Texas Lottery – Texas Lotto

TX Lottery – Lottery Texas

The Texas State Lottery was originally created back on November 5th 1991 after the Lottery Act was approved by Texan voters agreeing to a Lottery within Texas.

The main aim of the TX Lottery right from the outset was to generate revenue for the benefit of the State of Texas whilst at the same time providing exciting and entertaining Texas Lotto products throughout the State.

The Texas State Lottery is administered and organized by the Texas Lottery Commission which was formed on May 11th 1993 to oversee all lottery operations in Texas.

The Texas Lottery is based in Austin, Texas and raises millions each year for public education within Texas through the Foundation School Fund as well as supporting the Fund for Veterans Assistance.

Texas Lottery – Overview

The Texas State Lottery sells lottery tickets from its large network of authorized Texas Lottery retailers throughout the State and has 16 Regional Offices based in Abilene, Amarillo, Austin, Dallas, Beaumont, Corpus Christi,  El Paso, Fort Worth, Houston, Laredo, Lubbock, McAllen, Odessa, San Antonio, Tyler and Victoria.

The TX Lottery also takes part in 2 of the biggest lottery games in the world – the Multi-State USA Lottery games – Mega Millions and Powerball which we will be looking into in greater detail.

We will be looking at the various Texas Lotto games below – how these games work and who can play them – as well as delving into some of the history of the Texas Lottery Commission in depth.

Texas Lottery – Games

There are numerous games that are offered by the Texas State Lottery – including 2 of the biggest lottery games in the world – Mega Millions and Powerball.

We will first of all take a look at these multi-state USA Lottery games – that the TX Lottery offers in conjunction with the MUSL – Multi-State Lottery Association and Mega Millions Consortium – and later move on to other games that the TX Lottery offers.

Currently – the games offered by Lottery Texas that players from anywhere around the world can buy lottery tickets online for are these two huge USA Lottery games – the Mega Millions and the Powerball.

Other games offered by the Texas State Lottery that can be played in-state are noted further down the page – if any of these Texas Lotto games become available to a wider audience at a later date – we will be writing about it here.

Texas Mega Millions – Mega Millions Texas

The Mega Millions is a Multi-State USA Lottery that is run and operated by the Mega Millions Consortium – who administer and syndicate the game across the USA and is one of the largest lottery games in the world – having produced a massive world record jackpot of an incredible US$ 656 MILLION on March 30th 2012. This world record jackpot was equally shared between 3 Mega Millions winners from Illinois, Kansas and Maryland and stands as the 2nd biggest lottery jackpot ever won.

The very first Mega Millions draw took place on May 17th 2002 with 6 USA Lottery companies taking part who were all members of the Mega Millions Consortium.

The game had changed its name and format from the Big Game which had started on August 31st 1996. Upon this change – 2 further State Lotteries joined and many more were to follow.

Texas Mega Millions – Overview

The Texas Lottery is 1 of 46 US State Lotteries & District Lotteries that offer the Mega Millions game – in this particular case the Texas Mega Millions – as part of its overall lottery portfolio.

The Texas Mega Millions was first sold in December 2003 – the Texas State Lottery having become the 11th member to join the Mega Millions Consortium.

Texas Mega Millions – How it Works

The Texas Lottery Mega Millions works in the same way as the Mega Millions game works in all the States and Districts in the USA that offer the game.

Jackpots start off at US$ 40 MILLION and ROLLOVER after each draw when the top prize is not won – making for some enormous jackpot figures that can be won on the Mega Millions Texas.

6 numbers are drawn in total for the TX Mega Millions – from 2 separate drawing machines – firstly 5 numbers from 70 white balls are drawn and then 1 number (the MEGAball) from 25 gold balls.

Draws for the TX Lottery Mega Millions take place twice every week on Tuesdays and Fridays at 10.00pm CST (9.00pm MST).

In addition to the 6 Mega Millions numbers drawn – a further number is drawn – using a Random Number Generator…the Mega Millions MEGAPLIER number…

MEGAPLIER…

This separate MEGAPLIER multiplier number drawn will be either 2, 3, 4 or 5 – and is there to give players of the Texas Mega Millions a chance to increase their winnings on all levels of the prize structure apart from the TX Mega Millions jackpot itself.

With MEGAPLIER – you are able to multiply your winnings on these levels by 2x, 3x, 4x or 5x – greatly increasing the amount you can walk away with.

