Thursday, Jan 30, 2003 - With a $10 billion shortage, Governor Perry is using tax payer money to pay legal fees, to the tune of $400 per hour, for his ex-chief of staff from the lawsuit Linda Cloud (the ex-lottery director) filed. Yet Governor Perry won't provide consumer protection to lottery players and is currently allowing the lottery to scam the people of Texas out of their hard earned dollars. Click here.

Tuesday, Jan 28, 2003 - Today's entry is lengthy because I'm trying to cover the questions that have come in recently. The questions I'm answering in depth are: (You can either just scroll down and read it all or click on one of the questions to get to the heart of the question - though beware because I've tried to write this where one subject leads into the next.)

What could I have won by using the special edition of
the Lotto Report for the $53 million drawing?
Would you summarize the $53 million Lotto Texas "roll"?
Why is it taking so long for the jackpot pots to climb?
What's the latest on the anticipated rule change
and what is the TLC's purpose?
Are your figures correct concerning the schools share of sales?
Do you believe the 2002 Demographic Study of Lottery Players?
Is Don going to give us another play?

By using the special online edition of the Lotto Report for the $53 million drawing ...
The most popular question was what could you have won by using the "special edition" Lotto Report last Wednesday night (1-22-03)? Well, if you used my "target a number" method, and IF you had "targeted" numbers 17 or 40 or 42 - conceiveably, you could have hit 4 of the 6 numbers drawn.

If you had picked your numbers from those not drawn this year, 2003, conceivably, you could have had 5 of the 6 numbers drawn. For this drawing, that I can find, there was not a way to have had 6 of 6 numbers using the Lotto Report.

I have taken the online edition and marked in red these points to show you first hand where the numbers were. Click here and see the "At A Glance" page then find numbers 17, 40 and 42 in the "Lotto Numbers" spread.

Congratulations to those of you who did win by selecting your numbers in this manner.

Summary of the $53 mIllion drawing
The second most popular question and request was for a summary of the draws. So - here goes.

It took 11 draws to reach $53 Million. The TLC sold 86,701,960 lotto tickets. Out of the 86 million tickets:

Two tickets matched 6 of 6 - each winner will receive $16,270,490 of the $86 M.

972 tickets were 5 of 6 winners - $2,417,719 from the $86.7M

55,599 tickets were 4 of 6 winners - $5,957,334 from the $86.7M

1,131,354 tickets were 3 of 6 winners - $5,656,770 from the $86.7M

This totals 1,187,927 total winners receiving $46,572,803 of the $86.7M.

BUT, the TLC is suppose to return a minimum of 55% of sales to the players which was $47,686,078. Players were shorted by $1,113,275 in this "roll."

There were 85,514,033 losing tickets in this "roll."

This $53 million drawing fell in "11th place." The largest jackpots were:

* $85M - Mar 7, 2001 - 11 draws in roll
$77M - March 16, 1994 - 6 draws in roll (increased from $75M)
* $70M - June 22, 2002 - 11 draws in roll
$70M - Oct 21, 1998 - 10 draws in roll
$65M - Aug 27, 1994 - 6 draws in roll
$60M - Aug 19, 1995 - 6 draws in roll
$60M - Sept 9, 2000 - 10 draws in roll
$55M - Oct 18, 1997 - 7 draws in roll
$55M - May 31, 1995 - 6 draws in roll
$55M - Nov 16, 1994 - 6 draws in roll
* $53M - Jan 22, 2003 - 11 draws in roll
(*Indicates draws since adding the 4 balls)

Why does it take so long for the jackpots to climb?
The reason it's taking so long for the jackpots to climb is because people are still outraged for the 1997 rule change (increased to 25 year payouts) and the 2000 rule change (added 4 balls to make it harder to win) and have either quit playing altogether or reduced their spending. The pots cannot climb unless they are backed by sales.

The sole purpose of the above mentioned rule changes was to allow the TLC to make "more" money for the state by insuring fewer winners, resulting in jackpots rolls that entice an increase in consumer spending. This further outraged the players.

