Interesting
Stories

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FY15 Ends - Online Sales
Way Down, Scratch Ticket
Sales Saves The Texas Lottery
See and compare FY15 figures, Click here.
How can players fail to collect this much
in prizes - unbelievable Unclaimed Prize
figures, updated 9/1/15. Click here

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Powerball Will Be
Obnoxiously Harder To Win
Read all the fine details of the rule
change plus some tidbits they
don't want you to understand. New
game begins 10/07/15. Posted 8/24/15.
Revised 8/25/15. Revised 8/26/15 - Added
supporting documents and link to
Powerball rule. Click here

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Texas' Fun 5's
Scratch Tickets

The Lawyers Blog
Updated Feb 5, 2020 - Fun 5's Appeal
still pending - Click here

Fun 5's Scratch
Tickets Not Paying
Face Value of Winnings
See it for yourself. Includes
all details. Click here.

Fun 5's
Questions & Answers
Everything you have been
asking me is covered here!
Posted 9/21/14.
Click here.

Media Coverage - Fun 5's
This is NOT all of them!
ABC - KTRK TV Houston
NBC - KXAS - Dallas
Houston Chronicle
Dallas Morning News
Kens5 - San Antonio - TV.
Dallas Observer
Click 2 - Houston
Fox News
Fox 7 - Austin
Austin American
Statesman/Longview
Good Morning America
(Can't find link)
Channel 11 TV -
Fort Worth - 10/21/14
Courthouse News
(10/21/14)
Houston Chronicle
(10/23/14)
Dallas Morning News,
(10/24/14)
Courthouse News,
(10/24/14)
Dallas Morning News,
(12/10/14)
Houston Chronicle,
(12/10/14)
4 Traders
(12/11/14)
Courthouse News
(12/11/14)
News Journal
(!2/12/14)
WacoTrib (AP)
(12/11/14)

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- Jilted Players -
Monopoly Millionaires Club
3 Separate Editorials -
Jan 5, 9, 14, 2015, Click here
NBC, Channel 5, DFW
- by Ken Kalthoff, click here
Past Monopoly Drawing
Results, Click here
Hoosier Lottery Losing Money
(So is Texas), Click here
Official Game Rule (As of
Oct 29, 2014)(word), click here
MMC Audience Selections
Procedures, click here (pdf)
Future participating
states - Click here (pdf)
Draw Sales by State,
Click here
Financial Re-cap of Draws,
Click here
(Watch here for additional
documents to be posted)

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- Meet Kelly Cripe -
The Spokesperson
For the TX Lottery
She's the person who decided
I didn't need to receive public
information that I pass along
to you every day!
Originally Posted 5/30/12
- Click here -
My response to Cripes
Cease & Desist Letter
Posted 4/21/13,
Click here
We've never seen Cripe
on TV - See the "test"
interview she did prior
to being hired. (A wmv
file - should open in
Windows Media Player)
Posted June 23, 2014
Click here

About Texas Triple
Chance Three
Separate Postings
With this letter, I've done
all I can do - Posted
1/30/14. Click here
Is this game a true
lottery game? Is it
legal? Posted
1/20/14, Click here
"Secretly" Proposed.
Details New Game.
Posted 1/7/14,
Click here

Unbelievable Duplicate
Quick Picks
Louisiana players buys 4
tickets, all tickets have
the same numbers.
Very sad. (Nov 7, 2013 -
Updated Nov 12, 2013)
Click here.

