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- Edited Excerpts From Previous Postings -

July 21, 2000 - You ask me, Are the drawing rigged? I can't explain why three of the four new balls appeared Wednesday night (7-19-00). Judging by the email I've received, many of you are upset to say the least. And I certainly understand why.

My position on this issue is really tough because I believe, if a person lies, misrepresents himself, and/or uses loopholes to his advantage for money, then, in my opinion, he is capable of anything. With that in mind, when asked if I think the drawings are rigged, my answer has to be, "I hope not but I have no way of knowing for sure."

Let me explain. Last September 1999 was the first time in quite some time that I had been to the drawing studio in Austin. And it was the first time ever that I was unable to see what numbers were actually drawn in the pretest drawings. This is because I was forced to stay at the back of the room where I, nor anyone else, could distinguish the numbers on the balls. The numbers drawn were read to me by the staff.

I went to Linda Cloud the next day and explained to her that I felt this was WRONG and would someday catch up with her if the public ever attended the pretest drawings or an actual drawing where one could not distinguish the numbers drawn. I thought it looked "suspicious." Several days later, she called me in Dallas and told me she was pleased to inform me that my advise had been taken and camera's were on order so visitors could see the numbers themselves.

FYI - Ms. Cloud changed the procedures at the drawing studio when she became Executive Director. Prior to her tenure, drawing studio visitors were shown around and had everything explained to them when they attended live drawings - and they could absolutely distinguish the numbers drawn - for both pretest and the actual drawings from 1993 thru mid 1997. The drawing staff really went overboard back then to gain public and media confidence. Don't misunderstand, the staff is still really nice. Visitors just can't see the numbers on the balls drawn so I can't say, "I know so because I saw it with my very own eyes!"

Anyway, my last visit to the studio was at the end of May, 2000 and the situation at the drawing studio had NOT changed as far as being able to determine the numbers drawn for the pretest drawings. In otherwords, there were no new camera's. In the Pretest procedure, as it stands today (May 2000), the staff still had to relay the drawing results to the visitors as visitors could not distinguish the actual numbers drawn for themselves.

What's ironic - on a previous visit in early May 2000, they handed a friend of mine a bright pink instruction sheet that clearly says in all caps, "Do not touch the machine, drawing equipment, camera or ball." Then it says, "Anyone in violation of this rule will be escorted out of the building." I found this message amusing since we were roped off at the far back of the room and couldn't touch anything even if we wanted to -

In mid June of 2000 I published, for the first time in the Lotto Report and on my web site, the fact that visitors could NOT see the numbers drawn if they visited the drawing studio to watch any of the drawings. I would have published this story sooner but I was under the impression that the Commission had the camera's on order so I honestly thought they were trying to correct this. But each trip during that 9 months - I'd ask about the camera's and I'd hear, "Do you know how long it takes for a state agency to purchase something?" I finally suspicioned they had no intention of purchasing any camera's. After all - no one goes to the drawing studio anyway so why go to the expense - therefore, I decided it was time to tell the people.

So, you're asking me now - are the drawings rigged? Well, I'm not in a position to answer that question because I don't work there - but, I prefer to believe the drawings are not rigged in spite of not being able to see the numbers drawn for myself.

Aug. 25, 2000 - Drawing Studio Update - one of two subject matters that "really" irritates Mr. Keith Elkins. Keith told me the last time we spoke that he really was angry over my story last month about the drawing studio. But - my story was 100% true. He objected to my not stating that I was present for the "pretest" drawings (which I fixed) and he objected to my not calling him prior to posting this story to ask if anything had changed. (Keith - I didn't call for three reasons - (1) rarely do you call me back - generally you'll have someone else call me if I get a response at all; (2) I was addressing emails and calls asking if I thought the drawings were rigged and all I could honestly do is tell what I knew firsthand; and (3) I'm not sure that I can put much creditability in much of what or how the TLC portrays things these days for very obvious reasons.)

Anyway, as of yesterday (8-24-00), I can conclude this story as I finally received verification from Open Records that an "emergency" purchase of the necessary equipment was purchased for the drawing studio on July 7, 2000 and installed on July 7 & 8, 2000. Now the papers I have in my hand have conflicting dates - one set shows July 7, one set shows a ship date of July 17 and another set shows a ship date of July 24 and the Commissions purchase order shows August 2, 2000. They also show "emergency."