This ploy, in my opinion, is no different than the actions of Enron executives - Enron execs encouraged their employees and private citizens to buy more stock when they themselves were selling their own stock and making millions (known as inside information) .... or those moving companies who bid low to get jobs then, once they got the job, they increased the customers costs to exorbitant figures. Then they would keep the customers belongings until the customer paid. These companies used "loop-holes" in the law to do this legally and are still getting away with it ... In addition, look at all those great big companies making $1 billion per year from porn movies while the young girls are paid meager sums and ruining their lives forever ... the bottom line is, the rich get richer by scamming or taking advantage of us normal folks.

This is exactly what the lotteries are doing to the people. The states keep at least 50% of total sales then the federal government gets at least 28% of the players winnings which ultimately means the people only see a maximum of 22% of all money taken in by lotteries. And folks, Texas sells approx $2 billion in lottery products each year. In reality, the players receive a "meager" sum considering what they spent but what's even worse than this is - we have NO consumer protection.

I received an email from an outraged player that I want to share with you. I feel the documentation he included and his thoughts were well expressed ...

"The specific purpose of my forwarding this link to you is because it explains the power States exercise over gaming and is based on their own Police powers. States have not been given authority over gaming to provide themselves with revenue - they've been given that authority to protect citizens from the negative effects of gaming! (The link that explains this is - http://www.gamblingandthelaw.com/internet_gambling.html)

Dawn, you're so right, we don't have ANY consumer rights. The government even consistently tells us that Lottery proceeds are a very small portion of the budget - while in reality, our beloved comptroller, Carole Keeton Rylander Strayhorn, has posted the true figures in the 2004-2005 budget estimate, which can be found on the Comptroller's web site.

Oddly, I don't see any reference to the 'found' money referenced in her campaign ads. The reality is that Lottery proceeds are: 1) 8% of the Foundation School Fund and 2) lottery proceeds exceed any of the commonly recognizable benchmarks - Motor Fuels Tax - Natural Gas Tax - Alcoholic Beverage Tax.

We don't have ANY consumer rights, but we do have citizen's rights. The whole purpose of States having the authority to operate a monopoly of this type, is to protect the citizens; not strip mine them. We not only have a right, but an obligation to turn the TLC into a responsive consumer oriented organization." End message and I think it says it all!

What is the latest on the anticipated rule change for Lotto Texas and what is the TLC's purpose?
On Friday, Jan 31, 2003, the TLC is once again going to propose to change Lotto Texas to make it even harder to win so they can get the "rolls" that do nothing more but entice consumer spending. The motive - so the state and the federal governments can make more money. They will do this by instilling unlikely, false hopes & false dreams in the minds of the majority of the citizens just to entice spending. This is "strip-mining" the people ... as was referenced above.

Texas' true color will be seen on Friday, Jan 31st - Will the 3 Commissioners have the integrity and decency to say, "NO, enough is enough of highway robbery to the citizens of Texas - we want to protect our citizens" OR will they say, "Yeah, let's put this plan up for comment because we need to make more money?"

For the people, the lottery, especially when changes are made to purposely create losers, is nothing more than a "legal" scam and as many of you have pointed out recently, can ONLY be done by a "state" because the laws forbid private citizens from running such businesses scams.

Always remember, if a private citizen or entity makes "false claims" about their products OR "implies unrealistic results" to consumers, the AG will go after them, sue them and shut them down.

Yet the Texas Lottery, and all the other lotteries for that matter, are doing exactly this. They are preying on the people by implanting false hopes in the minds of the majority of the consumers for the sole purpose of making more money for the state and federal governments ONLY. They KNOW that very few people will profit from buying their products and folks, this is called scamming the consumers.

We need to know why consumers/citizens aren't being protected from "government scams?"

Lotteries could be good - but greed by our state and federal legislators have allowed lotteries to stoop to devious, unscrupulous acts and prey on the citizens in this country.