Did Gary Grief Lead
The Commissioners To
Believe All or Nothing
was born in Texas?
And about that highly
publicized "liability"
problem.
Posted 6/8/13.
Click here

Houston Chronicle
Exposes Mr. Grief's
Contractions Regarding
All or Nothing
Here's the answers to all
your questions and the
REAL truth (6/5/13)
Click here

Will Texas Honor
The Rule & The Face
Value of My Scratch
Tickets
This letter was submitted
to Gary Grief - Director
of the TLC. I'm asking
that my winning tickets
be paid - Unbelievable
story and only the tip
of the iceberg regarding
Texas scratch tickets.
After you read the letter,
tell me - do you think
it's a winning ticket?
Should they pay me?
Posted 12/10/12.
Click here

Texas Player Buys
7 Quick Picks And
Receives 7 Identical
Tickets
An Unbelievable
Story - Posted 3/15/12,
Click here

Lottery Terminals
Err - Here is
Absolute Proof
Posted 7/12/07 -
Don't let this happen to
you. Check your own
tickets! Click here
Very Interesting.

Editorial & Opinions by Dawn Nettles

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7/15/15 - I received the most unique email this morning. I felt compelled to post it for all to read! I sincerely want to thank this player not only for his kind words but for his sharing his findings with me. Everyone should find his discovery amusing .... Here's his message ...

What a discovery he made. Thanks Dave, you did GOOD!

7/6/15 - A few things - the Cash Frenzy ticket, my plea for Consumer Protection for lottery players and AG Ken Paxton ...

About that scratch ticket game #1690 - Cash Frenzy. As many of you know, this game started Monday, June 15, 2015 and was closed on the same day - officially at 4:57 p.m. Hmmm .... is what I thought when I started receiving your messages. Reports show the game was closed due to validation problems - "validation file from the manufacturing vendor is causing tickets in the game not to validate" and to eliminate "player and retailer impact."

An Interesting Observation
Shown here is the game number, start date, ticket price,
game name, prize amounts, prizes available then how
many prizes have been collected thus far. The "*"
indicates the game is "closing soon."



Notice that eighteen (18) $500 winners had already been claimed. I point
this out is because another $5 game (Raceway Riches) started on June 15th
too but only two $500 prizes were claimed during the same time frame. Of
course, I can't really say for sure that players won the $500 prizes, they could
have been scratched off during the initial testing.

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Below is the notice posted at 16:57, June 15th,
advising retailers to pull the game. This is the same
message they post for all closing games.

Usually when the TLC issues a close date on a scratch game, G-Tech reps will leave the games in the stores until the last minute. Often times, retailers can still activate new packs after a close date has been issued. But not on this game - Cash Frenzy.

Two firsthand experiences encountered on closed scratch games ...
One day several years ago - I suggested to a G-Tech that he pick up a particular game because all top prizes had been claimed and a close date had just been issued. He insisted on leaving it in the store stating, "there were lots of low tier prizes that remained unclaimed." The retailer didn't care - the end result was that the ticket remained in the store and was sold to unsuspecting players.

But on another occasion, the TLC issued a close date on a $50 ticket. The day the close date was announced, G-Tech reps were in stores picking up the $50 tickets as quickly as they could. I know this for a fact as I followed her to roughly 7 stores watching. Just in case you are wondering why they wanted these tickets picked up ... well, the $50 game still had a top prize that was unclaimed. The top prize amount was in the millions. Anyway, one retailer begged to keep the $50 ticket explaining that it was a good seller and a good profit for him, but she refused to let him sell his tickets.

Now interestingly, on the new Cash Frenzy ticket that closed the day it started, retailers reported ... 1) they could not activate packs by early afternoon on the day it began; 2) the game was already removed from their systems by the 2nd day; 3) some received phone calls telling them to pull the game immediately and 4) none had any problems validating tickets for their customers. Two clarifications on what I just said - I do not know if it was corporate offices calling the stores or G-Tech/TLC calling the stores to pull the tickets and needless to say, I can't speak for validations statewide. I can only report what I hear and my own personal experiences. In this case, my tickets validated correctly and other players reported no validation problems. See my validation ticket ...

As for what's really going on, I asked the TLC for an explanation but they didn't respond. Imagine that! Apparently they don't want us to know. I have made an open records request in an attempt to find out what's up. When I find out, I'll let you in on it. In the meantime, do know that these tickets were off the streets faster than I've ever seen a ticket disappear!