If you match the 5 main Mega Millions numbers playing with the MEGAPLIER add-on – and a MEGAPLIER number of 5 is drawn – the second tier Mega Millions prize of US$ 1 MILLION would be increased 5 times and you could win US$ 5 MILLION.

So, for just an extra dollar – you can choose to increase your Texas Mega Millions winnings on all levels except the jackpot – by adding the Mega Millions MEGAPLIER option when playing.

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Texas Mega Millions Results

With the TX Lottery Mega Millions being drawn every week on both Tuesdays and Fridays at 10.00pm CST (9.00pm MST) there are numerous ways you can check the Mega Millions winning numbers.

You can find the latest Texas Mega Millions Results at all Texas Lottery retailers, on select radio stations, in select newspapers and here online at Global Lottery Review where you can also look up previous Texas Mega Millions Results.

The Texas Lottery Mega Millions winning numbers are also broadcast on various television channels throughout the state of Texas as well as being shown on txlottery.org – the official TXLottery website.

Texas Mega Millions – Odds of Winning

There are 9 separate ways that you can win on this Texas State Lottery game providing a great chance to win something on the Mega Millions Texas.

Odds range from 1 in 302,575,350 for correctly matching all the Texas Lottery Mega Millions winning numbers right down to 1 in 37 for matching just 1 number correctly.

Overall odds of winning any prize on the TX Mega Millions are just 1 in 24.

See the Mega Millions Odds and Prizes calculation table on the separate Texas Mega Millions page for a complete list of odds and prizes.

Texas Powerball – TX Powerball

Powerball is a Multi-State USA Lottery that is run & syndicated across the USA by the MUSL – Multi State Lottery Association – and is one of the largest lottery games in the world having produced a record jackpot of an incredible US$ 590.5 Million. This massive sum is the 2nd largest lottery jackpot ever won so far in lottery history and is the biggest to date won on a single ticket.

The very first Powerball draw took place on April 22nd 1992 with 16 USA Lottery companies – who were all members of the MUSL – taking part after the game changed its format and name from Lotto America which had first started on February 13th 1988.

Texas Powerball – Overview

The Texas Lottery is 1 of 47 US State Lotteries & District Lotteries that offer the Powerball game – in this case the Texas Powerball – as part of its overall portfolio of lottery games.

The Texas Powerball was first sold on January 31st 2010 when the Mega Millions Consortium – of which the TX Lottery is a member – entered into a cross-selling agreement with the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) – allowing the sales of Powerball in Mega Millions States and Mega Millions in Powerball States.

Texas Powerball – How it Works

The Texas Lottery Powerball works in the same way as the Powerball game works in all the States and Districts in the US that offer the game.

Jackpots start off at US$ 40 MILLION and ROLLOVER after each draw when the top prize is not won – making for some massive jackpot figures.

6 numbers are drawn in total for the Texas Powerball Lottery game from 2 separate drawing machines – first of all 5 numbers from 69 white balls are drawn followed by 1 number (the POWERball) from 26 red balls.

Draws for the Powerball Texas take place twice every week on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 9.59pm CST (8.59pm MST).

In addition to the 6 main Powerball numbers drawn – a further number is drawn – using a Random Number Generator…the Powerball POWER PLAY number…

POWERPLAY…

This separate Powerball POWERPLAY number drawn will be either 2, 3, 4, 5 and occasionally number 10 – and is there to give players of the Powerball Texas a chance to increase their winnings on all levels of the prize structure apart from the Texas Powerball jackpot itself.

With Powerball POWER PLAY – you will multiply your winnings on these levels by 2x, 3x, 4x or 5x – greatly increasing the amount you can walk away with.

During special promotions – the Powerball POWER PLAY multiplier will be 10x – allowing Texas Lottery players to increase their Powerball winnings by an incredible 10 times!

So, for just an extra dollar – you can choose to increase your Texas Lottery Powerball winnings on all levels except the jackpot – by adding the Power Ball POWER PLAY option when playing.

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Texas Powerball Results

With the Texas Lottery Powerball being drawn every week on both Wednesdays and Saturdays at 9.59pm CST (8.59pm (MST) there are various ways you can check the Powerball winning numbers.

You can find the latest Texas Powerball Results at all Texas State Lottery retailers, on select radio stations, in select newspapers and here online at Global Lottery Review where you can also look up previous Texas Powerball Results.

