A board game store in Austin, Texas, is under investigation after selling a winning $83.5 million Lotto Texas ticket—one of several major wins linked to the shop in recent years.
The store, called Winners Corner, sold the jackpot ticket for Monday night’s drawing. While the prize made headlines for its size—the fifth-largest in Lotto Texas history—it also raised concerns due to the shop’s ties to a lottery courier service.
Winners Corner is owned by Jackpocket, a company that allows customers to buy lottery tickets online. Jackpocket then sends representatives to purchase the tickets at authorized retailers. In this case, that retailer was a location the company also owns.
This isn’t the first time a winning ticket has been sold at Winners Corner. A $2 million prize was claimed from a ticket bought there in December 2024. In March 2021, another $2 million Texas Two-Step ticket also came from the same location.
Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick announced Tuesday that his office is launching an investigation into the situation. He voiced concerns that the link between Jackpocket and Winners Corner could affect public trust in the lottery system.
“Recently, there have been many questions raised about the integrity of the Texas Lottery,” Patrick wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “Last night, an $83 million winning ticket was sold in Austin… Turns out, the retail establishment that sold the winning ticket was owned by the courier service that purchased the ticket.”
Patrick visited the store himself and posted video footage of the visit. In it, he questions employees, who referred him to their attorney. The lawyer confirmed a Jackpocket customer had bought the ticket, but admitted he understood the concern.
“If people are going to have confidence in the lottery, we have to be sure that no one has an advantage,” Patrick said. “This is not the way the lottery was designed to operate.”
Patrick also mentioned that legislation to ban courier services had previously been proposed, but failed to pass the Texas House. He called for renewed scrutiny of businesses where courier services and ticket retailers are owned by the same company.Both Lotto Texas and Winners Corner have not responded to requests for comment.