Finally, many of you are thinking that "G-Tech screwed up again." I don't think this is right. I think this ticket was produced by Pollard Banknote - not G-Tech. (FYI - The TLC has 3 instant ticket vendors - they are Scientific Games (Sci Games), G-Tech and Pollard Banknote.)

Next subject ... an update to the letters I sent to the elected officials which was a plea for Consumer Protection for lottery players ...
I'm disappointed to report that my letter to the Governor, Lt. Governor, 50 state senators and 150 state representatives were forwarded to the Texas Lottery for a response. It appears to me that no one is willing to address the fact that lottery players have no way to settle a dispute and our elected officials are NOT willing to address the issue. The Governors office and my state Senator and State Rep simply forwarded my letter to the TLC for a response. Guess they think the TLC can write legislation.

You've already seen the letter I received from the Governors office - a very unprofessional letter, but what you haven't seen is how they refereed it to the TLC. Here's the header from the email where they forwarded my letter to the TLC for a response ....

Now let me explain what's wrong with this ... Director Anthony Sadberry died in late Oct 2008. Apparently the Governors office doesn't even have a current directory of State Agency's employees. Their letter named Grief but they forwarded my letter to Mr. Sadberry and his two assistants. How very sad it is to see this kind of errors coming from our Governor's office.

I did receive a letter from the Lt. Governor too. As you will see though, it is a BS letter that fails to address anything that I said much less the issue of Consumer Protection for lottery players. Also, now I find I'm on his email list to receive his newsletters which I did not request. I see what he's doing with email addresses - using them for spam. Anyway, click here to read his letter.

Mr. Grief asked Katelind Powers, the TLC Open Records Coordinator, to respond to the two unresolved issues I asked to be resolved. Specifically, the issues were ... 1) release documents the AG said they had to release and 2) my being deleted from receiving meeting notices. Here is the letter I received from Ms. Powers on behalf of Mr. Grief - click here, pdf. As you see, the TLC plans to exclude me from receiving meeting notices. How 'bout that, they send these notices out to others but are refusing to send them to me. I would file a complaint with the AG but he probably wouldn't do anything about it. I did file a complaint with the State Auditors office but have not heard back from them yet.

Because neither my State Senator, Senator Hall, nor my State Rep, Representative Sheets, have responded to my communications, I plan to meet with them personally. This is something I should have done a long time ago. Senator Hall's staff simply forwarded my communications to the TLC too. This is really bad. I say this because they always say, "write your legislator and let them know how you feel." But they don't seem to address the issue you are concerned about and in my case, they haven't written back.

I think I finally figured out why TX doesn't want to give lottery players Consumer Protection.
It's because the TLC offers players unfair games of chance and I'm pretty certain that any court of law would agree. The odds of Lotto Texas, Mega Millions and Powerball are not within "reason." The games are designed for players NOT to win and I believe this is wrong. This is why they increase the odds - to get more draws in the roll so as to increase sales. But this very line of thinking has backfired on them.

Bottom line, I believe if lottery players had consumer protection, someone would challenge this very issue. The state feels they would lose. And I believe the State would lose in a court of law. If our officials wanted to continue running a gambling operation, they would be forced to make changes to their games. I think the TLC has convinced our elected officials that giving players consumer protection would hurt their pocketbook. How very sad this is.

About AG Ken Paxton's current mess ...
I knew about the allegations last year and I didn't vote for him. Two things turned me against Paxton. This referral allegation and the way his constituents were treated on the Fun 5's tickets. I try to vote for people I think I can trust and I saw firsthand how many legislators treated lottery players - including Paxton.

Many of you have asked if I can explain the allegations to you in simple language. In a nutshell, Paxton has been accused of referring clients to a financial adviser and receiving a commission for the referrals. Allegedly, his clients had no idea that Paxton was being paid for the referral. Then he would receive a commission on all future transactions so long as the client remained with the adviser. On this kind of deal, the sales person [Paxton] makes the initial sale then he sits back and collects a commission on everything the client buys in the future.

