Read about the TLC employees ... Click here and read Oct 9th entry.
See and hear what our legislators were told about VLT's, Click Here.

Oct 19, 2010 - Before I get into this posting, I want to THANK all of you who take your valuable time to send me an email when you think or know I've made a mistake in my postings. I immediately check to see what the case is and if I've made the mistake, I fix it as fast as I can. Fortunately, I haven't made any "serious" mistakes! In otherwords, I haven't posted the wrong drawing results/winning numbers. Anyway, now I want to address your recent comments regarding mistakes that are NOT mistakes - rather they are Texas Lottery and/or G-Tech and Mega Millions mistakes.

I'll start with addressing the Oct 8, 2010 Mega Millions drawing where the Texas Lottery and the Mega Millions group sent press releases and posted that there were four 5+0 winners and the tickets were sold in "Winning Tickets Sold: Match 5 + 0: Winners in Arizona(1), Colorado(1), Michigan(1) and Ohio(1)."

I posted that the winning tickets were sold in "Arkansas, Colorado, Michigan and Ohio."

Folks, MM and the Texas Lottery postings and press release were WRONG. On that night, the 5+0 winning ticket was sold in ARKANSAS not ARIZONA.

Because of an incident on Sept 1, 2010, where I informed the TLC that both the TLC and the MM group had reported the wrong number of winners for the Aug 31, 2010 Mega Millions drawing, I have not bothered to tell the TLC that they have this particular mistake YET. But you can rest assured, that when they read this, they will change it!

I will explain the Aug 31st mistake after I explain why I have the "? - question marks" on the Pick3 sales and payout page. Unfortunately, as I write this, I do not know what the correct Pick3 payouts are suppose to be for the dates in question. Let me explain.

Each night after the draws, I obtain the number of winners, prize amounts and payouts (Pick3 and Daily4) from a Texas Lottery retailer. The retailer gives me the info from G-Tech's lottery terminals. From this information, not only do I post it for ya'll, but I can estimate sales for Lotto Texas, Cash5 and Texas 2 Step.

Then the next morning, the Texas Lottery sends me official SALES documents - this is when I go back and take away the "est" figures and show the actual figures. I also use the official sales document to verify that my figures correspond with the TLC figures. On Oct 5, Oct 7, Oct 11, Oct 14, Oct 16, Oct 18 and Oct 19, the Pick3 payouts are different figures - meaning that G-Tech is telling players that XX amount was won but the TLC is giving a different figure via their "official" sales documents that only I see.

As I write this, I do NOT know which Pick3 payout figures are correct. I haven't taken the time to calculate it which is what I'd have to do to know WHO is correct - the TLC or G-Tech. Maybe since I'm posting this on my web site, the TLC will save me the work involved and just tell me which figure is correct. Again, because of the incident of Aug 31, I have not told the TLC about this discrepancy either.

So for those of you who have obtained results slips from your retailer showing how many winners and how much players won - this is why my figures differ from those slips. I change the payout when I received the "official" report the next morning from the TLC.

Now let me tell you that I DID post the correct number of winners for the Aug 31, 2010 Mega Millions drawing. I realize that when you compare what you see on my website to the Mega Millions official web site or to the press release issued by the Texas Lottery that you would assume I would be the one posting the wrong information because "surely the lotteries don't make mistakes" - well - your assumption is understandable but incorrect.

On Sept 1, I sent an email to the Texas Lottery telling them that the "total number of winners" posted for the Mega Millions drawing on Aug 31 was incorrect. Not only was it incorrect on the MM website, but it was incorrect via the Texas lottery terminals at all retail locations. As usual, the TLC called the next day and asked "what was wrong with the figures." They are notorious for having to ask me "what" is wrong when I send them this kind of message. Well, I went on and told them what was wrong but they MISUNDERSTOOD what I was telling them so they thought I was wrong and ignored me. Several days later, I sent another message asking them when they were going to fix it. Since they "thought" I was wrong, I then had to drop everything and send them the documents to prove that I was not wrong. They finally understood and realized they had made a mistake.

The Mega Millons group corrected the numbers posted on their web site for the Aug 31st MM drawing - it is correct now for the "total" number of winners for each prize category and I 've shown it in a pdf - link at end of this story.

