News and opinion writer
When the New Year's ball drops in Times Square, millions of people around the world cheer. But one big winner in the Lone Star state had millions of reasons to cheer when the six balls dropped for the Lotto Texas drawing on December 30.
Big winner
Someone won a Texas-sized jackpot of $34 million playing Lotto Texas at the end of 2023. Instead of using birthdays and lucky numbers, they asked Quick Pick to choose the winning numbers 6-7-23-34-37-50.
Because the winner selected the cash option when they purchased the ticket instead of annuity payments, they'll receive $20,205,534.60 before paying taxes on their winnings.
No one has stepped forward to claim the prize yet, and whoever has the winning ticket had better move fast. Lottery winners in Texas have 180 days from the draw date to claim their prize or lose it forever.
Keep an eye out for your friends in the state capitol who might suddenly be shopping for a new house or luxury car because the ticket was purchased at an H-E-B Food Store on Village Center Drive in Austin.
Gary Grief, the executive director of the Texas Lottery, had some advice for the winning player:
We look forward to meeting and congratulating the winner of the latest Lotto Texas jackpot prize. If you have the winning ticket, we encourage you to sign the ticket, put it in a safe place, seek financial and legal advice, and call the Texas Lottery to schedule an appointment to claim the prize.
Smaller winners
While only one ticket took home an eight-figure prize, thousands of other players had some reason to feel good. 82,254 Lotto Texas ticket buyers, including those who paid $1 for the Extra! add-on feature cashed in for prizes ranging from $2 to $13,201 for the same drawing.
Ups and downs
To win Lotto Texas, players must correctly pick six numbers from between one and 54. Every drawing offers a multi-million dollar jackpot, and drawings are held three times a week on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday. Tickets cost $1 each and can be purchased from authorized retailers or on the Texas Lottery app.
Despite the frequent drawings, players collected the top prize only six times in 2023, with the largest jackpot topping out at $57.8 million for the April 22 drawing.
Unwon top prizes roll over to the next drawing, which is why they range from tens of millions to just $3.5 million for the winner of the August 30 drawing. The total value of all top prizes for the year was $103.4 million.
The payoff
Since the first tickets were sold in 1992, the Texas State Lottery has paid out $83.4 billion in prize money to players and generated $38.2 billion in revenue for the state. The lottery has also supported the Foundation School Fund since 1997 and contributed $32.2 billion to support public education in Texas.
Additionally, the Texas Legislature has authorized games specifically to benefit veterans. Since the first veteran-themed scratch-off ticket was issued in 2009, more than $227 million has been raised to support organizations that help Texas veterans.
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