The Lotto Matrix: Texas Tumult And A Month Of Mega Millions Math

How much is Friday’s Mega Millions jackpot drawing worth? Another week and another two $10 million upticks means Friday’s drawing is for nine figures, with an estimated $100 million jackpot. The cash option is a robust $45.3 million after the rollover count reached five with no grand prize winners last Friday and this Tuesday.

It was another tough week for players who use birthday months among their five non-Mega Ball numbers: The lowest-numbered white ball drawn was 14, making it five consecutive drawings Nos. 1-12 failed to escape the hopper.

There may be a correlation to the lack of winners in that span as only 20 tickets have matched five numbers without the Mega Ball or four numbers and the Mega Ball for the top second-tier prizes. No one matched all five white balls in either drawing last week, while the nine who had tickets with four and the Mega Ball won a combined $260,000.

How much is Saturday’s Powerball jackpot drawing worth? The jackpot is an estimated $82.2 million, or $37.7 million for those wanting to make a large impulse buy. There have been five rollovers after the April 26 jackpot worth $167.3 million was claimed by a mother and son in Kentucky.

Like Mega Millions, there was a notable lack of birthday months in last week’s three drawings as only last Saturday had a number between 1 and 12. There was, however, a $2 million Match 5 + Power Play winner in Puerto Rico from Monday’s drawing. That was the only ticket that matched the five non-Powerball numbers drawn for the three drawings.

As the Texas Lottery turns

The saga that keeps supplying storylines from the Lone Star State continued this week with stories somewhat intertwined.

First is a legal update. Lotto.com scored an early court victory in Austin on Wednesday when State District Judge Sherine Thomas issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) preventing the Texas Lottery Commission from taking enforcement action against Lotto.com while the lawsuit the courier filed April 24 plays out. The embattled state agency enacted a rule in February banning couriers from operating in Texas and then unanimously approved it late last month.

On the legislative front, members of the Coalition of Texas Lotto Couriers testified Tuesday in favor of House Bill 3201, which would impose what the group called “the toughest state regulatory standards for lotto couriers in the country.”

The bill, sponsored by Rep. John Bucy III and Rep. Pat Curry, would forbid sales to minors, out-of-state sales, purchases via credit cards, and bulk purchases. That last one is in response to the ongoing investigation by the Texas Rangers ordered by Gov. Greg Abbott into the $95 million jackpot won in April 2023 by an international syndicate, allegedly with help from the TLC.

Despite the legislative machinations, which also includes the Senate already passing a bill to ban lotto couriers, another option is gaining steam in Austin: to let the Texas Lottery die a quiet death.

The Dallas Morning News reported Tuesday some lawmakers are willing to do that since the TLC is currently facing its 12-year systematic evaluation and would expire Aug. 31 without reauthorization from state legislature. They also have yet to allocate any budget funds for the agency with the biennial legislative session set to expire June 2.

“Government does not need to be in the gambling business,” state Sen. Bob Hall told the newspaper. “It needs to end. The best way to move forward is to just have it go away.”

While Abbott has not expressed an opinion, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick would probably do a victory lap given he has been banging the drum about the TLC’s lack of gaming integrity with both the 2023 controversy and the $83.5 million jackpot won in February at a location with ties to a ticket courier.

Mega math

Now one month into the new $5 price point for the Mega Millions, the national lottery retailer advertised in a release Thursday that the $51.3 million in non-jackpot prize payouts is up more than 300% compared to what would have been paid out prior to the much-hyped overhaul.

Payouts for tickets that matched only the Mega Ball — which pays out a minimum of $10 — spanning the first nine drawings since the changeover have totaled $18.8 million. As a point of comparison, the previous combined total of all payouts for the $2 tickets would have totaled $12.5 million.

“It’s exciting to see how players are reacting to the new game, especially when they win,” said Joshua Johnston, lead director of the Mega Millions Consortium. “The more they see their winnings multiply, the more they’re understanding the value of the new game and why we made the changes we did.”

Approximately 60,000 people have won prizes with the 10x multiplier. A multiplier is now assigned to all winning non-jackpot payouts, versus the previous method of players adding $1 to a ticket for the chance at hitting a multiplier. Those 10x winners have claimed $3.8 million in prizes.

Overall, there has been one jackpot winner and five other tickets with payouts of $2 million or more since the changeover.

Will Illinois allow lotto couriers?