The upcoming proposal will guarantee players will lose more often. The government KNOWS this and sadly, are banking on it to pass.

Already, to entice play and with the sole intent of making more money for the state, Texas has:

1) added 4 balls to lotto to prevent players from winning;

2) increased the draws from a "realistic" number of draws per week to 22 draws per week (more draws ... more spending);

3) added 5 years to annual prize payments so it requires less money for the state to invest to pay the prizes offered (and rumor has it they are going to up it again to 30 years);

4) changed rules and offered games with ridiculous $2, $5, and $7 prizes just so they can: 1) advertise how many people "win" (entices play); 2) increase the unclaimed prize fund (more money for the state) and 3) have a "reserve fund" for the games ... the state keeps all excess reserve money yet it comes from the players share of sales;

5) cheated players out of their winnings while hoping no one would know any better (this is confirmed and the AG will not - can not - help these people collect their winnings);

6) cheated players out of invaluable game data out of fear that players wouldn't buy lottery products if they knew (knowledge is everything - much like information that is kept from juries that "loop-holes" in the law allows to be withheld, yet the juries are making life and death decisions);

7) continue to allow lottery terminals to check tickets for players while knowing that the terminals can give false readings - this enables them to keep MORE of the players share of sales;

8) and finally, foolishly and intentionally adopted rules enabling the TLC to pay out more than what's due while advertising the game is "pari-mutuel" ... A special little "loop-hole" created to cover themselves from false advertising lawsuits so their advertising can "imply" something that isn't just to entice sales.

Because none of this has satisfied their quest for "more money" and the changes previously made proved unsuccessful, Texas plans to use the same ole tactics again in yet another attempt to "make more money for the state" at the SOLE expense of the majority of the consumers.

Texas' plan is nothing new - other states have already done this - yet lottery sales are declining universally. All Texas is doing, is copying other states failing ideas - instead of making more money the honest way, they chose the easy way out - just rip off the people. In the end, the players and the retailers are the ones who are getting screwed.

The odds of winning Lotto Texas was 15 million to one, then it increased to 26 million to one, and if they propose and adopt this new proposed rule, the odds will be 47.1 million to one ... What comes after that ... 110 million to one, 200 million to one, 500 million to one ... Where does this stop?

Gawd ... WHO in the HELL is going to protect the PEOPLE from these government scams? Just how much money will it take to satisfy the state?

The schools money -
Surprisingly ya'll caught and questioned me on this ... The reason I removed the amount of sales due the TLC, the retailers and the schools from my graphics was because those figures came under fire by a huge, well known, well respected entity and I felt it was imperative to check it out. I pride myself in telling the truth to the people and will NEVER intentionally mislead you.

The question put before me was - do the schools receive 33% of the "states share" of Lotto Texas sales or do the schools receive 33% of "total Lotto Texas sales?" The questions and comments were valid. It was possible that perhaps I incorrectly reported the "schools share" of sales. And since they could've been right, I pulled it.

The TLC's 2002 Financial Statement, on page 28 says: "Revenues from instant and on-line lottery ticket sales, and fees, net of retailer commissions and direct retailer prize payments are deposited directly into an account in the Enterprise Fund. From this account, prize payment reimbursements are made to a separate local bank account to provide for prize payments. The Commission retains 12 percent of gross Lottery revenues accruing from the sales of tickets for the payment of cost incurred in the operation and administration of the Lottery operations, including not less than 5 percent for retailer commissions."

From Lotto Texas sales, the school fund receives 33% of total sales (it was lowered from 38% when they added those 4 balls in 2000). From Cash 5 and Texas 2 Step, the school fund receives 38% of sales. From Pick3, I don't know ... I forgot to ask! Percentages to the school fund from scratch ticket sales vary due to the fact that they all have different prize structures.

While I do intend to read the Lottery Act to see if the percentages due the schools are set in stone, as they should be, this is what I have been told by the TLC. Therefore I feel that I did correctly quote these figures.

