Any hope of legalizing online casinos in Texas in the near future may be lost following the Lone Star State’s second lottery scandal in less than two years.
News of the scandal first broke in April 2023, when The Houston Chronicle reported that a parimutuel betting site from England (Colossus Bets) and a software provider from Malta (Spinola Gaming) conspired to buy 25.8 million tickets (at $1 each) for a Lotto Texas draw — resulting in a $95 million jackpot win.
The latest controversy involves a seemingly dubious $83.5 million jackpot won from a Lotto Texas draw in late February 2025. The legitimacy of the February draw winner is still unconfirmed, but this pair of events has still motivated the Texas Lottery Commission to suspend and investigate lottery courier services until further notice.
Are Lottery Courier Services Legal?
Lottery couriers allow out-of-state players the opportunity to buy tickets.
Lottery courier services are what allowed these suspicious wins to occur. Simply put, a lottery courier is a third-party company that purchases lottery tickets on behalf of players. While this can be a convenient way to buy tickets without the need to physically visit a lottery retailer, it also allows anyone to buy a ticket to any lottery affiliated with any given courier.
As such, it was possible for a pair of international companies to win a state lottery. There are limits to how many tickets can be bought from each courier, but there’s nothing stopping anyone from using multiple couriers to exploit ticket purchasing limits — or the couriers themselves from scamming players out of their hard-earned money.
After all, courier services are now available in as many as 19 states, but only legally regulated in Arkansas, New Jersey, and New York. Couriers are in a legal gray area, meaning unregulated lottery couriers aren’t required to obtain licensing before operation. This means anyone using an unregulated courier is doing so at their own risk.
What’s the Best Way to Play at Online Casinos in Texas?
The level of trust between Texas residents and the lottery is certainly strained following this scandal. To make matters worse, the state’s Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has threatened to get rid of the Texas Lottery in its entirety if something isn’t done about lottery courier services.
Banning couriers already seems likely, as the last bill put forth to do so nearly passed. It’s the difficult precedent this sets, with support for future bills in favor of online casinos now in real jeopardy.
This is especially true given that the Texas Lottery Commission was set to become the state’s iGaming regulator — if legalization were to occur. That said, the public’s belief in the Texas Lottery Commission’s ability to keep games fair is at an all-time low, as this string of events has weakened an already dwindling case for real money online casinos in Texas.
Fortunately, some of the best sweepstakes casinos around are still available to Texans! Read any of our sweeps casino reviews below to learn more about how you can sign up, the types of games you can play, and even the different kinds of casino bonuses you can earn.
