Texas lottery player buys 26 million tickets to win $95 million jackpot
The mystery winner who won a $95 million jackpot at the Texas Lottery 12 months ago appears to have won the jackpot by buying every possible combination of winning numbers, the Houston Chronicle has learned.
That means they purchased 25.8 million tickets at $1 each. The winner also won 289 second prizes for correcting 5 out of 6 numbers. They almost certainly won all smaller prizes as well, although the Texas Lottery does not record these smaller prizes. These bonuses will add another $2.5 million to the total prize pool. In short, they beat the system.
Between 1 and 2 million tickets are sold for each Texas lottery ticket. Texas Lottery Commission records obtained by The Chronicle show more than 28 million Texas Lotto tickets were sold for the drawing.
Mathematically Exploitable
The April 22, 2023 draw is one of the rare occasions when a lottery becomes “mathematically possible,” if only for those with enough funds to purchase all possible combinations.
After 93 bets, the jackpot has grown to $95 million. So the winner ended up investing $25.8 million to win the $95 million jackpot, which was actually closer to $57.8 million after state and federal taxes. However, this is still a relatively low-risk venture.
Even if the jackpot is shared with another winner, the mystery player still wins a small prize (and all those accompanying prizes). A three-way split would be a disaster, but it is highly unlikely.
The Chronicle calculated that because of the size of the jackpot and the relatively small number of players compared to the number of tickets purchased by the mystery player, the odds of winning the full jackpot were more than 90 percent.
What they don't know is that other participants in the lottery only have a chance to win half of the grand prize.
Who is behind Rook TX?
So who is behind this dastardly but completely legal scheme? The jackpot was claimed on June 27 by a limited partnership called Rook TX based in Scotch Plains, New Jersey. The organization was apparently formed to win big.
It's not uncommon for lottery winners to create such organizations so they can remain anonymous while claiming their big prizes. Since 2015, Texas has allowed winners of prizes over $1 million to remain anonymous.
The only question that remains is: How does the Texas Lottery buy 25.8 million tickets in one week when it typically sells only 2 million tickets?
Records show most of the raffle tickets were sold by just four companies. The winning ticket was purchased in person at the Colleyville Mall, where signage did not indicate the lottery was sold there, the Chronicle reported. But the state has a license to do so.
Lottery Now sold 11 million lottery tickets and had to print them around the clock to fulfill orders.
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Source: www.casino.org