Because I didn't quite understand the conflicts, and knowing that Communications wasn't going to answer my questions, I called the owner of the Security company that did the work. He explained that, "they called and said it was an emergency - they had auditors or someone telling them to get this done ASAP. My secretary is not here but I think we robbed Peter to pay Paul (for obtaining the equipment) and I think we did this job on July 7th due to the extreme emergency."

Folks, no matter which date is correct, I am proud to report that if you visit the drawing studio now - as of August 2000 - to see the pretest or the actual drawings, you can absolutely see the numbers yourself - no one has to read them to you! And this is confirmed in more ways than one.

Another interesting note - I learned that the TLC can make purchases of $5000 or less without much ado. The camera's cost LESS than $5000 leading me to conclude that apparently I was lied to again about camera's being on order. But this time - I'm not surprised to learn they lied.

Finally - let me tell you that you can request from Open Records a video of any previous drawing that you would like to see. You can even make an appointment and go to Austin to see a tape of any drawing - They may charge you a small fee, but it could be worth it.

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Ball Set & Drawing Machine History

Lotto Texas

11-14-92 - First drawing. The balls are A, B, C, D, & E. E is in reserve. The machines are 1 & 2. All balls get weighed twice a year.

10-21-95 - Got another drawing machine and it's used for the first time today. It's named "3".

4-1-96 - Got new balls. They are name F, G, H, I & J. Will keep ball set E but in reserve.

11-1-99 - They renamed the ball sets and machines. However, they are still the same ball sets and machines. The ball sets are now 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and the machines are A, B, C.

3-1-00 - The balls are no longer loaded into the chambers in numerical order. They're loaded randomly. The TLC never announced this change.

On 7-19-00, the Texas Lottery began using 54 balls and they are all new balls. The balls are 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. Ball set '7' is in reserve but they plan to rotate the reserve ball set - probably quarterly. New machines are expected in Sept. 1, 2000. The reason for the additional 4 balls is to make winning more difficult for players. The TLC wants the jackpots to rollover more as they believe players will spend more money on larger jackpots resulting in an increase in their sales. Texans told them NO but they made the changes anyway. Players say they will quit.

9-1-00 - The Texas Lottery started using new drawing machines for Lotto Texas and Cash 5. They are E, & F - Machine D not ready for use. They anticipate it to be in rotation beginning Oct. 2 - however, they didn't tell anyone this until they were asked why Machine D has not been used.

1-28-03 - TLC orders 2 new drawing machines. They will be named G & H and they will be used for the new Lotto Texas game that has not been proposed or approved yet.

2-10-03 - TLC orders 5 sets of balls - numbered 40, 41, 42, 43, 44 - to add to the old Cash5 balls. They plan to use these balls to draw the bonus number for the proposed but not adopted new Lotto Texas game!

5-7-03 - New format for Lotto Texas. 5/44 & 1/44 - 88 balls total. For these drawings, the TLC will use the same balls as they currently use for the primary (5/44) drawings which are 7 - 8- 9- 10- 11. However, they renamed the balls 12 -13 -14- 15 - 16.

For the bonus number, they are using the old Cash 5 balls - once known as 7 - 8- 9- 10- 11 but have renamed them as well. They are now 17B - 18B -19B - 20B -21B. These balls were used between July 3, 2000 and July 26, 2002. They bought numbers 40, 41, 42, 43, 44 to add to them.

Cash 5

10-13-95 - First drawing. The balls are names A, B, C, D, E and the machines are the same as the machines used for Lotto Texas - named 1 & 2. All balls get weighed twice a year.

11-1-99 - They renamed the ball sets and machines. However, they are still the same ball sets and machines. Now, the number indicates the ball set and the letter indicates the machine.

3-1-00 - The balls are no longer loaded into the chambers in numerical order. They're loaded randomly. The TLC never announced this change.

July 3, 2000 - They began using new balls for the Cash5. The balls are called 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. Ball set '7' is being held in reserve. They are still using the original machines but new ones are expected on Sept. 1, 2000. The new machines will be named D, E, F.