Think about it like this ... if you asked a trusted friend who could fix your car then you found out he was paid a commission for the referral, you would resent your friend. For all you know, someone else might have been less expensive and faster.

The one thing ya'll need to know - financial advisers receives commissions whether your investments make money or lose money.

Years ago, I told the TLC Commissioners that I had received an allegation from a very large financial institution that someone inside the TLC had been referring lottery winners to financial advisers - a sign that some TLC employee may be getting a kick back. The Commissioners thought I lied so they filed a complaint with the DA of Travis County against me. The DA came after me with force - but backed off real fast when they determined I did NOT lie and the very reputable firm had reason to suspect someone from inside the lottery was referring winners to advisers. This story made all the papers - both while I was being investigated then after I was cleared which only took a couple of days.

As you can see, referring people without disclosing you are being paid to refer folks is SERIOUS business.

Funny thing - the TLC dropped this issue like a hot potato and never tried to find out IF an employee had been referring lotto winners to someone.

One thing of interest - Paxton's spokesperson(s) have been quoted as saying that Dallas County and Travis County DA's investigated but didn't move forward "implying" he was innocent. Well, ya'll need to know that these DA's said it "wasn't in their jurisdiction." If any County is to indict Ken Paxton, it has to be his home County - in otherwords, Collin County - which is where the case is now. A Grand Jury will see the evidence and decide if the evidence supports an indictment. Time will tell.

Anyway, this is what the allegations against Paxton are all about.

Paxton is also RIGHTFULLY in hot water over the Supreme Court ruling on Gay marriages. How dare he not uphold his oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. He is supposed to put all personal beliefs aside but it appears to me that he thinks his opinion is the only one that counts. I ask you, how can we trust Mr. Paxton to be our Attorney General - to uphold the laws of the land?

It has also been reported that 150 Texas attorneys have filed a complaint against Paxton with the State Bar of Texas. Good for them!

An interesting read on the Paxton ordeal, read the Burkablog in Texas Monthly.

More later.

5/29/15 - Just a short note to give ya'll a heads up on the latest news.

Breaking news ...
I went to Austin Wednesday to attend the Commission meeting Thursday morning. I suppose the most incredible news is that this was the LAST meeting for 4 of the 5 Texas Lottery Commissioners. Commissioner Krause remains as the Chairman of the Texas Lottery Commission.

There was no mention of who the Governor has appointed to replace the departing Commissioners. My guess is that we'll find out after the session ends next week.

With a fruit basket turn over such as this, you can only imagine the feelings of anxiety TLC executives must be feeling knowing they have FOUR new bosses coming in. WOW - this is big news.

Powerball changes coming ...
Also of great interest to all players is that they have proposed another new rule for Powerball. Mr. Tirloni told the Commissioners that the odds were increasing but that it would be easier for players to win!!!!! I'm not kidding ... that was really said. They are changing the matrix to pick 5 out of 69 then pick 1 out of 26 numbers for the bonus number. (The matrix was 5/59 and 1/35.)

Mr. Tirloni is correct in that it will be easier to win $2 for matching the bonus number but as we all know, we don't buy Powerball tickets in hopes that we "win" $2. (The ticket costs $2 so our "winnings" would be $2) We play to win the jackpot which will be much harder to win. The odds will be 1-in-292,201,333. (They were 1-in-175,223,510)

Can you imagine what I thought when I heard staff telling the commissioners that it will be "easier to win" Powerball? My guess is that they will also promote "easier to win" as they promote the changes just like they did the the last time they changed the rule in 2012.

I will give ya'll complete details on the rule change after I have a chance to read the rule.

Letter from the Governor ...
About the letter I received from the Governor. I promise you - I did not alter that letter. And I agree with you - I don't think anyone read my letter - that's the only conclusion I can come to based on their screwed up reply. I am still waiting to hear from the Governor's Press Office. In their defense, I really think they are too busy dealing with the flooding to handle an issue they can't fix today. So I'll wait until next week before pursuing this issue.

