The Lotto Matrix: An “Italian Job” Up For Grabs And More Texas Twists

First things first

How much is Friday’s Mega Millions jackpot drawing worth? Roughly the amount needed for your favorite sports team to sign a marquee player to a multi-year contract at $324 million, with a cash option of $150.6 million. Another two drawings without a jackpot winner lifted the number of rollovers to 17 since a $113 million jackpot was hit in Arizona on Jan. 17.

For the second consecutive week, a Match 5 multiplier winner originated in California as Tuesday’s drawing produced a $3 million winner. The lucky person matched all five numbers and played the 3x Megaplier. It was also the second consecutive Tuesday night drawing that 15 people had four numbers and the Mega Ball with the multiplier, resulting in 30 payouts of $30,000.

How much is Saturday’s Powerball jackpot drawing worth? Nearing “big boy” jackpot status with $444 million, or a cash option good for $207.2 million. As the rollover count climbed to 26 drawings with no jackpot winners last Saturday, Monday, and Wednesday, there were six payouts of at least $1 million. That included two Match 5 + Power Play winners in Colorado and Texas who won $2 million each Wednesday night.

And then there were “due“

The potentially months-long waiting game for IGT and Flutter Entertainment to be the operator for Italy’s Lotto concession began this week after Monday’s deadline passed without any new bidders. IGT is the incumbent, having operated the lottery since 1993, and is bidding alongside partners Novomatic, Allwyn, and the Italian Tobacco Federation.

Flutter is bidding through its Italian subsidiary Sisal and has a lottery presence in Italy as the operator of SuperEnalotto since 1998. It has reportedly brought on Scientific Games as a potential partner and acquired Italian-based Snaitech last September. The minimum bid for the nine-year contract was €1 billion ($1.08 billion), but it is expected the winning tender from either party could reach €1.5 billion ($1.62 billion).

The victor also will have access to a 6% premium on collection from the lottery games, which could be worth up to €500 million ($540.5 million) annually if there is growth on last year’s €8 billion ($8.65 billion) collected. IGT highlighted its track record during its current nine-year run as operator, contributing close to €15 billion ($16.22 billion) in tax receipts.

Billion-dollar Mega Millions winner ID’d

The California Lottery on Monday identified Rosemary Casarotti as the person who bought the winning ticket for the $1.2 billion Mega Millions drawing Dec. 27. Casarotti opted not to participate in the news conference, stating a desire to maintain a low profile.

Lottery officials said Casarotti purchased the winning ticket at the Sunshine Food and Gas Circle K in Cottonwood, approximately 150 miles north of Sacramento. She opted for a lump sum payment of $571 million before federal taxes were withheld. The Circle K received the maximum retail bonus of $1 million for selling the winning ticket.

“We offer Rosemary our heartfelt congratulations for her historic win and our gratitude for her
part in supporting the California Lottery’s mission to provide extra money for public education
in our state,” said California Lottery Director Harjinder Shergill Chima. “Because of this historic
jackpot win, the California Lottery was able to raise an estimated $89.5 million for public
schools. On this lucky day, we are so excited to celebrate that!”

As the Texas Lottery Turns

Somewhat lost in the kerfuffle of everything that is going on with the Texas Lottery in terms of legislative happenings, investigations, and anything else that has taken place in the Lone Star State, there is the still-important matter of paying out the actual jackpots of the two wins under scrutiny.

And the payout for the one that is in lesser question is up for debate after the woman who has the winning ticket from February’s $83.5 million drawing claims the Texas Lottery Commission said she may never see her payday come to fruition. Both her victory and the $95 million jackpot won in 2023 by a group that allegedly bought $25.8 million worth of tickets to secure practically all the potential winning number combinations are being investigated by the Texas Rangers.

The woman was in Austin on Tuesday to collect her winnings according to Nexstar, but was told the commission would not make any decisions until the Texas Rangers complete their investigation. She claims she spent only $20 for tickets via the Jackpocket app, which has since been banned in the state.

“How unfair would it be if she’s not paid her winnings?” said her attorney, Randy Howry. “Is that going to give confidence to those other people out there who want to play the Texas lottery?”

More Texas drama

According to KFDX/KJTL, police in Wichita Falls, Texas, charged two women with engaging in organized criminal activity in which they manipulated sales reports to “provide the appearance of reconciled sales reports and lottery ticket sales and payouts to conceal theft.”

Authorities said statements from two other employees at the Chisholm Corner Sunoco on Central Freeway, Madelyn Santiago and Felix Medina, allege they took tickets from store bundles and illegally checked for winners at the direction of Hays, who allegedly required a percentage of any winning ticket.

The Texas Lottery Commission corroborated large winning claims made by Santiago and Hays, with the latter making eight winning claims in a six-week span from Nov. 27 to Jan.7 with winnings totaling $14,000 claimed through the mobile phone app. The TLC also provided winning records of 19 claims made by Santiago from Sep. 30 through Feb. 3 for a total of $18,000. The state agency was able to trace the lottery prizes to the bulk bundles at the Chisholm Corner Sunoco.

Earlier this month, Hays gave a statement to police saying she deposited the winnings into her bank account and later transferred half the amount to Santiago. Wichita Falls investigators say Hays also turned over other winning lottery tickets she had yet to submit claims for. She was arrested Monday and released Wednesday on a $150,000 bond.

Santiago, who was arrested Tuesday, remains in jail on a $150,000 bond. Medina has yet to be charged.

Newsworthy nuggets

Mega Millions reminder: Mega Millions is allowing advance purchases only through drawings conducted before April 4 ahead of its price change from $2 to $5 that will take effect next month.

EQL Games and Pixiu teaming up to bring keno to more of the U.S. EQL Games has joined forces with Pixiu Gaming in a bid to expand Keno offerings throughout the United States via iLottery platforms. Pixiu is already an established operator for Keno in Canada, and the pair hope to come to the U.S. market with games late in 2025.

Arizona Senate confirms Alec Thomson as Executive Director of the Lottery. Thomson put out an updated status on his LinkedIn profile last week after being appointed by Gov. Katie Hobbs. Thomson, who was unanimously approved, has been with the Arizona Lottery since April 2023.

“I am so proud to serve the Hobbs Administration and the State of Arizona in this role,” Thomson wrote on LinkedIn. “HUGE thanks to Governor Hobbs for this opportunity to serve, to everyone who supported my confirmation process, the Senate for their approval, and of course my Dad for instilling in me the spirit of service! Let’s get to work!”

A win worthy of a sweet tooth. Chocolate & Chances at 2 PPG Place in downtown Pittsburgh sold the third of five $5 million Fabulous Fortune scratch-offs according to WPXI News. Fabulous Fortune is one of only three $50 scratchers available in Pennsylvania and eight of the 15 combined $5 million maximum payouts have already been claimed. Lion’s Share has the most $5 million payouts remaining with 4, while the MONOPOLY Own It All has one left.

Who has the biggest active individual state lotto jackpot in the land? That distinction currently belongs to California, which has an $11 million top prize up for grabs in the Super Lotto Plus on Saturday. There is a multi-state Lotto America drawing on Saturday worth nearly $27.1 million.

Until next week, dream big, check your numbers, and play responsibly!