting company DraftKings.
Because of the rule change, the lottery commission “refuse to pay (the woman) her lottery winnings” because her method of play was deemed “illegal,” the suit claims.
“They are simply stonewalling the winner, stalling and not being responsible or acting with any integrity,” the woman’s lawyers said in the complaint.
Recently resigned lottery executive director Ryan Mindell said the reason for the ban was to protect the players who still purchase tickets directly from licensed retailers.
“The Texas Lottery was established to provide a secure and transparent system for players to purchase tickets in person from licensed brick-and-mortar retailers for the purpose of generating revenue for public education and veterans’ services in a responsible manner,” Mindell said.
“Lottery courier services operating in Texas have been a significant concern for many of our stakeholders,” he added.
Mindell resigned from his post on April 21, as the commission was the focus of multiple investigations from the state attorney general’s office.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the Texas Rangers to investigate the Feb. 17 drawing and a controversial jackpot win from 2023, hours after the commission’s Feb. 24 proposal.
The 67-year-old Republican also called for an investigation into an April 2023 lottery drawing where a consortium of European players purchased 25.8 million tickets to win the $95 million jackpot.
The Texas Lottery Commission unanimously voted to ban couriers from selling lottery tickets on April 29.