Texas - on the other hand - changed the number of winners the terminal prints out for players but they are still giving you erroneous information for the Aug 31, 2010 Mega Millions drawing. Texas is deleting the CA winners from their count - this is because California does not share financial liability for the low tier prizes.

I find this interesting because Texas (and all other lotteries) LOVE to tell you how many winners there were for each drawing but in this case, they are failing to tell you the "whole" truth. They don't want you to know how many losers there were - but - they definitely tell how many winners there were. I think you should see both figures so I tell you!

Here is a pdf showing the TWO printouts from the Texas Lottery terminals for the Aug 31, 2010 MM drawing which does nothing but confuse players. The PDF also shows the correct number of winners which is posted on the Mega Millions website.

Please don't let this posting stop you from sending me messages when I do make a mistake or you think I have a mistake - I don't have 20 people on staff proofing my work so I depend on ya'll when I do make a mistake. I always reply to those messages - even when I didn't really make a mistake!

More later.

Sept 29, 2010 - For the last 8 weeks, many of you have been asking me about the Pick3 "Green Ball" promo that appeared in the Aug - Sept Winning flyer. On Aug 3, I asked the TLC about this. Here's what they told me ..."Regarding the Pick 3 Green Ball promotion, we expect to publish a description of the promotion in the Texas Register in September. We will let you know when we have more specific information to provide." They never did.

I didn't bother to tell them that the Winning flyer - published by the TLC and in my possession on Aug 3 - tells players, "For details, ask your Texas Lottery Retailer" or visit the TLC website. I have been asking retailers about this promotion to no avail therefore I haven't been able to tell ya'll about it because I couldn't get the info. The only thing I knew was that it was not a rule change. I also knew that Pick3 sales were declining and the TLC would soon become desperate and attempt to increase Pick3 sales. Pick3 is their "bread and butter" game. At any rate, I now have the info for you.

From October 4 - October 30, 2010, there will be a total of forty-eight Pick 3 drawings that will include an additional Green Ball drawing. At the start of this promotion, five (5) white balls and one (1) green ball will be placed in a drawing machine and one ball will be randomly selected after each Pick 3 day and each Pick 3 night drawing. If the green ball is selected, winning players will have approximately 20% added to their regular Pick 3 prize amount. Every time a white ball is selected, the white ball is removed from the drawing machine. This increases the chances of the green ball being selected in the next drawing. Once the green ball is selected, all five white balls and one green ball are loaded back into the drawing machine for the next drawing.

For $1 exact players, if the Green ball is drawn, the payout will be $598 instead of $500. For .50 exact bets, the payout will be $299 rather than $250. For ANY bets, a $1 bet would pay $96 rather than $80. For .50 bets, the payout would be $48 rather than $40. Of course there are other wagers, but these figures basically tells the story.

April 7, 2010 - 4:30 PM - Subject - $72 million jackpot, Pool Players, Pick3 Strategy page and a Pick3 Prediction (Play) ...
Editorial and Opinions by Dawn Nettles

Well, again it's been a long time since I updated this page. In my defense, what I've done is post stories on their own pages instead of posting them here. Either way, I'm writing something now!

Tonight we have a $72 million Lotto Texas jackpot and this drawing will be the 48th consecutive draw without a winner. Ya'll keep asking me WHY, how can this be, are they cheating etc. The reason there has been no winner is because the odds of there being a winner is extremely slim to say the least. The odds are in favor of the state and I can assure you, they rarely lose. There are 25.8 million combinations but they will only sell an est 2.7 tickets tonight. This means there are 24 million combinations not sold ... to put this in terms of what you can relate this to - well, it amounts to the entire population of the state of Texas. YES, there could be a winner - because the TLC's luck could run out and someone may hold the ticket with those 6 numbers on it.

The TLC has an incentive to keep the odds high thus preventing people from winning - you see, they hold the winners share and it earns them LOTS of money. Imagine, right now they are holding $43.9 million for whoever wins the current jackpot - AND - they are still holding $48.7 million from the last win in Oct. 2009. Since they aren't selling as many tickets as they'd like, they offset it by the earnings from the monies they hold.

