Texas Lottery May Be Facing Big Changes In 2025

Texas is a strange state when it comes to its gambling laws and what is actually allowed. For example, we have several horse racing tracks that are open and operational. You're free to go in and bet on every track across the country.

Not to mention there are live races run at these tracks. However, while you can bet on the horses AT the track, you can't do it through legal online sites. How is it legal one way but not another?

That seems to be the issue facing the Texas Lottery right now. Texas Legislatures are saying that the Texas Lottery is skirting laws put in place that prohibits purchasing lottery tickets from a different state over the phone.

This became an issue back in 2023 when the lottery announced a $95 million winner. The winning ticket was sold by a retailer called "Lottery Now" that was located in a suburb of Fort Worth. However, it was uncovered later there was no store called that.

Turns out it was actually a storefront for a place that sells fishing tours in Montana. Yeah, I'd agree something smells fishy here.

The purchase was a large one, $11 million in tickets purchased large. The lone order was placed by a company based out of New Jersey. They called themselves Rook TX LP, and they took the lump sum payment totaling a bit over $57 million.

It was after that where legislators decided that purchasing tickets for Texas Lottery from a different state was illegal and couldn't be placed by phone. Well, the lottery courier services found a way around that.

They created an app to where you could place the order, contending that they weren't placing them via phone, they were placing them via app. Legislators contend that you have to use the phone in order to access the app, so in essence, it's the same thing.

Sen. Bob Hall has officially filed a measure to end all online sales of lottery tickets, period. He wants to ban any kind of lottery ticket purchases from being made via internet, app, phone, etc. stating the only way to buy tickets should be in person.

This would fall in line with the horse racing measures they have in place where it's ok to bet when you're actually there, but you can't access any of the many legal sites available out there such as TVG.

It'll be interesting to see how this plays out, especially since there are other legislators that are pro-gambling in the state and trying to get it introduced. Maybe this will ultimately trigger legalizing gambling in Texas.