COLLEYVILLE, Texas — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday directed Texas Rangers to investigate two major lottery wins, including the recent $83.5 million jackpot at the center of legislators’ scrutiny and a $95 million lottery win from 2023 that involved the bulk purchase of tickets.
Abbott’s office announced the investigation in a news release Monday, just hours after the Texas Lottery Commission declared third-party courier services illegal in Texas.
Courier services, which allow people to buy lottery tickets virtually and have a courier purchase the tickets in-person for them, were involved in both the $83.5 million lottery win under current scrutiny and the 2023 jackpot win.
The Abbott-directed investigation and the lottery commission’s announcement Monday followed the Friday resignation of Texas Lottery Commissioner Clark Smith, who stepped down in the wake of the controversial lottery wins.
While the recent $83.5 million lottery win has been in the spotlight — including when Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick visited the retail location where the winning ticket was sold and questioned the employees there — the 2023 jackpot of $95 million faces renewed scrutiny with the Abbott investigation.
Abbott’s office in their news release said “an entity” won the 2023 lottery “by purchasing nearly every possible number combination.” The winning ticket was purchased from Lottery Now, located inside Hooked On MT, a fishing-related store located in Colleyville. Lottery Now sold more than $10.97 million worth of tickets for the April 22, 2023 drawing, which resulted in the $95 million jackpot win.
The news release from Abbott’s office linked to a News Nation report from October 2024 that detailed how three men from Europe won the jackpot by spending nearly $26 million to acquire “about 99% of possible number combinations.”
The Houston Chronicle originally reported on the three men’s plan. After taking a lump sum payment of $57.8 million, the three men reportedly made a profit of around $20 million, as the News Nation report detailed.
The plan, as the Chronicle and News Nation both reported, was legal through a courier service.
In the case of Lottery Now, the licensed retailer had offered a lottery courier service called Mido Lotto, allowing Texas residents to order lottery tickets online, according to previous WFAA reporting.
The courier services have not been regulated by state lottery officials — until Monday’s announcement from the lottery commission declaring them illegal. The lottery commission will now propose an amendment to state lottery policy that would formally ban the courier services.
The Coalition of Texas Lottery Couriers in a statement called the lottery commission’s announcement “abrupt, disappointing and unnecessary.”
“Lottery couriers have been legally and responsibly operating in Texas since 2019, while always maintaining a transparent and professional relationship with the Texas Lottery Commission,” the group said in a statement. “Throughout this process, the TLC has claimed to have no regulatory authority over courier activities, despite couriers’ persistent requests to be regulated, just as we are in other states.”