Interesting
Stories

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The 2024 Sunset Review of the
Texas Lottery. Massive Coverage on
the Apps & The Stolen $95M Jackpot
The Sunset Commission completed its
review of the TLC and presented it to the Commission on 8/14/24. I did submit
both written and oral testimony at
the hearing. Since then, I've submitted
additional comment. I'm extremely proud
to say that the Sunset Commissioners did
NOT believe most of the TLC's testimony.
This is a hearing you should all watch.
The TLC's testimony starts around 11:55 am.
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8/14/24 Comment (apps vs couriers),
(pdf) click here
8/19/24 Comments based on testimony,
(pdf) click here
8/19/24 Part 2 - New Stories Submitted
(pdf), Click here
The Sunset Staff Report (pdf),
click here
Watch the Sunset Hearing
(8/14/24) (video), click here

Read the Massive News
Coverage Regarding
The 8/14/24 Sunset Hearing

$95 Million Lotto Texas
win had stacked odds, a
Chronicle Investigation
found. Now there's new rules.
Eric Dexheimer, Houston Chronicle, covered
the Sunset hearing. Another TRUE
& fantastic investigative story ...
Requires you to subscribe - It's worth it!
8/21/24 - Click here.

Texas Lotto changes rules after
a Houston Chronicle investigation
The reporting found a mass ticket buying
scheme among wealthy investors.
Texas Standard 8/22/24
A Must Read - - Click Here

Someone Spent $25 Million on
Lottery Tickets to Guarantee
a Win. And It Worked.
Vice - 8/22/24 - Another Must Read
Click here

Lawmakers discuss handling
of online couriers with Texas
Lottery Commission
KTRH Local Houston and
Texas News -8/21/24 - Click here

CASH GUARANTEE
I spent $25 million on lottery tickets
to ensure a $95 million jackpot –
it was all legal thanks to a ‘rush order’
move. They crunched the numbers
for the payment needed to win
The U.S. Sun - 8/22/24 - Click here

Are Online Lottery Sales
Endangering Our Kids?
Dallas Express – Texas Scorecard
8/18/24 - Click Here

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All About That $1.325 Billion
Powerball Jackpot
The delayed PB drawing and Texas'
delays & failure to post Texas draws
and sales info. Will we ever find out
what's going on? Posted 4/7/24
Click here.

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What A Quick Pick -
See It To Believe It
I felt cheated - Posted Late 2/5/24
Click here

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About The $95 Million
Lotto Texas Win
Part One of a Five Part Series
The TLC implies in two Press Releases
that your neighbors and fellow players
were rushing out and buying lottery tickets
for an exclusive chance to win the jackpot.
They knew better but spead that rumor
anyway. Posted 5/2/23 - Click here.

Part Two of a Five Part Series
Did Gary Grief skirt the laws to allow Apps
to sell Texas Lottery tickets via their phones
and online? Did he lie to the media and
to the Senate Finance Committee when he
explained how "couriers" were sent to
licensed Lottery retailers to purchase lottery
tickets? Finally, see how the Apps work.
Posted 5/8/23 - Click here

Part Three of a Five Part Series
Sports team owners want a piece
of the lottery and Apps provide erroneous
information ... Posted 5/22/23 - Click here

Part Four of a Five Part Series
Kudo's to our elected officials. They've
sent a clear message to the TLC. The
TLC should NOT honor the 4/22/23
Lotto TX winning ticket and for fun,
see what your winnings would be
if you bought all Lotto Texas
combinations. Plus more ...
Posted 6/26/23 ... Click here

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About That $100 Scratch Ticket
I'm mad and you should be too. Bottom
line for this irresponsible stunt is to make
up for the losses for going to 3 draws
per week. Posted 5/18/22 - Part 1
Click here

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- Once Again -
I Have Defective Lottery Tickets -
I purchased illegible lottery tickets
and the Texas Lottery is refusing
to tell me what numbers were suppose
to be printed on them. They're claiming
it's "Confidential" information. They filed
for an AG Opinion. Unbelievable -
A Must Read ....
Posted 4/20/22 - Click here

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Beware - This Could Have
Been A Costly Error
TLC errs during live Nov 19, 2020
Pick3 Evening draw causing others to err.
An interesting read. Posted 11/21/20
Click here

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A Most Intriguing Email
It's extremely well written, funny, informative
and complimentary. A must read for all.
Posted 9/28/20. Click here

