The Texas Lottery reports that an Arlington, Texas resident has claimed the $7.5 million Texas Lotto prize from the May 17, 2023 drawing. This lucky winner defied the odds by getting all six numbers correctly, qualifying for the grand prize.
What were the lucky numbers?
The six winning numbers for the May 17, 2023 Texas Lotto drawing are shown in the following video. Note that results for several games are shown in the video. The winning Texas Lotto numbers are drawn at the beginning of the video and shown briefly beginning at about :52.
Who sold the winning Texas Lotto ticket?
The lucky winner bought the ticket with all the right numbers (“self-picked” according to the press release) at One World Grocery, a Mansfield, Texas convenience store and lottery retailer. The exact location is shown on the following map:
Who won the $7,500,000 jackpot?
All we know is that the winner is an Arlington, Texas resident. The winner has chosen to remain anonymous.
The winner has “chosen to remain anonymous”? I thought lotteries insisted on revealing the identities of jackpot winners.
That is correct. In many states in the USA, the identities of lottery winners are made public, with no option for the winners to remain anonymous. In some of these states, however, winners can keep their identities private by claiming their prize via a trust.
Unfortunately, certain states — looking at you, California — explicitly prevent even this option. From the California Lottery’s Winner’s Handbook:
“You can form a trust prior to claiming your prize, but our regulations do not allow a trust to claim a prize. Understand that your name is still public and reportable.”
But Texas is different. Or is it?
Fortunately for the winner of the $7,500,000 Texas Lotto grand prize, Texas is one of those states that does respect the wishes of its prize winners, at least for the large jackpots…. except… wait a minute.
Here is the quote from the Texas Lottery Retailer Support that I initially thought made the Texas Lottery one of the “good guys” where winner’s anonymity is concerned:
“The 85th legislative regular session enacted HB 59 authorizing certain prize winners who win lottery prizes in the amount of $1 million or more to choose to remain anonymous.”
But once again, the Devil is in the details. Wondering just who those “certain prize winners” might be, I read on. Sure enough, under “Limitations,” the next section in the same document, I found this:
“If a winner chooses to receive periodic installment payments (annuity), the prohibition on releasing the winner’s name lasts only until the 30th day after the person claims the lottery prize.”
Anonymous for just 30 days?
All of this left me puzzled. The press release states that the $7.5 million jackpot winner chose the “annual payments,” or annuity, option. Yet it goes on to say that “The claimant elected to remain anonymous.” According to the limitation quoted above, the winner’s identity can be released 30 days after they claim their prize.
Windfall wealth is wonderful! But read the fine print.
It is probably safe to say that anyone would love to trade places with the Texas Lotto winner described in this article. An extra $7.5 million would be a wonderful addition to most household budgets, even if it does come in thirty yearly installments as in this case.
But even the remarkable good fortune of winning a big lottery jackpot can come with strings attached. The winner of this Texas Lotto drawing has chosen to remain anonymous.
However, it seems possible that a strict interpretation of the Texas Lottery rules will limit their anonymity to just 30 days. Depending on their reasons for preferring to remain anonymous, this could result in serious complications.
It might seem odd to think of planning for such an unlikely, yet welcome, event as winning the lottery. But if the lottery gods happen to smile on you one fine day, it is probably a good idea to immediately start looking into the details of just how you will receive your new-found fortune.
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