9-1-00 - The Texas Lottery started using new drawing machines for Lotto Texas and Cash 5. They are E, & F - Machine D not ready for use. They anticipate it to be in rotation beginning Oct. 2, 2000 - however, they didn't tell anyone this until they were asked why Machine D has not been used.

7-29-02 - The Texas Lottery will be using all new balls and will use the old Texas Million drawing machines. July 29th is the day the new matrix - 5 of 37 is to begin. The TLC is switching from "hard rubber balls" to "ping pong" style balls. They have purchased 6 sets of balls and have named them "12" "13" "14" "15" "16" & "17." They are using the old Texas Million machines - 2 of them - and plan to have one more new machine in rotation in August 2002. The drawing machines will be called "G" "H" "I."

3-1-03 - The Texas Lottery began using new balls for Cash 5. They are "18," "19," "20," "21," "22," and "23."

1-1-04 - The TLC begins using new balls. They are named 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 & 29.

3-1-05 - The TLC begins using new balls. They are named 30, 31, 32, 33, 34 & 35. They will continue to use the old ball set "29."

4-1-06 - The TLC begins using new balls. They are named 36, 37, 38, 39, 40 & 41. Old ball set '29' will be kept in reserve.They will continue to use the same drawing machines.

1-1-07 - New balls sets and new drawing machines- 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48. Balls set 45 will be kept in reserve. Drawing machines are J, K, & L.

Pick3

11-1-1999 - Began using all new balls and machines for the Pick3. Bought new balls prior to this too but do not know date as I did not track Pick3 like I did the other games.

9-1-2000 - Began using all new balls for Pick3 but are still using the same drawing machines.

4-2-2001 - Began using all new balls for Pick3 but are still using the same drawing machines.

12-01-01 - Began using new balls for Pick3 but are still using the same drawing machines.

7-1-02 - Began using new balls for Pick3 but are still using the same drawing machines.

3-1-03 - Began using new balls for Pick3 but are still using the same drawing machines.

3-1-04 - Began using new balls for Pick but are still using the same drawing machines.

10-1-04 - Began using new balls for Pick3 but are still using the same drawing machines.

6-1-05 - Began using new balls for Pick3 but are still using the same drawing machines.

11-1-05 - Began using new balls for Pick3 but are still using the same drawing machines.

04-1-06 - Began using new balls for Pick3 and new drawing machines. The ball sets are named A29, A31, A32, A33, A34, A35, A36, A37, A38. The machines are D, E, F, G, I but G & I are inactive. Machine C is in reserve.

04-06-06 - Added Ball Set "30." Originally it did not pass testing but it apparently does now!

3-1-07 - New balls - A39, A40, A41, A42, A43, A44, A45, A46, A47, A48.

4/1/08 - New balls - A50, A51, A52, A53, A54, A55, A56, A57, A58. In Reserve - A31, A33, A37, A49.

Texas Million

5-29-98 - First drawing. The balls are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and the machines are A, B, C. All balls get weighed twice a year.

3-1-00 - The balls are no longer loaded into the chambers in numerical order. They're loaded randomly. The TLC never announced this change.

12-8-00 - Added two new ball sets - Named 6 & 7. Why is a mystery since the balls cost so much and Texas Million is being replaced with a new mini like Powerball game next year.

5-11-01 - After tonights drawing, there will be no more Texas Million. Game over - it was a bad game - 100 numbers - An original Linda Cloud idea.

Texas Two Step

April 2001 - The first Texas Two Step drawing will be held on Friday, May 18, 2001. Ball set and machine information has been requested from Open Records. This "mini-powerball" type game will entail using 70 balls total and they will conduct two separate drawings every Tuesday and Friday night. Players must win both drawings to win the big prize.

1-1-04 - TLC begins using new balls for the failing Texas 2 Step game. The new balls are named 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10.

8-1-06 - New Balls - 11, 12, 13, 14, 15. Still using the same drawing machines - A, B, C.

2-1-08 - New Balls - 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 - New Drawing Machines - D & E. Ball set 16 will be kept in reserve.