The 2002 Demographic Study
I'm surprised at the number of you who have commented on the TLC's "2002 Demographic Study of Lottery Players." In answer to your main question, NO - I do NOT believe the findings and ya'll can relax, neither does anybody else.

For those of you who do not know the results of the survey, the conclusion of the survey stated in part:

"It is important to note that those with the lowest levels of education and income were the least likely to play the games of the Texas Lottery. These findings are consistent with previous findings and what we currently understand about our players, despite the participation myths to the contrary. Not only are Texans who fall within these lower income and education groups significantly less likely to participate in the Texas Lottery, they represent a relatively small proportion of our player base.

It is significant to note that of the 56 percent of adult Texans who play the Texas Lottery, only 11 percent of lower education groups and only 7 percent of lower incomes reported that they purchase more than $250 in tickets per year. This finding supports the contention that we have stressed that the Texas Lottery is an enjoyable form of entertainment, and we have encouraged our players to play responsibly in regards to their Texas Lottery purchases."

Let's use a little logic here. First of all, the TLC should NOT need or even use a "phone survey" to determine how much lower income folks spend playing the lottery. The reason, the TLC and the retailers have undisputable sales figures where they can break down lottery sales by lower income, middle income and wealthy areas. IF they had conducted their study based on the facts at hand and IF they had wanted to portray the truth, the method of obtaining this particular data would have come directly from their own records!

I can say this safely because: 1) I've seen it firsthand and, 2) two major retailers have provided me with their sales demographics that clearly concluded that the majority and consistency of lottery spending comes from low income areas.

Second of all - the "$250 per year" as quoted for the amount the lower income folks "supposedly" spend, averages $20.8 per month. The TLC offers $5, $10 and $20 dollar scratch tickets and the scratch tickets are the hottest item because the low income folks are looking for "fast cash." I suppose the TLC expects us to believe that low income folks only buy one or two scratch tickets per month?

Third - this survey was done by phone. The lower income folks don't have phones! The low income folks are the ones buying the majority of the calling cards. And can't you just see someone saying to a stranger by phone, "Well, I make $20,000 per year and I spend $500 per month playing the lottery." Or in reverse, "Well, I make $100,000 a year and I spend $500 per month playing the lottery." Let's face it - everybody in their dogs say, "Oh, I only spend $1, $2 or $5 per drawing." People RARELY admit to how much they spend gambling!

In a survey phone script, it wouldn't matter whether the income questions were at the beginning of the conversation or the end of the conversation - the basic subject matter was "gambling" and few people will tell the truth - because - quite frankly - that's a personal issue.

How many alcoholics say they drink to much? How many drug addicts admit they have a problem? How many gamblers admit they have a problem? How many tell the truth about how much they drink, smoke or gamble? The answer to these questions is NONE - until they are recovered and then they don't indulge at all.

And finally, please notice that they used the word "reported." This is how they clarified the so-called findings ... much like they did when they used those "questionable" surveys to show support in adding 4 balls to Lotto Texas. If those finding were true - then why are sales down? After all, they claimed players were in favor of adding 4 balls. Good scammers have to cover every aspect for success - well - I give the TLC an A+.

About Don
YES, Don will have another Pick3 play for ya'll. And YOUR WELCOME for posting Jeff's Pick 3 prediction. When I saw Jeff's numbers, I believed in them and that's why I posted a "strangers" message. Plus, I thought it would be fun. BUT, I still will not post plays for the day draw on a daily or regular basis. I know ya'll play the numbers and I won't have your losses on my conscience. This is how I sleep at night.

Wednesday, Jan 22, 2003 - I have lots of news for you but not enough time to tell it all! But I did want to take a second to address several things for all of you.

First of all, YOUR WELCOME, for doing a special Lotto Report with current information. Please don't overspend playing the game tonight. The odds are against you but it is true, you can't win if you don't have a ticket. My philosophy is that IF God intends you to win, then one ticket is all you need!