Here are some interesting tidbits for you about Lotto Texas ...

There's been 4 matrix changes since 1992. Here's how each one has done ...

6/54: (April 23, 2006 - through Date) 412 Drawings
27 jackpot winning tickets sold; 24 drawings won

5/44 - 1/44: (May 7, 2003 - April 22, 2006) 310 Draws
19 jackpot winning tickets sold; 18 drawings won

6/54: (July 19, 2000 - May 3, 2003) 292 Drawings
72 jackpot winning 6 of 6 tickets sold; Only 59 drawings won.

6/50 Inception (Nov 1992 - July 2000)
801 Drawings; 403 jackpot winning 6 of 6 tickets sold

Current Roll - (This means all draws since the last win)
Oct 24, 2009 thru April 7, 2010 - 48 draws - ROLL Sales: $108,682,734 + Est $2.7M (tonights sales) = Est $111,382,734 - Jackpot $72 million

Last Roll
May 9, 2009 thru Oct 21, 2009 - 48 draws - Total ROLL Sales: $120,775,876 - One $76 million winner - Though the prize has not been collected

Current Matrix
Out of the 24 jackpot won since 4/23/06 - the last matrix change - 13 jackpots could NOT be supported by sales - Strangely, one went unclaimed and a second is about to expire. Anyway, it's taking between 15 to 20 draws for the TLC to fund a Lotto Texas jackpot win with the funds coming directly from sales.

History of "Jackpot" Deductions From Reserve Since 4/23/06
(Sales did not support advertised amount)

1) 8/31/06: Deducted <$96,222> from Reserve to fund Lotto Texas jackpot

2) 9/23/06: Deducted <$667,337> from Reserve to fund Lotto Texas jackpot

3) 4/21/07: Deducted <$997,113> from Reserve to fund Lotto Texas jackpot (Ironically, the 4/21/07 jackpot went unclaimed)

4) 5/23/07: Deducted <$286,575> from Reserve to fund Lotto Texas jackpot

5) 3/29/08: Deducted <$1,136,033> from Reserve to fund Lotto Texas jackpot

6) 4/12/08: Deducted <$1,642,954> from Reserve to fund Lotto Texas jackpot

7) 5/31/08: Deducted <$207,826> from Reserve to fund Lotto Texas jackpot

8) 10/18/08: Deducted <$536,881> from Reserve to fund Lotto Texas jackpot

9) 11/01/08: Deducted <$1,637,943> from Reserve to fund Lotto Texas jackpot

10) 12/06/08: Deducted <$1,712,747> from Reserve to fund Lotto Texas jackpot

11) 12/24/08: Deducted <$2,431,880> from Reserve to fund Lotto Texas jackpot

12) 04/08/09: Deducted <$1,498,238> from Reserve to fund Lotto Texas jackpot

13) 05/06/09: Deducted <$1,344,791> from Reserve to fund Lotto Texas jackpot -
(5/6/09 Ticket not claimed yet. It's about to expire. How do we know there was a winning ticket?)

If you really want to know "that much about" ticket sales and their demise, go to "Why jackpots aren't increasing."

I've been receiving calls and emails asking about pool playing and collecting should they win. If you win a large sum of money (millions) as part of a group, see a lawyer first. If you win something not so large, collect from the TLC using IRS Form 5754. Until several years ago, the TLC refused to accept this form but they finally changed their ways after causing considerable grief for us players. The link takes you to the story I did several years ago about the use of IRS Form 5754.

In the coming days, I will be updating my Audited Sales page. I got behind - sorry. I can't really comment about overall sales until I compile my figures.

I'm glad to hear that many of you have had such good luck with the Pick3 Strategy page. The sums do come in - you just have to be lucky enough to have the right combination that makes the sums. I've been bad about posting plays too. I only play when I have a play which is just so happens that I have one now. OK, OK ... I'll tell you what it is. For the NIGHT draw - we should see 8x9 or 9x8. My favorites are 809, 948 and 839. Guess I should post this on the Pick3 page and maybe tomorrow I will if it doesn't come in tonight.(OK - I posted the play on Dawn's Pick 3 Predicitons)

Good luck everybody.