103. The Last Word - The Texas Lottery Controversy: Who Wins & Who Loses?

This week’s Last Word examines the Texas Lottery—where billions are wagered each year, and the promise of funding public education continues to spark debate. Bob takes a deep dive into how the lottery works, who benefits most, and whether Texas...

Show Notes

This week’s Last Word examines the Texas Lottery—where billions are wagered each year, and the promise of funding public education continues to spark debate. Bob takes a deep dive into how the lottery works, who benefits most, and whether Texas taxpayers are getting a fair deal.

For decades, state officials have promoted the lottery as a way to support Texas schools, but the reality is more complicated. Bob explores the actual impact on education funding, the financial burden placed on lower-income communities, and the broader implications of gambling expansion in Texas.

With discussions underway about legalizing casinos and sports betting, now is the time to ask: Is the Texas Lottery a public good, or a predatory system disguised as entertainment? Tune in for a sharp commentary on money, politics, and the business of betting in Texas.

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The Last Word: Texas’ Lottery Scandal: Who Really Wins?

You might not have noticed, but heads are rolling at the highest levels of the Texas Lottery, so much so that I initially thought Elon Musk, the world‘s richest man, had been brought in with his chainsaw to do the cutting.

The five commissioners who oversee the Texas Lottery Commission are not exactly household names. They are political appointees who serve at the pleasure of the governor. Clark Smith, one of the five, resigned Feb. 21 as the other commissioners were grilled by the Texas Senate’s Finance Committee, which is doing the bidding of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, its presiding officer.

Patrick and others are upset with the longtime practice of the commission allowing “couriers,” that is, third parties, to buy wholesale lots of lottery tickets on behalf of online consumers. The couriers enjoy an upcharge and they work in cahoots with convenience stores and other outlets that are super-sellers of lottery tickets. One locale cited by committee members is home to more than 40 ticketing machines. Proposed legislation would limit sites to two machines.

One coterie of unidentified purchasers with deep pockets gamed the system by purchasing 25 million tickets for a single drawing, enough to cover the possible outcomes and win an $83,5 million jackpot, according to the Texas Tribune.

Clearly, the system is broken and needs immediate fixing. Where I fault Patrick and other legislators is wanting to fix a lottery system that shouldn’t even exist. The Texas Lottery is a tax on the state’s mostly minority working class and those living in poverty disguised as a game. Whether people are buying lottery tickets for the multiple weekly drawings (Texas Lotto! Powerball! MegaMillions!) or spending their scarce resources on scratch-off tickets that promise instant results, they are deluded into thinking they have a chance to strike gold. People dream of financial independence and wealth they will never achieve through the luck of the draw. They are far more likely to be hit by lightning.

Still, Texans wager $2 billion a year on lottery games, give or take. And many citizens believe, incorrectly, that the lottery established in the state in 1991, benefits public education. It does not.

So, if you want to waste a few bucks to get into the game and watch for the winning numbers to be drawn, enjoy yourself. It’s fun to spend a few dollars when the pots grow grotesquely large, but the multistate games with the biggest numbers only give you a 1 in 300 million chance. If you are spending dollars your family relies on for basic expenses like housing and utilities, food, health care, education and, yes, savings, then take a pass.

And then, no matter what numbers are drawn, you’ll come out ahead.

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