The Texas Lottery Powerball winning numbers are also broadcast on various television channels throughout the State of Texas and are displayed on the official TexasLottery website – txlottery.org.

Texas Powerball – Odds of Winning

There are 9 separate ways that you can win on this Texas State Lottery game providing a great chance to win something on the Texas Powerball.

Odds range from 1 in 292,201,338 for correctly matching all the Texas Lottery Powerball winning numbers right down to 1 in 38.32 for matching just 1 number correctly.

Overall odds of winning any prize on the Powerball Texas are just 1 in 24.87.

See the Powerball Odds and Prizes calculation table on the separate Texas Powerball page for a complete list of odds and prizes for this game.

Other Texas Lottery Games...

In addition to the Texas Lottery Mega Millions and Powerball games which can be played from anywhere in the world – the TX Lottery also offers various other lotto games which can be played within Texas itself – like Lotto Texas, Texas Two Step, Pick 3 DAY, Pick 3 NIGHT, Daily 4 DAY, Daily 4 NIGHT, Cash 5 plus numerous TXLottery Instant Scratch-Offs.

Texas Lottery – Who Can Play?

In the past – you would have had to buy your lottery ticket in the state of Texas itself to take part in any of the Texas State Lottery games – including the Texas Mega Millions and Texas Powerball.

These days though – you can play the Mega Millions Online and the Powerball Online from anywhere in the world due to the presence of accredited and fully authorized online lottery ticket sales companies like TheLotter.com – allowing you to play wherever you’re based.

So if you live outside of Texas or the USA but wish to play either the Powerball or Mega Millions this is simple to do using the right lottery ticket sales companies where you can quickly and easily buy lottery tickets online – and save yourself a fair amount of time too – allowing you to play no matter where you live.

The Texas State Lottery requires all players to be at least 18 years of age before purchasing any TX Lottery tickets including tickets for the Texas Mega Millions and Texas Powerball.

Texas Lottery – How Prizes are Paid?

If you have won either a Texas Lottery Mega Millions or Powerball jackpot – you will be able to claim your prize as either a cash lump sum or as an annuity payment – you need to make this important choice at the time you purchase your ticket.

If you choose the annuity option – your winnings will be paid to you annually in 30 installments over a 29 year period.

For all Texas State Lottery online prizes you will have 180 days from the date of the draw to make your claim before your TX Lottery ticket will expire – for instant prizes this is 180 days from the official "end of game" date.

If your win on the Texas Lottery is up to US$ 599 – you will be able to claim your winnings at any of the Texas State Lottery retailers, from a TX Lottery local claim center, from the Texas Lottery Headquarters in Austin or by mail.

If you’ve had a win of between US$ 600 to US$ 1 Million on the TX Lottery – you will be able to claim your prize from a TX Lottery local claim center, from the Texas Lottery Headquarters in Austin or by mail.

If you have won more than US$ 1 Million or a Texas State Lottery Jackpot – you can claim your prize at the Texas Lottery Headquarters in Austin.

These details are all taken care for you if you play lottery online with one of the trusted and genuine online lottery ticket sale companies such as TheLotter as it is their job to make your transaction a seamless process – collecting your winnings and sending them directly to you.

Texas Lottery Timeline – History

1991

On July 11th legislation is introduced with the intention of creating a State Lottery in Texas.

November 5th saw Texan voters agree to the creation of a Texas State Lottery by 2 to 1.

1992

On May 29th the Texas State Lottery is formed and the first Texas Lottery ticket is put on sale – a scratch-off ticket that created a world record by making sales of 23.2 million tickets in its first 24 hours.

A further world record was made on June 5th with the TexasLottery selling 102.4 million tickets within the first week.

Sales began on November 7th for the first Texas State Lottery Lotto game – the Lotto Texas.

The Lotto Texas has its first draw on November 14th at 9.59pm and is shown on television across the state.

The first Lotto Texas jackpot is won when Janie Kallus from Schulnburg scoops US$ 21.8 Million on November 28th.

1993

Lotto Texas produces its largest jackpot to date when it reaches a fantastic US$ 48.6 Million and is won by 14 players on May 1st.

Legislation is passed to form the Texas Lottery Commission on May 11th.

On the first anniversary of the Lotto Texas – May 29th – the option of a Quick Pick was added to the game.

Another record Lotto Texas jackpot is produced on when 3 winners from Corpus, Dallas and Loneoke AR split US$ 48.96 Million on July 7th.