Second of all, THANK YOU for all the kind words about my web site. The calls and emails have made my day!

Third, YES, I am going to do all I can to help you stop the Texas Lottery from making Lotto Texas harder to win but YOU MUST HELP ME. We can't do anything until we know what their plan is and they won't tell. When they present the plan to the Commissioners is when we'll know. Yesterday they finally posted notice that there was a meeting on the 31st, but there is no agenda. Somewhat unfair ... like I've said, lottery players have NO consumer protection.

Fourth, about Don's experiment. This is a fun project that has a very specific purpose. If it works the way we THINK it will, well, it'll be good for everybody. I'm sincerely sorry that we could only take 18 players and that we are not publishing the numbers for everybody to see. But we couldn't, however, this project is FULLY documented.

Fifth - about those target numbers. Sorry, I don't know what to recommend. There have been 10 drawings with no jackpot winner and for the most part, the drawings have been all big numbers.

The majority of the players play what's called "birthday numbers." That means people religiously play two numbers between 1-12, then they play two numbers between 1-31, then the last two numbers are generally between 35-54 with a differential of 5 between the last two numbers between 35-54. By that I mean, the "years" number may be 40 & 45 which stands for the years 1940 and 1945. As you can see from the list of drawings below, only one of the last 10 drawings fit that criteria (1-8-03) but they only sold 6,727,581 tickets out of 25,827,165 total combinations. The odds of not having a winner was in their favor.

9E - 12-18-02: 04-18-27-36-39-51 - 4 Million
8E - 12-21-02: 05-28-46-48-51-53 - 5 Million
10E - 12-25-02: 03-14-16-32-33-38 - 6 Million
7E - 12-28-02: 02-04-06-19-21-48 - 9 Million
7D - 01-01-03: 15-29-33-40-44-52 -12 Million
10D - 01-04-03: 09-10-13-27-39-48 - 15 Million
9D - 01-08-03: 01-10-18-23-44-49 - 20 Million
8D - 01-11-03: 01-10-18-45-49-51 - 25 Million
7D - 01-15-03: 02-20-24-40-47-53 - 32 Million
10D - 01-18-03: 01-15-19-39-45-51 - 40 Million

Sixth - So many of you have written that you felt the drawings were "rigged." A great many of you expressed that sentiment after the drawing on 1-11-03 because 4 of 6 numbers drawn were the same as what were drawn on the 8th. I do NOT believe the "drawings are rigged." IF a lottery "cheats," they do it by weighting the balls to prevent some numbers from being drawn. Now, as to whether or not Texas does this, well, I have no way of knowing that but I chose to believe they do not.

Texas does cheat players out of the players share of sales and this is WRONG in my opinion. In this current Lotto Texas roll, from the players share of sales which is suppose to be 55%, players have been shorted by over $800,000. I can assure you, players will not see that money. If the state cannot divide the revenues fairly and honestly, then it is time to VOTE the lottery out.

One more thing, I strongly advise you to check your own tickets. Do NOT take your tickets to a retailer and let his terminal check your tickets for you. Get the drawing results and check your own tickets. The terminals err in reading the tickets. G-Tech and the TLC is aware of this flaw yet they continue to allow retailers to check tickets. Retailers however, do not know this. I chose to believe that if they did, they would cease checking players tickets.

Recently there have been two unclaimed lotto tickets - how sad it would be to know that the player let a terminal check his ticket and the terminal said it was not a winning ticket when it was, in fact, a jackpot winning ticket. Check your own tickets. They don't give this money back to the players - they keep it. And for the record, this is one way they CAN cheat!

And finally, welcome new visitors! And I'm sorry too that you didn't know about my web site but you do now, so come back!

Good luck tonight.

Sunday, December, 29, 2002 - BEWARE - The Texas Lottery reprinted another 25,184,250 Weekly Grand scratch tickets - game #326 that hit the stores on Dec 18, 2002. This ticket offers 3 top grand prizes of $1000 per week for 20 years.

