(NewsNation) — The plan was simple, even if the execution was not: buy nearly every possible number combination in a drawing of the Texas Lottery.
Three men from Europe did it and won, netting a profit of about $20 million, but lottery officials have made changes to inhibit anyone else from trying it.
“It’s completely legal,” said Houston Chronicle investigative reporter Eric Dexheimer, who first reported the story. “There’s no law against buying as many lottery tickets as you possibly can.”
Dexheimer broke the story of some gambling entrepreneurs in Malta and London who spent nearly $26 million to acquire about 99% of the possible number combinations.
And it worked, as they held a winning ticket in the $95 million drawing held on April 22, 2023. After taking the lump sum payout of $57.8 million, the planners came away with a profit of about $20 million.
“They’re (Texas Lottery) putting some obstacles in place to make it less likely that it’ll happen again,” Dexheimer told NewsNation’s “Dan Abrams Live.”
One thing the Texas Lottery won’t do anymore, said Dexheimer, is to provide low-traffic lottery outlets with extra terminals. This allowed the planners to buy and print nearly 26 million tickets in the 72 hours between drawings.
“You collaborated with a group of sophisticated players,” Rep. Matt Shaheen said during a legislative hearing in August. “A significant percentage of lottery sales in Texas is to lower-income individuals, and I think they were taken advantage of.”
“There’s no question in my mind that the integrity (of the lottery) was lost in this process,” added Sen. Tan Parker. “I’m even more concerned with the report that it seemed as if staff was supportive of and working with the organization.”