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A Second Letter Has Been
Sent To The TLC Showing
No Citizen Could Obtain The
Same Information I Requested
& Still Haven't Received
- Sad but True -
A link to this letter was added to my original
Open Records posting. Go read the new letter and
see the Weeky Reports I had requested but still
haven't obtained ... You'll find the new paragraph
under "Before Reading This Page" near the
top. Originally Posted 7/28/20 but
Updated 8/8/20, Click here

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By Using My Fun 5's Deposition,
The Lottery Has Claimed I Don't
Qualify As A "News Agency"
or As A "Reporter" And Must
Pay To Receive Public Information
I guess what ya'll read on my site is NOT of
public interest! <grin>. Read my response and
see the evidence that I do qualify under Gov
Code 552.275(j). I think many of you will find
the links to previous postings of great interest. It
certainly brought back memories for me! Be sure
to read the editorial found in the 7/19/20
Pick3 Combinations Report found on this page
too. Director Grief has budgeted $110,000 for
HIS out of state travel for FY21.
Originally Posted 7/28/20, Click here

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Playing the Lottery is
Not Worth Dying Over
Italy, Spain & China suspended
lottery sales in an attempt to
protect their citizens. Obviously,
the US doesn't care because
they are continuing to lure millions
of players from their homes
each day for the sole purpose
of purchasing lottery tickets
- a non- essential product.
What a confusing message
officials have sent ... They say,
"stay at home and only leave
to purchase "essential" items -
if your caught going out
you could be fined" as they
continue to allow the sale of
lottery products. A must read.
Posted 4/8/20. Click here

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As it appears in The Intercept
States Declare Lotteries "Essential"
The Government only cares about
your money, not your well being.
Unbelievable 4/16/20 - Click here

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Texas' Fun 5's
Scratch Ticket Lawsuit

TX Supreme Court Hears
Oral Arguments On The
Fun 5 Scratch Ticket
Texas Lottery Players have hope. Many
thanks to the outstanding attorneys
gracious enough to represent hard
working Texans who were rejected
by their elected officials. Read Dec 3, 2019
story on the Fun 5's Update page. Click here

The Lawyers Blog
- Updated March 1, 2022 -
The Honorable Amy Clark Meachum denied
GTECH’s motion for summary judgment.
Judge Meachum also notified the
parties that the first bellwether trial in her
court would be postponed until sometime
after July 1 due to court backlogs
caused by the pandemic.
Read story. Click here

Check Out Lotto Report's
New Fun 5's "Site Map"
And Continue To Watch
Our Update Page!

Media Coverage - Fun 5's
Many news stories can be found
on our NEW Site Map page
USA Today - Caller Times (1/23/18)

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- Part 8 -
The Tax Break Shenanigans
of J. Winston Krause
In 2008, Commissioner Krause sued the IRS to get a
refund of interest and penalties he had paid for a disallowed
deduction and income. The disallowed deduction ... he
bought Canadian dollars for $20K; claimed he paid
$2.8 million; he showed a loss of <$2.7 million> yet
he had sold the Canadian dollars for $19.5K. A 2010
5th Circuit of Appeals quote ... "Krause's Tax
Chicanery" A very interesting and telling story
about the man who Chairs our Lottery.
Part 8 Posted April 6, 2014
A Must Read For Texas Players.
Click graphic above ...

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Director Gary Griefs
Favorite Pastime
- Traveling The World For Free -
A minimum of 105 trips at a cost
of a minimum of $160,000.
An unbeliebable story - Click here

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Duplicate Winning Numbers
Drawn? Hmm ... Are
Computertized Draws
"Really" Random
& Trustworthy?
Yet another investigative story
showing WHY RNG's should be
banned for use by the Legislatures.
Can you imagine having the same set
of 5 or 6 numbers drawn in consecutive
draws? Of course, the lottery ignored it!
Remarkable findings - every one should
read this story by Jason Clayworth,
DeMoines Register, 1/31/19.Click here.

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Lottery Lawsuit Granted
Class Action Status
Affects 7.2 Million Tickets
In 19 States
Lotteries have been taking advantage
of players for a long time. In so many
ways and players have no recourse.
So I'm thrilled to see a court allow
players to fight back. Great story - let's
all hope there's justice for players in the
end. Great story by Jason Clayworth,
an Investigative Reporter with
the Des Moines Register
Posted 1/29/19 - Click here

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Unbelievable Duplicate
Quick Picks
Louisiana players buys 4
tickets, all tickets have
the same numbers.
Very sad. (Nov 7, 2013 -
Updated Nov 12, 2013)
Click here.