The problem is, the last Weekly Grand, game #309 which began last May 2002, had 3 top grand prizes too BUT, they have never been claimed. As of Dec 21, 2002, the TLC still had 5,298,324 unsold Weekly Grands (#309). This is as many tickets as they sometimes print totally for a scratch ticket.

Another interesting note, the TLC started this new Weekly Grand (#326) ticket without giving any kind of notice to players or to me. It is important to say that I called the TLC on Dec 16th and specifically asked what games were due to begin before Jan 1. In addition, I make an open records request every week to receive "sell-in-sheets" for any new and any re-print games but I never have received this one and it's old news now.

This runs up a big red flag to me. The printer could have placed the 3 grand prize tickets in the last pool of tickets which may never be distributed to the public. The printer guarantees the TLC that the prizes and losers are evenly distributed in separate pools for shipping purposes. The TLC is guaranteed success on scratch tickets - there is NO way they can lose money.

The worst news is, players have no way of knowing unless the DA or a court steps in to investigate. There is no Consumer Protection for lottery players as the Attorney General is the TLC’s attorney. Imagine, a $1 billion per year state run industry with no consumer protection for the citizens of Texas.

FYI - Since last year and the big lawsuit in California, this is not the only Texas scratch ticket where the top prizes have not been claimed within a reasonable length of time after they've been distributed. One has to wonder about things like this - it looks and feels suspicious.

Thursday, Dec 19, 2002 - Can you believe it's just six more days until Christmas? It's really hard to believe. Just in case I don't have the opportunity to tell you ... I sincerely hope each and every one of you have a very Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year.

For today, I have several things to share with you ... all very important.

First, I'm sure most of you have read that there are two (2) jackpot winning tickets that will expire if they are not claimed soon. The first is a Texas 2 Step ticket worth $300,000 that was purchased in Grand Prairie at the Whip In Fina located at 3502 Carrier Parkway on June 25, 2002. The numbers drawn were 6-10-16-35 Bonus 23. It will expire on Dec 25th.

The second is a Lotto Texas ticket worth $9 million ($5 million) that was purchased at 7-Eleven located at 3329 Oak Lawn in Dallas on July 13, 2002. The numbers drawn were 5-8-11-22-29-42 and the ticket will expire on 1-9-03 - the TLC counts precisely 180 days - they want that money!

Now I have several comments about these unclaimed tickets. First, the TLC should have a photo of the person(s) who purchased the tickets. But they won't release these photo claiming that they "may" expose something they shouldn't. Like a man with his girlfriend or visa versa.

I don't know for sure that they have these photo's because I know, for a fact, that G-Tech's rep did not go to the 7-Eleven the day after the win like they generally do. In fact, I was the one who told the store they had sold the winning ticket. The store didn't even get it's "winning banner" for quite some time. Since G-Tech did not go to the store, then the film may not have been preserved.

The other thing that concerns me about these two tickets is that I wonder if the person who purchased these tickets actually took them to a retailer to see if the ticket was a winner but the terminal misread the ticket. This does happen but players don't know it can because the TLC doesn't reveal these little tidbits. Even though they know this can happen.

At any rate, all I can do is let ya'll know about this and if you bought your tickets at these two locations - search hard for missing tickets!

Now for some good news. We have our first retailer who has voiced opposition regarding the TLC's anticipated rule change to make winning Lotto Texas harder. If everybody would send a letter to the major lottery retailers, we would be one step closer to halting the TLC's plan. (Volunteers - here is your first job.)

In addition, I will be providing a list of the major retailers, their addresses and phone numbers. If you take it upon yourself to obtain the contact information, try asking for the "Hotline for Corporate Affairs." Please let me know too so that I can add them to my list as I may not already have the information.

Next, I've been shocked at the number of volunteers who have "phoned" offering their services. The reason I'm "shocked" is that these people do not have computers and have no access to my web site for information. I still need volunteers - in this case, we can't have too many. We have a BIG job to do and I must have help and we WILL win this time.

