Texas Lottery

I know.

So they claimed the prize from a Texas lottery scratch-off ticket.

This was the first of four top prizes from, I guess, the Lucky 7 tripler game.

But there's more million-dollar prizes for that game out and about.

Courtney Arbor, who heads up the Department of Licensing and Regulation, says an investigation found that an international gambling ring used them to rig a $95 million jackpot.

The former head of the Texas Lottery Commission has since been indicted in this story.

I think this is obviously a very, very – it's been a black eye for the Texas lottery, no doubt about it.

And I think there are plenty of people with a very valid criticism of the way it was sold to us all those years ago and funding of public education.

State senators say safeguards are now in place with the state lottery following a 2023 jackpot that was won by a group of international gamblers.

That jackpot was a subject of scrutiny after allegations that the now defunct Texas Lottery Commission established rules to help bad actors corner winning tickets.

State Senator Bob Hall of Edgewood hold, told a hearing in Austin that the $95 million jackpot was only possible because of inside help.

What we discovered was we had what, what certainly appeared to be a criminal organization embedded in the state government running the lottery

This is not tax money.

Most of the grant funding comes from the Texas Lottery's $2 scratch-off games that say, Supporting Texas Veterans.

People can also donate when registering their vehicles or when getting a hunting or fishing license.

Every summer, Texas Veterans Commission takes to the road.

And I was like, well, look, I do like my day job.

I did ads for the Texas Lottery.

And I've done, you know, videos for bands and stuff.

And I was like, I've never done a full length doc, but this is a story that I really want to tell.

Governor Greg Abbott is asking the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate Muslim foot washing stations in Texas airports.

And the former boss of the Texas lottery was in court on Friday on charges related to the rigging of a $95 million payout.

This is Monday, August 24th, 2026.

Texas Scorecard presents the day's first news for the Lone Star State, the Texas Minute, with your host, Michael Quinn Sullivan.

The Hood County commissioners recently decided to place temporary coverings over the three county-contracted flock camera units following their decision to terminate an agreement with flock.

Those coverings are expected to be in place until the cameras are removed.

The former executive director of the Texas Lottery Commission, Gary Grief, appeared in a Travis County courtroom on Friday morning as a criminal case stemming from the controversial 2023 Lotto Texas jackpot now moves forward.

In 2023, the commission enabled an international gambling syndicate working with a New Jersey-based purchasing operation to acquire nearly every possible number combination in order to win the $95 million jackpot.