The Texas Lottery Commission (TLC) has changed its stance regarding lottery couriers, declaring that lottery ticket couriers are no longer legal under state law.

The decision follows scrutiny of the practice following concerns raised by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and the resignation of TLC commissioner Clark Smith.

Ryan Mindell, Executive Director of the TLC, said: “Lottery courier services operating in Texas have been a significant concern for many of our stakeholders.

“Since I became executive director less than a year ago, I have been keenly focused on making changes to improve the public’s perception of Texas Lottery games and how they are played and operated.”

Texas lottery scheme leads to scrutiny

A ban on lottery couriers, as has now transpired, was first raised last week by the Texas Senate Finance Committee following allegations of fraud pertaining to a $95m jackpot awarded in 2023. That year, a group of investors spent more than $25m to purchase a large number of ticket combinations for the jackpot.

Dawn Nettles, the Founder of LottoReport.com, has filed a suit against the TLC accusing them of hosting a “long-running fraud scheme”.

A number of lottery couriers are also named in the suit and among them is Lottery.com due to the alleged misconduct from its founder Ryan Dickerson.

Speaking about the suit on the latest episode of iGaming Daily, Justin Byers, Senior Journalist for SBC Americas, said: “He’s allegedly manipulated the Powerball tickets to win $50,000 back-to-back in back-to-back years. We all know about odds and how slim of a chance that is.

“So that’s why things have been called into question, particularly from a leadership standpoint.”

He added that Gary Grief, former Director of the TLC, has allegedly been tied into the case as it is believed that he was integral in Lottery.com shifting its headquarters from California to Texas as part of the scheme to win the tickets.

Concluding the episode, SBC’s Managing Editor, Jessica Welman, described the Texas Lottery’s situation as a “huge mess” given the hasty ban on lottery couriers and the resignation of Smith.