Texas state Senator Bob Deuell has asked the state attorney general, Greg Abbott, to rule on whether a proposal Texas Lottery game violates the state’s constitutional ban of gambling.
The senator questions whether it is legal for a lottery game to keep the prize if there is no grand prize-winner. Normally, if there is no grand prize-winner in a lottery game the prize is rolled over into the next game.
According to some experts, if the state could keep the prize, that gives it a stake in the outcome. “Instead of a lottery being a guaranteed successful business as a lottery is designed to be, with this game the Texas lottery has put itself into a precarious situation in that they may lose, they may win,” said lottery expert Dawn Nettles, quoted by the Dallas Morning News.