Kicking around Illinois is SB 2035, which offers the potential of allowing licensed retail lottery agents in the state to partner with lotto couriers. State Sen. Celina Villanueva’s bill does not specifically reference lotto couriers, but would allow retailers to partner with a “third-party entity to assist with processing the sale of lottery tickets on behalf of the licensed lottery sales agent.”

The bill says the third-party-facilitated lottery tickets may only be sold “to a person physically located” in Illinois, and that “the third-party entity shall adhere to all rules established by the [Lottery Control] Board related to the sale of lottery ticket.”

Illinois was the first state in the U.S. to offer online lottery sales in 2012. Fellow Illinois Sen. Cristina Castro called those services by the Illinois Lotto into question in March during a bruising Racing, Wagering, and Gaming committee back-and-forth with Illinois Lottery Executive Director Harold Mays as part of an informational hearing.

Castro is also the sponsor of a bill to legalize online casino gaming that has yet to move beyond the state legislature’s Assignments Committee.

Newsworthy Nuggets

Persistence to the point of prosperity: Forty years of playing scratch-offs finally paid off — in handsome fashion — for a Macomb County, Michigan resident. The 60-year-old won the $6 million top prize for the Michigan Lottery’s Instant Wealth $50 scratcher. He bought the winning ticket April 30 at Najors Liquor & Deli in Sterling Heights.

“I play scratch-off tickets all the time and have been playing for more than 40 years,” the winner, who wished to remain anonymous, told Michigan Lottery officials. “When I scratched the ticket and saw I won $6 million, I thought I was going to faint! I had to scan it on the lottery app to double check it because I didn’t believe what I was seeing. It still feels surreal.”

The winner opted for a lump-sum payment of $4.1 million and plans to take a vacation before setting aside the remainder for savings. There are still two $6 million tickets in circulation among the 2.1 million total tickets yet to be played.

Jacksonville the epicenter of multimillon lotto wins: Let’s hear it for DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUVAL County, where the Florida Lottery reported a pair of multimillion dollar winners.

Lucinda Joseph-Rann claimed the last of the four $5 million top prize from the $20 CROSSWORD Cash scratch-off from the Florida Lottery. Joseph-Rann, who purchased the ticket at a gas station near the Jacksonville International Airport, opted for a one-time, lump-sum payment of nearly $3.3 million after beating 1-in-4,012,065 odds. There is still one $1 million prize available for CROSSWORD Cash.

Almost 30 miles to the southeast in Jacksonville Beach, a winning ticket to Wednesday night’s $8.75 million Lotto was sold at the J and J Food Store. It was the first time the Florida Lotto had a jackpot winner since a $3 million drawing March 29 produced a grand prize winner.

I want you to win me: Rockford, Illinois, is arguably best known for being the hometown of Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen, who is also part owner of the Hard Rock casino there in the northern part of the state. But the Stop N Shop at 2501 North Huffman Boulevard less than 10 miles to the west just put itself on the map by recently selling a $10 million scratch-off in the Illinois Lottery’s $10 Million Bankroll.

“We’ve sold a few big winning tickets before, ranging from $100,000 to $900,000,” Raj Patel, whose store has been a fixture in Rockford for 25 years, told lottery officials. “I kept saying, ‘The next one has to be a million-dollar winner,’ but I never in a million years expected it to be worth $10 million!”

The winner of the $50 scratcher has the option of $500,000 annual payments over the next 20 years or a one-time, lump-sum payment of $6 million. Definitely worth shining up the old brown shoes while putting on a brand new shirt.

Who has the biggest active individual state lotto jackpot in the land? It is still the California Lottery and Texas Lotto offering the biggest jackpots heading into the week. The Superlotto Plus on the West Coast has climbed to $25 million with an $11.4 million cash option available. The Texas Lotto is up to $18.5 million, and the cash option in the Lone Star State has cracked eight figures at $10.2 million.

New York again holds down the No. 3 spot at $9.7 million for Saturday night’s drawing. A winner in the Florida Lottery this past week means Illinois slides into fourth with a $7.7 million jackpot up for grabs Saturday night. Washington enters the top five with a potential $7.2 million payout on Saturday night.

Once more there was no grand prize winner in the multi-state Lotto America, bumping the jackpot higher to $33.14 million for Saturday night’s drawing. The cash option is $15.23 million.

Until next week, dream big, check your numbers, and play responsibly!