Lt Governor Dan Patrick is calling for the end of the Texas Lottery Commission’s use of lotto couriers to sell purchased tickets through online apps.
This comes after Patrick toured the North Austin facility that sold Monday’s winning ticket. “It doesn’t look like your normal place you buy lottery tickets,” Patrick said upon entering the retail outlet called WINNERS CORNER. “It’s supposed to be a commercial establishment that sells everything. It looks like they sell... some games.”
Patrick took to social media with a video from the store. He said he found that Texans would lose confidence in the Texas Lottery if they knew the relationship between the retail store and courier. “JackPocket is the name of the courier service. Winners Corner is the name of the retail outlet; both affiliated or owned by Draft Kings.”
While touring the back room at Winners Corner Patrick said he came across 30 licensed Texas Lottery terminals. “Many many more terminals than you would ever see in the normal place that you buy lottery tickets. So there are a lot of questions.”
Patrick added that the Texas Senate did pass legislation in 2023 to end the courier system of selling lottery tickets through apps, but it died in the State House. Patrick told local media Wednesday that ending this practice is still a priority, “It’s a hard line, couriers have to go.”
The Texas Lottery Commission is already under investigation after a $95 million winning Lotto Texas ticket was sold in 2023 to a European syndicate that bought 25 million tickets through a courier. State Senator Paul Bettencourt recently commented about that sale saying, “99% probability of money laundering.”