A Dallas man in his 20s woke up a millionaire on Thursday after purchasing an online Texas lottery ticket.
The Dallas man had never purchased a ticket through the online service before, according to a press release from theLotter Texas. He was awarded one million in the second-tier category; no one won the U.S. Powerball Jackpot.
The Powerball rolled over to $1.5 billion on Wednesday night after the drawing, theLotter Texas shared. The next Powerball drawing is on Saturday, November 5.
When Texans can place online lottery ticket orders, couriers buy in-person tickets.
They are then scanned into the online purchaser’s account.
Peggy Daniel, theLotter Texas’ managing director for the U.S., shared that small winnings are put directly in the winner’s account.
“Wins of up to $600 are transferred directly to a client’s account; bigger prizes can be collected in person at Texas Lottery offices,” Daniel said in the press release.
The online service has been in the Lone Star State for more than a year. Daniel said, “Though we have had great lottery winners in Texas during that time, this is the first time a Texan customer wins a sum exceeding the $1 million threshold.”
“We were especially excited when we realized he had only signed up with theLotter Texas the day before,” Daniel shared. “We are all over the moon for him.”
To win the jackpot, the five main numbers and the Powerball number must match the numbers drawn, according to theLotter Texas website. Each jackpot amount will start at $20 million, and each time no winner is drawn, it will grow.
The largest jackpot was awarded in 2016, a total of $1.586 billion. There are eight additional prize categories as well that ticket purchasers can win.
Smaller lottery prizes have been won by other Texans buying online tickets, according to the website.
In April, Robert Buffington from Seguin won $25,000 in the Cash Five jackpot. He told theLotter Texas at the time that he bought the ticket after seeing an advertisement for the service. Buffington added that he does not usually have time to buy lottery tickets from in-person retailers.
“I saw the advertisement, and I said, ‘Well, I’m going to check it out,’ because it’s a lot more easier than going to the store [and] retaining the ticket,” he said. “This way, I could do everything online and have everything checked and have everybody else doing my dirty work for me and my running around.”
Buffington said he had won a few dollars while playing the lottery over the years, but nothing close to his $25,000 prize.
Tavian S., a U.S. Army service member from Cedar Park, also won from an April ticket purchase, the website shared. He won $10,000 in the Mega Millions drawing and had the biggest individual win at the time.