Virginia Player Receives
Duplicate Quick Picks
Read March 27, 2016 entry
on "Continued" Daily Page
Click here

Texas Player Buys
7 Quick Picks And
Receives 7 Identical
Tickets
An Unbelievable
Story - Posted 3/15/12,
Click here

Will Texas Honor
The Rule & The Face
Value of My Scratch
Tickets
This letter was submitted
to Gary Grief - Director
of the TLC. I'm asking
that my winning tickets
be paid - Unbelievable
story and only the tip
of the iceberg regarding
Texas scratch tickets.
After you read the letter,
tell me - do you think
it's a winning ticket?
Should they pay me?
Posted 12/10/12.
Click here

Lottery Terminals
Err - Here is
Absolute Proof
Posted 7/12/07 -
Don't let this happen to
you. Check your own
tickets! Click here
Very Interesting.

Editorial & Opinions by Dawn Nettles

4/25/23 - I hate to tell ya'll this but I have no choice but to postpone posting my story for a couple of days. This is because the Texas Lottery will not provide me with sales information that in the olden days, would have been provided within an hour. They tell me I have to make an open records request.

The TLC did, however, provide me with "coverage" information for Saturday nights drawing - coverage was a whopping 99.4%. This tells me that the jackpot was probably bought - by that I mean someone or a group bought all or mostly all of the total combinations.

I have received a ton of calls and emails and new information has come to light.

I want to share one piece of new info ... this is a press release put out today by Lottery.com (a mobile and online sales app). The release states how proud Lottery.com is to have made arrangements to sell Texas Lottery tickets in the Dominican Republic.

Folks, it appears selling lottery tickets to Texans is not good enough anymore. Their sales have diminished due to their rule changes so they'll do whatever it takes to sell tickets. This includes screwing those who have supported them since 1992.

I have my story 80% complete but have to halt until I get the info I need to be 100% accurate in my reporting. For those of you who have written, I promise, I'll reply as soon as I can.

4/23/23 - There is so much to share with you about the 4/22/23 Lotto Texas win. I'm working on the story and hope to have it posted no later than Tuesday afternoon. The most important thing for you to know is that NO ONE walked in a retail store called "Lottery Now" and purchased a lottery ticket in Colleyville. I was there today and can assure you, there's no store there. It's non-existent!

I have photo's and TLC records to share with you and it should make your blood boil.

A Texan MAY have won though I doubt it very seriously. It would be my educated opinion that this is not the case. Yet I pray I'm wrong on this one!

Story coming along with the Jackpocket app story too.

4/22/23 - I fear tonight will be a very sad night for Texas Lottery players - specifically Lotto Texas players. This is because Texans have continued to support playing Lotto Texas in spite of the extremely high odds and poor sales resulting in 93 consecutive drawings with no winner. Texans have spent $110 million trying to win this jackpot to no avail.

Now the Texas Lottery is probably going to be successful in screwing every player and retailer that resides in Texas - and all for the love of BOASTING sales figures. Gary Grief, the Executive Director of the Texas Lottery, has turned his back on the laws of the State of Texas, used fictitious language and definitions to allow internet sales and telephones to purchase lottery tickets. In my humble opinion, this action is not only illegal but shows absolutely no regard for his 30+ year loyal retailers and loyal lottery players.

Here's WHY I'm saying these things ...

It appears that people from literally all over the world and the United States can buy Texas lottery tickets via their cell phones and the internet and so far, it would appear they've purchased an est 30 million tickets for tonight draw. Keep in mind, there's 25.8 million combinations in the game, so more than likely, there will be a winner tonight. Sales are so strong that they've increased the jackpot again - this time to $95 million. (CVO $57.5, after tax $43.1).

Here is just ONE sample of the advertising currently found on the internet about tonights Lotto Texas jackpot .... from this you can clearly see why so many lottery tickets have been sold .... (These tickets are not being purchased by Texans - in my educated opinion)

I pray that a fellow Texan wins the jackpot but since no one has won in the past 93 draws, it's unlikely but not impossible. Imagine, we build the jackpots and the money leaves the state. Oh so sad.

