Using the purchase of online tickets, a group of gamblers bought almost every possible combinations for Texas and secured a $ 95 million jackpot. The prize has been frozen and is at the center of a cool battle.
It is a mathematical fact that the only way of ensure a jackpot 100% On the lottery is to bet on all possible combinations. In a saga exit directly from a Hollywood movie, that’s precisely what an international gambler group did on Texas’s state lottery.
With a meticulously orchestrated plan, gamblers guaranteed the jackpot of $ 95 millionin a legal but ethically obscure move that is now being investigated by the state and has already led to changes in the rules. The consequences triggered a scrutiny not only about this 2023 victory, but also about a second Jackpot not related in February 2024.
The story begins with a group led by former London banker Bernard Marantelli and funded by the enigmatic Australian player Zeljko Ranogajec, known in some circles such as “o Joker”.
The team calculated that by buying almost every possible combinations of six numbers – an impressive number of 25.8 million dollar tickets “I could guarantee a prize when the jackpot stubbed enough to make the scheme profitable. When the prize reached $ 95 million in April 2023, they executed their plan.
With the help of the Lottery.com Online Ticket Platform, the team printed 99.3% of all combinations In just three days, using dozens of terminals provided by Texas Lottery Commission (TLC). Working in warehouses, a team, including members of the participants’ family, printed up to 100 tickets per second.
The result? One gain of 57.8 million dollars Before tax, obtained by a company they called Rook TX. “All applicable laws, rules and regulations were followed,” argues the lawyer who represents the company in statements to.
Although technically cool, the maneuver caused indignation and triggered intense scrutiny. State Governor Dan Patrick called him “The greatest theft of the people of Texas in the history of Texas“However, former TLC director Ryan Mindell, who resigned in April, defended the operation, claiming that the game’s integrity was intact and since then new policies had been implemented to avoid future mass purchases.
These changes in rules unexpectedly affected another lottery winner, a woman who bought tickets worth $ 20 through the jackpocket application and won the jackpot of $ 83.5 million In February 2024. Days after the victory, TLC suspended all application services and froze their payment, citing that online bus sales violate state law, which requires personal purchases through Texas licensed retailers.
The woman insists that her situation Not related with the case of $ 95 million and complied with all the rules. Still, critics such as the Dawn Nettles Holder Supervisor say that their ticket bought in an application is illegal according to the new Texas law, which prohibits the sale of filling by phone, internet or mail, regardless of previous supervision lapses.
The controversy highlights a fundamental concern of the states: to ensure that the prizes of the lottery benefit local economies. Nettles stressed that if the gains are for players from outside the state or international, the effect of economic waterfall on Texas is lost.
“If you earn $ 50 million in the lottery, you will probably buy a new car, a new house, things for friends – all this will help the economy [do estado]. But Not if the money comes out of the state”, He says.
Both the $ 95 million prize and the $ 83.5 million are now to be investigated by the Texas Rangersas part of a broader investigation into the integrity of the state’s bullies system. The situation also gave rise to a collective lawsuit against Rook TX, TLC and others.