I don't have an anutomated comment section ...
on my site where ya'll can leave comments - someday when I have time - I may add it. But your comments have been entertaining me and definitely worth sharing with everyone. On several subjects - the Governor's letter as well as the Monopoly players who got screwed. I will try to build a special page for you this week-end where I'll do a copy and paste of your comments so I can share what you say to me with everyone who visits my site. Thanks for the comments - they really do make my day.

So - Send me an email if you want me to post a comment from you.
One rule to follow - please NO foul language. OK??? And I can't write your comments from a phone call. Please put in the subject line that it is a comment - OK.

More later ...

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5/21/15 - I don't know how many of you heard about the man who won $2 million playing Powerball but was afraid he couldn't collect his money because he wasn't a US citizen so he got his neighbor to collect his winnings for him. After the neighbor collected the money, the neighbor failed to pay him his share so he sued his neighbor. Today the two men settled after a 3 day trial.

Well - it's good they settled but I'm afraid the Texas Lottery will go after both parties now! I say this because IF the man who collected the prize wrote on his claim form that the ticket was his and he bought it, then the TLC may go after him for making fraudulent claim.

It will be interesting to see what happens next - as we all know, the TLC will do almost anything to make a dollar!

Tomorrow or Saturday I will try to post my latest news on the Fun 5's ticket. So watch for it - I think you'll be happy to see that I spoke up for all of us. In the meantime, do watch the attorneys blog page too.

4/28/15 - On Sunday 4/26/15, I posted that the liability shown by G-Tech and the TLC for Saturday's Powerball April 25th drawing was wrong. But as it turns out, I miscalculated and I owe the TLC and G-Tech an apology. I always try to be accurate and most of the time, I am. But this time I erred so I'm going to show you what caused me to make this mistake.

So many of you inquired ... what did this mean, how does it affect the players and how did I figure it out. Now that I've posted that I was mistaken, ya'll are asking, "How did I make this kind of mistake?" To answer this question, it's much easier for me to show you than it is to try to verbally explain it to you ... so here goes.

First, I need to start with what the word "liability" meant. Very simply put, this is the amount that players win from a given drawing. To arrive at the "liability" for any draw, you only need two numbers - how many winners there were and what was the prize amount - called "payouts." Then one multiplies the prize amount by the number of winners for each prize category. Then one totals all prize categories to arrive at the "liability."

So here's how it all came down for me ...
On Saturday night, the Powerball drawing was delayed for some reason so when I called my retailer for the "payouts" - which I do every night - Powerballs results were not in the terminals at that time.

I did all my normal work - Cash 5, Lotto Texas, Pick3, Daily 4 & All or Nothing but I could not do Powerball because I didn't know how many winner there were. I waited for my "official" Powerball reports to come in but the MUSL group was very late that night too. I was so tired that I just couldn't stay up to post the information that I generally post at night. I went to bed without posting the Powerball info.

Now here's where I went wrong ... on Sunday morning, I obtained ... 1) all states total winners, 2) TX winners and 3) California winners from the Powerball website. It had been a very long time since I obtained my TX info from Powerball's website and I had completely forgotten that Powerball's (MUSL) "winners" posting was NOT "user friendly."

Let me show you why I say this - then you should understand how and why I erred. It was an honest mistake. I'm painting you a picture ...

Remember, I initially used Powerballs data and confirmed
them by using G-Tech's report. BIG Mistake!

In concluding my explanation ..
Simply put, I obtained the winners info from sources I generally do not obtain it from. In essence, I input garbage and got garbage out. I goofed and I'm sorry. My sincere apologies to both G-Tech and the Texas Lottery.

Now that I've said this and shown you how I came to err, what's really interesting to me is that neither the Texas Lottery nor G-Tech contacted me to tell me that I had erred. I absolutely do not understand why they would allow me to give them NEGATIVE headlines when they were in the right. Guess they don't figure it was worth it OR maybe they worried that I might show you why I erred - conflicting data will catch up with you eventually!

More later.

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