PS ... Above is a screen shot from the Lotter's web site taken yesterday and they had not changed the jackpot amount.
Today the site shows an $83 million jackpot - again it's not been updated yet to show the jackpot is now $95 million.
Hummm...

4-15-23 - I'm receiving all kinds of calls from players who are reporting that your retailers seem to have a very limited scratch ticket inventory so I made some calls to find out WHY. And did I ever get an earful.

This should not come as a shock to anyone but it seems as though IGT (formerly G-Tech) can't keep warehouse employees because they are grossly underpaid and are forced to work in extremely harsh conditions - meaning they burn up in the summers, they freeze in the winters and they have to stand on their feet all day long. The pay is not worth the agony so they are walking off the job in groves.

IGT reps say that since the merger - G-Tech & IGT - that things have really gone south. They report that the company is so large that nobody knows anyone and the executives in Italy could care less. The company no longer seeks input from the reps - they feel un-appreciated and underpaid.

My concerns are two-fold ... one - this should be a clear violation of their contract with the Texas Lottery. But it's believed/rumored that Gary Grief has been busy in the last few years in changing contracts and is "in bed" with IGT. Even if this is true, it would extremely hard for me to believe that he would allow lax distribution of his beloved scratch tickets because they are an estimated $6.7 billion of the total $8.2 billion in lottery revenues. The loss of income was my 2nd concern! Maybe Grief is secretly planning to blame then sue IGT if he loses his job due to lack of sales. (grin)

One thing about it, if there's no product out there to sell, there will be no revenue to the state. What I want to know, is how can Grief or the TLC Commissioners turn their heads on poor treatment and poor pay for employees of their largest vendor?

And players, the retailers tell me that they are having to wait 2 to 4 weeks for shipments so take a vacation from scratching so many losing tickets!!!!

I am still working on my Jackpocket story ... it really is coming!

4-10-23 - I know it's been a long time since I posted on my Hodgepodge Page - there are too many drawings and not enough time. Sorry.

Anyway, this posting is about the April 6, 2023 ten (10) Texas 2 Step jackpot winning tickets which consisted of 9 Self Pick Tickets and 1 Quick Pick. In this case, each winner will receive $155,000 each - they are splitting a $1,550,000 Jackpot.

So many of you have called and written about this and even I was shocked with the news of how many winners there were. So I did a little research and found that on one other occassion, August 10, 2006, there were also ten (10) TX 2 Step winners and all tickets were Self Pick tickets.

I found one common demoninator and that is, in both cases, the player seleced one number from each group of 10 numbers. And the bonus number selected was a duplicate of the lowest number chosen to play.

Let me show you what I mean.

The numbers drawn on Aug 10, 2006 were: 09-18-27-35 Bonus 9.
Notice that between the group of numbers 1-10, one number was selected.
Between the group of numbers 11-20, one number was selected.
Between the numbers 21 - 30, another number was selected.
Between the group of 31 - 35, another number was selected by the player.
And the bonus number "9" was the same as the lowest number selected.

On April 6, 2023, the winning numbers were 06-15-24-33 Bonus 6. As you
can see, it's same "concept" or "strategy" that was used in Aug 2006.

I'd say they were all very lucky!!!

FYI ... In 2006, all ten (10) winners DID collect their winnings. We'll see if all players collect this time too!

Where The Winning TX 2 Tickets Were Sold ...
Carrollton: Tom Thumb, 4112 Josey (Quick Pick)
Cedar Park: Players Cafe, 700 E. Whitestone (Self Pick)
Duncanville: Racetrac, 519 S Cockrell Hill (Self Pick)
Ft. Worth: Krogers: 6650 N. Beach W Center Blvd (Self Pick)
Houston: Road Stop: 2625 Aldine Mail Route (Self Pick)
Lubbock: KWIK Stop, 4719 58th St. (Self Pick)
San Angelo: Riya's N Bryant, 2902 N Bryant Blvd (Self Pick)
San Antonio: EZ Shop, 1515 Castroville (Self Pick)
Tyler: 7-Eleven, 4300 S Broadway (Self Pick)

When you hear me commenting that there are so many duplicate tickets for each draw, this is a classic example or maybe I should say, PROOF.

I will be posting a huge story on the Jackpocket App in the very near future. The story is partially written. I just have to find the time to finish it!

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5/17/21 - Short note for you and a request for you to please speak up immediately ....

Say NO To Sunday Drawings
Click here for details