Finally, about Don's "to come" play that we were waiting to start play on ... Yes, he is a genius when it comes to the Pick3 game. He has sooo many ways of figuring the numbers and he considers many factors that there is no way I could begin to explain them all. Maybe someday he'll write a book BUT, if he did, the lotteries would either quit the game or do something drastic like add a bonus ball! How's that for a little humor? You must remember, they are only in the business to make money no matter what.

Merry Christmas to all.

Friday, Dec 13, 2002 - I've posted several things for ya'll in the last couple of days that you should read. They are:

1) The TLC's motive in making Lotto Texas harder to win - to sell $50 million dollars of "worthless paper" to "dreaming" consumers in just 3 days. click here.

2) The 5 options the TLC is considering for changing Lotto Texas, click here

3) New comments where I have responded, click here.

4) Yeah ... Don's last Pick3 prediction came in and ya'll smiled all the way to the bank with your $160! I posted a message from him this morning where he spells out what the next play MIGHT be. Click here.

Sunday, Dec 8, 2002 - Ya'll keep asking me "why" do they want to add more balls and make it "harder" to win Lotto Texas. So OK - I've spelled it out for you. See the Dec 8th entry after clicking here.

Friday, Dec 6, 2002 - The TLC posted the agenda for the next Commissioners meeting which will be held on Friday, Dec 13, 2002. By reading the agenda, it does not appear that the TLC plans to propose any rule changes to Lotto Texas during this meeting.

I say this because the agenda reads, (a) "V. Report, possible discussion and/or action on lottery sales and trends." (b) "XIII. Report, possible discussion and/or action on the agency's demographic study of the lottery."

In the past, the TLC has always clarified "proposal of" and/or "adoption of" a very specific rule (Example: 16TAC 401.305) on the agenda. When an issue is of great public interest, the agenda, by law, is suppose to contain an "adequate description" of the subject matter that will be discussed.

While I am not an attorney, I do not feel this is an "adequate description" for a topic discussion such as adding 5 balls to Lotto Texas or playing a game that has a total of 88 balls. Therefore, I do not believe they will propose a rule change for Lotto Texas this month.

If they choose to change the agenda at this point to make this clear, they will have to call for an "emergency meeting."

The TLC still does not have the transcript from the Nov 22, 2002 posted on their web site so we have no way of seeing "exactly" what was discussed last month about changing Lotto Texas.

FYI - I called the TLC this morning and asked specifically if a "proposal" is going to be made but have not received an answer from them yet.

I will keep you posted.

If you have not read the players comments about the anticipated rule change, click here. I posted 3 more messages yesterday and two more today. Keep them coming in. OK?

Saturday, Nov 23, 2002 - Everybody notice that the TLC has not posted anything on their web site about wanting to change Lotto Texas again. They haven't ask for any input from players - the very people who support them. When they do post the proposed changes, I predict it will be hidden in the "legal section" and won't be explained in laymans terms. When they issue a press release, it will probably tell you how much money the "state" will make! We'll see ... read the next entry for the latest news.

Friday, Nov 22, 2002 - In today's Commissioners meeting, the TLC announced they were going to come back next month with a proposal to change Lotto Texas in one of these 3 ways:

1) Pick 6 out of 59 balls

2) Pick 6 out of 59 balls plus add a bonus ball
(like New York's lotto game)

3) Pick 5 out of 44 balls then 1 out of 44 balls
(like Powerball & California)

Odds would either be 1 in 45 million or 1 in 47 million. Currently, odds are 1 in 26 million, up from 1 in 15 million.

Well folks, it looks like the Lottery wants to collect our money but offer us nothing in return. This is called greed no matter how you look at it. I suppose this is how the state plans to cover it's $10 billion deficit.

It's time players take a serious stand. How dare they give the people something like this.

Next week, I'll get started with a plan of action for us to take. This time we need to make ourselves heard to the retailers. I need some volunteers. Email me.

Sorry for the bad news. Read the players comments.