The Texas Lottery
Read the latest updates on news relating to the Texas lottery, gambling, lottery commission
The Texas Lottery
About This Ongoing Series
Formed in 1991, the Texas Lottery has long been a source of controversy. First, for not funding public education as promised, and later, for acting outside the intent of the law. Over the last decade, the Lottery Commission took actions that many have likened to a “money laundering operation.” In May 2025, the Lottery Commission was abolished by the Texas Legislature, with game oversight sent to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.
Exposed Podcast
Article Archive
Exposed Season 9 Episode 3: The Wild West
How are lawmakers, the attorney general, and the governor potentially playing with fire by allowing online lottery ticket sales?
Exposed Season 9 Episode 4: Predatory By Design
The lottery is engineered to give people hope, but the odds are hopelessly stacked in the state’s favor.
Exposed Season 9 Episode 5: The Lottery Commission Is Gone
The story of the day the Texas lottery died, before lobbyists and a powerful gambling interest intervened.
A Year of Controversy and Scrutiny for the Texas Lottery
The Texas Lottery Commission has been playing fast and loose with the rules since 2020, and it caught up to the agency in 2024. This year, the lottery has been embroiled in multiple controversies and faces intense scrutiny as it enters 2025, a year it will undergo...
Platform Administering China’s Lottery Has Ties to Texas Lottery
In 2023, the Texas Legislature instructed the Texas Lottery Commission to stop online lottery ticket sales. Not only has it refused to enforce that directive, but it is also allowing a company that administers an exclusive lottery in China to sell Texas Lottery...
Texas Lottery Commission’s Action Risks Massive Gambling Expansion
The Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas informed the Texas Senate that if it didn’t rein in the online sales of Texas Lottery tickets, the tribe would pursue full-blown casino gambling in the state. Though the tribe omitted it from their correspondence, recent legal...
Texas Lottery Commission Caught Misrepresenting Rule Change
Since an international syndicate cornered the Texas Lottery to win a $95 million jackpot in 2023, the Lottery Commission has been on defense, and employees have misled lawmakers in the process. The Lottery Commission has insisted that a 2020 rule change opening the...
Analysis: The Texas Lottery Commission is Allowing Players to Break the Law
On Tuesday, senators heard testimony from a Texas Lottery Commission official regarding the sales of online lottery tickets, which the commission has allowed—violating state law—since 2020. During the hearing, State Sen. Mayes Middleton (R-Galveston) elicited...
Analysis: Texas Lottery Continues Meager Contributions to Education
The Texas Lottery has announced its sales for fiscal year 2024. While it was the second-best year in sales, the lottery generated just $2 billion in revenue for distribution to education and veteran services. The vast majority (75 percent) of the lottery’s $8 billion...