On September 1st the Texas Lottery Commission is created.

The largest single-ticket jackpot winner of the Lotto Texas to date is Rebecca Brown of Irving who wins US$ 38.6 Million on September 9th.

The Texas State Lottery introduce a new game on October 25th – Pick 3 – which sees sales of US$ 1.2 Million on its first day.

Another game – Win For Life – is introduced to the Texas State Lottery portfolio on November 8th. This is the state’s first US$ 2 Instant ticket.

1994

On February 1st the Texas Lottery ceases its inaugural game – the Instant Ticket game Lone Star Millions – having created 6 instant millionaires.

The Lotto Texas has a new record winner of a single-ticket win in Wanda Wilson from Houston who scooped a US$ 41.48 Million jackpot on Fabruary 24th.

Yet another Lotto Texas record jackpot is produced on March 16th when an amazing US$ 77.1 Million is shared by 5 lucky winners.

The Texas State Lottery introduces a new game – Instant Million – in celebration of its 2nd anniversary on May 29th.

The Million Dollar Grand Prize draw ceases after 30 draws on July 21st.

The Scratchman scratch game is introduced by the Texas Lottery on August 4th.

On August 13th the TXLottery is named as the # 1 USA Lottery with sales going over the US$ 5 Billion mark.

September 21st sees a new record for the Texas State Lottery when Jean Graham from Houston – along with her husband, son and daughter – claim the largest single-ticket win to date of a cool US$ 41.8 Million on the Lotto Texas.

On November 12th the previous record is shattered when the Lotto Texas jackpot reaches US$ 54 Million and is won on a single-ticket by Joe Jones from Mansfield.

1995

The Lotto Texas has its first jackpot that is to go unclaimed on April 24th when the 180 day claim time limit elapses on a winning ticket bought for the US$ 12.4 Million jackpot draw of October 26th 1994.

The Texas Lottery introduces instant ticket vending machines on May 26th – the first being in San Antonio.

A new TX Lottery game – Cash 5 – is introduced on October 13th to have draws on Tuesdays and Fridays each week at 9.59pm CST.

1996

The Texas State Lottery brings in its first US$ 5 Scratch game on November 6th – Happy Holidays.

Draws for the recently introduced Cash 5 game increase to Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday on November 25th.

1997

A major addition to the Lotto Texas game is brought in on February 10th – the Cash Value Option – meaning the winners of Lotto Texas jackpots could now choose between taking their winnings as a cash lump sum or in annual installments.

The Lotto Texas produces a US$ 55 Million jackpot on October 18th which was won by the Texas City Lucky Lottery Trust. The Trust was a group of 20 people – unknown to each other – who had simply met while in the queue at the Texas City Corner Mart waiting to buy their lottery tickets and decided to club together and purchase 100 Quick Pick tickets.

1998

The Texas Lottery introduce a new on-line game – Texas Millions – on May 18th.

Buck$ ‘N Truck$ is introduced on June 3rd – a scratch game where players can win a top prize of goods as well as lesser cash prizes. The top prize is a Special Edition Dodge Ram truck worth US$ 34,000.

Having ceased in 1992 – the Lone Star Millionaire game returns on July 8th.

On October 17th the Lotto Texas jackpot creates a huge rollover of US$ 65 Million for only the 2nd time – the last time being in August 1994.

1999

A new Texas State Lottery Instant Ticket game – BINGO – is introduced on June 20th. This US$ 2 game has a top prize of US$ 25,000 and up to 4 chances to win per ticket.

The Texas State Lottery launches its website www.txlottery.org on June 30th and more than 250,000 people visit the site within its first 3 weeks.

2000

The Lotto Texas sees its first changes on July 19th when the game’s matrix was changed from 6/50 to 6/54 and the payout amount is increased from 50% to 55%.

Prize amounts are also increased as follows: from US$ 3 to US$ 5 for a 3 ball win, US$ 105 average for a 4 ball win, US$ 2,500 average for a 5 ball win and the odds of a 6 ball jackpot win are decreased to 25.8 Million.

Lotto Texas produces its largest single-ticket winner to date on September 13th when the LOJO Partners from Richardson win the jackpot of which they claim the US$ 34.1 Million cash option.

2001

On March 7th the Lotto Texas jackpot reaches a record amount of US$ 85 Million.

The record Lotto Texas jackpot of US$$ 85 Million is claimed by RBH CNC Ltd. on March 16th.

