Everybody dreams of that one miracle payday, where you can exhale and smile.
However, what if you won that golden ticket to paradise, only to find out that you actually did not.
Everyone's nightmare.
Texas Woman May Not Get $83.5 Lottery Ticket
The New York Post reported earlier this week that a Texas woman with a winning $83.5 million lottery ticket may never get to revel in her mega payout because officials are investigating the mobile app she used to purchase them.
The woman bought $20 worth of Texas Lotto tickets for the Feb. 17 drawing on the mobile app Jackpocket, which is a lottery courier service that is currently available in 19 states, Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico, but that state lawmakers are now trying to get rid of.
What is Jackpocket?
Since its founding in 2013, Jackpocket has sold millions of dollars' worth of lottery tickets – including selling more than 10% of the tickets across five states during the April 2024 billion-dollar Powerball drawing, according to the company.
The app allows customers to order tickets through their phone, which dispatches a courier who goes to a store and buys the ticket. The courier then sends the customer a scan of their tickets and holds onto them until the drawing.
The Texas Senate passed a bill in February that would ban such courier services, and the measure is now headed to the Texas House. Jackpocket has since stopped operating in the state, but didn’t do so until several weeks after the woman’s winning ticket was bought.
Learn More: Texas Betting Apps
Texas Lottery Commission Speaks Out
The Texas Lottery Commission (TLC), who has a hand in getting sports betting in Texas legalized, said in a statement that lottery courier services are illegal in the state only after the woman’s win. However, Jackpocket said its app has been operating in compliance with the TLC since 2019.
Six years ago! During that time frame, more than $550 million worth of lottery tickets were bought in the state using Jackpocket,
After all the hoop-la, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the Texas Rangers (not the baseball team) to investigate the woman’s win and to also investigate the 2023 win of a $95 million jackpot that was won by a group that purchased over $25 million worth of tickets, ensuring they bought almost every combination of numbers.
The mystery female winner said that her case is very different, given that she fairly paid $20 to play rather than the millions spent by the 2023 group.
The woman, who presented her winning ticket to the TLC on March 18, has not received her earnings, even though the commission typically pays out the winnings within three days. The TLC said it would not decide on paying out until the investigation is complete.
Let's hope her pot of gold is ready and rightfully delivered ASAP.
