Texas’ Two Steps

When was the last time you bought a scratch-off lottery ticket in Texas, hoping that you were holding a large-prize winning ticket that would change your life?

If you bought your scratch ticket from an El Paso retailer, you had among the lowest odds of winning a major prize Texas Lottery® Scratch ticket ($200,000 and above) based on sales volume from 2017 to 2025.

El Paso retailers’ sales volume for scratch-off tickets held steady at #8 from 2017 to 2025, yet when it came to selling major prize-winning tickets, it placed 26th out of 43 cities evaluated.*

Players were 5.7 times more likely to win big ($200,000 and above) in Katy than in El Paso, even though Katy ranked 26th in sales volume.

A comparison of Katy and El Paso sales volumes and prizes from 2017 to 2025:

Katy: Sales volume: $295.7 million; Total in prizes: $17.7 million (13 winning tickets)

El Paso: Sales volume: $591.5 million; Total in prizes: $6.14 million (6 winning tickets)

Check out an interactive table at: texaslotteryfraud.com

After making a public records request for winner information and sales volume numbers for 43 top population cities, a filtered search for Scratch Ticket winners above $200,000 from 2017 – 2025 produced the data in this article. (Check out texaslotteryfraud.com for a list of CSV downloads used to create the table above with the data received from the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR).) An additional request for the sales volumes for 14 cities has been made to the TDRL and will be added to this table once received.

The Texas Lottery Commission was abolished by Texas Senate Bill 3070 in September 2025. (“Abolishment of the Texas Lottery Commission and the transfer of the administration of the state lottery and the licensing and regulation of charitable bingo to the Texas Commission of Licensing and Regulation; creating criminal offenses.” - History for 89(R) SB 3070 by Hall

We reached out to the TDLR - Texas Lottery and Charitable Bingo Division to learn more about the randomized process for distributing scratcher tickets to retailers throughout Texas. This was their response:

Violet: Can you share specific details about the randomized process? How does Brightstar Lottery track the rolls of scratch tickets that include a major prize winner? Is anyone at the Texas Lottery’s office familiar with this randomized process, or are these questions that only Brightstar Lottery personnel can answer?

TDLR: “Top prizes in scratch ticket games are randomly placed throughout the entire print run of a scratch ticket game during programming and production. Ticket packs are distributed to retailers statewide through a secure, randomized process that does not target specific retailers or geographic locations. Retailers receive ticket packs based on orders placed through the lottery’s distribution system, which accounts for factors such as sales volume and inventory levels. As tickets are sold, retailers reorder and restock from the remaining inventory within a game’s overall print run. Because prize placement is random and the distribution is driven by retailer demand and ongoing replenishment, some areas may see more winning tickets over time, particularly in areas with higher overall ticket sales and more frequent inventory turnover.

The Texas Lottery’s contracted lottery operator, Brightstar Lottery (formerly GTECH and IGT), has overseen sales and scratch ticket distribution since the Texas Lottery’s inception in 1992 and administers this process in accordance with established controls and oversight requirements designed to ensure the security and integrity of lottery games. Any suggestion that the Texas Lottery or its operator knows where winning scratch tickets are located or directs their placement to specific locations would be incorrect.”

Reply to follow-up questions:

“Prize structures and odds for Texas Lottery® scratch ticket games are established in advance, and when a game is designed and programmed for printing, prizes are securely embedded across the full print run in a way that ensures they are randomly distributed.

While the Texas Lottery’s operator tracks ticket inventory for security and validation purposes, that tracking is neither connected to nor capable of identifying packs that contain specific prize amounts, including top prizes, or determining where winning tickets are located or ultimately will be sold. Winning scratch tickets and their associated retailer can only be identified upon validation after purchase and play.”

They have declined a request for an interview.

Above: Map of retailers in Katy, Texas, that sold a major prize-winning ticket between 2017 and 2025. (For more details on dates and locations of winners check texaslotteryfraud.com/katy.)

Stay updated on the pending investigations and lawsuits at: texaslotteryfraud.com.

Check out lawsuits like: Reed vs. Rook TX, LP et al.

Separate investigations: Texas Lottery Investigations

Charges filed by the SEC “against lottery.com and its former executives, for allegedly conducting a fraudulent scheme and making false statements in connection with a SPAC merger.”

Readers are encouraged to do their own research and learn more as the investigations and lawsuits evolve.

*The table above was created using data obtained from the Lottery and Charitable Bingo Division – Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, following a public records request. Data for scratch ticket sales of $200,000 and above was received dating back to 1993, but only sales volume data was provided from 2017 to 2025, so the chart reflects that information. A CRISP-DM-aligned TTPS research methodology was used to analyze the data using Claude.ai, along with a manual data analyst check.

Much like investments, scratch ticket winnings’ past performance does not guarantee future results.

Readers can check the Texas Lottery’s website for current game winners retailer location at: https://www.texaslottery.com/export/sites/lottery/Games/Scratch_Offs/index.html

Historical data is available to anyone by making a Public Records Request. (You create an account to submit your request for information and you’ll get a reply with a link to the Texas Open Data Portal.)

Would love to hear your thoughts!