On May 11th the Texas Lottery Commission cease the game – Texas Million – which had been running since May 1998.

A new game is introduced by the Texas Lottery on May 13th – Texas Two Step – which is debuted with a Two Step dance competition in Pasadena, the winners getting an all-expenses paid trip to Florida.

May 18th sees the first Texas Two Step draw take place.

December 20th sees the second time that a winning Lotto Texas jackpot ticket goes unclaimed after the 180 claim time limit expires. The ticket was a Quick Pick ticket purchased in Humble for the draw on June 23rd 2001 and would have won a jackpot of US$ 13 Million.

2002

The first Pick 3 DAY draw was introduced by the Texas Lottery to a great response on April 29th – draws now take place every day except Sunday at 12.27pm.

The first Texas Lottery Harley-Davidson instant scratch-off game was introduced on May 1st.

The Lotto Texas sees a change in time for its drawings take place for the first time on May 27th. Draws will now take place at 10.12pm instead of 9.59pm.

On June 22nd the Lotto Texas jackpot reaches US$ 70 Million which is shared among 5 lucky winners from Longview, Austin, Terrell, Pearland and Sherman.

The Texas Lottery Commission introduces a brand new game – Cash Five – which replaces the old Cash 5 game on June 29th.

2003

On January 9th for the third time a winning ticket for the Lotto Texas jackpot goes unclaimed when the 180 day claim time limit elapses on a Quick Pick ticket purchased in Dallas, Texas for the US$ 9 Million draw from July 13th 2002.

January 10th sees the reintroduction of the instant lottery game BUCK$ ‘N TRUCK$ by the Texas Lottery with Jimme Buck of Fredericksburg becoming the first winner of a brands new Ford F-150 SuperCab pickup.

The matrix is changed for the Lotto Texas on May 4th – becoming a double matrix of 5/44 + 1/44.

For the fourth time – a winning ticket for a Lotto Texas jackpot goes unclaimed when the 180 day claim time limit expires for a US$ 5 Million jackpot ticket on July 28th.

On October 16th Texas becomes the 11th U.S. State to join the ever growing Mega Millions consortium – existing members being the Georgia Lottery, Illinois Lottery, Maryland Lottery, New Jersey Lottery, New York Lottery, Ohio Lottery, Massachusetts Lottery, Virginia Lottery, Michigan Lottery and the Washington Lottery.

The first Mega Millions tickets are sold in Texas on December 3rd with the Texas State Lottery being the only company to offer the MEGAPLIER feature enabling players to boost their winnings by 2, 3 or 4 times on non-jackpot prizes.

The first Texas Mega Millions draw takes place on December 5th with an amazing US$ 44 Million jackpot waiting to be won. The first Texas Lottery winner of a big prize scoops US$ 175,000 after matching 5 numbers.

2004

The Lotto Texas produces a single-ticket win of US$ 70 Million in Houston on January 31st – Heliodoro Cuenca was the lucky winner.

The largest ever jackpot in Texas State Lottery history is played for on February 20th when the Mega Millions reaches a top prize of US$ 230 Million.

The jackpot is not won in Texas but 6 Texas State Lottery players win second level prizes of US$ 175,000.

A new record jackpot for the Lotto Texas is produced on June 19th at US$ 145 Million. The lucky winner purchased their ticket in El Paso.

Texas Lottery has its first Mega Millions jackpot winner when Ut Van Nguyen wins an incredible US$ 101 Million on October 2nd by correctly matching all 5 numbers plus the MEGABall.

The Texas Lottery introduces its first US$ 30 scratch-off game – Holiday Millions Wishes – on October 27th. Top prizes on the Holiday Millions Wishes are four x US$ 2 Million.

2005

The second Texas Mega Millions jackpot was won on March 1st when MA HOLDINGS, LP from Rowlett won US$ 112 Million jackpot.

Texas Lottery – Where the Money Goes

Proceeds from Texas Lottery games are returned back to the State of Texas to benefit citizens in a variety of different ways.

The biggest area to benefit from TXLottery proceeds is that of education – with 27% of all monies raised going towards the Foundation School Fund which supports public education within the Texas.

More than US$ 12 Billion has been raised for the Foundation School Fund since the inception of the TX Lottery in 1992.

The Fund for Veterans Assistance.is another beneficiary of Texas Lottery funding.

Funds from unclaimed TexasLottery prizes go to the State itself to be used for various programs authorized by Texas legislature.

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