The New York Gaming Commission moved on Monday to ban “bulk buying” of lottery tickets and related sales practices, aiming to head off the kind of syndicate operation that secured a $95 million Texas jackpot in 2023.

The measures were approved unanimously as proposed regulations and are now open for public comment before final adoption, a process New York regulators expect to conclude this fall.

Newsweek has contacted the New York Gaming Commission via email for comment.

Why it Matters

State regulators said the rules mattered because large-scale purchases could undermine public trust in the randomness and fairness of state lotteries and create incentives for exploitation. New York officials cited a high-profile Texas incident in which a buyer purchased nearly every numerical combination and later drew scrutiny, resignations and multiple investigations.

What To Know

The proposed New York rules would prohibit any attempt to buy all or a substantial share of ticket combinations in a draw game or to purchase all tickets in an instant game, including through wire or electronic transfers.

They also ban collaboration in bulk-purchase schemes, create an affirmative duty for lottery agents, vendors, and courier services to report such attempts, and authorize lottery staff to suspend or limit sales at locations where suspicious activity is detected.

Commission chairman Brian O’Dwyer said the rules targeted the Texas episode directly: “This is really aimed at what happened in Texas.”

Texas Lottery Scandal

In 2023, the Texas consortium secured a $95 million jackpot after purchasing nearly all 25.8 million possible number combinations at $1 each.

The group gained access to official ticket-printing terminals, allowing them to generate nearly 100 tickets per second, the Wall Street Journal reported. Within three days, they had covered virtually every six-number combination from a pool of 1 to 54.

After deducting the $25.8 million spent on tickets and additional expenses, the syndicate ultimately walked away with a profit of around $58 million.

It resulted in the executive director of the Texas State Lottery resigning and the state legislature setting the Texas Lottery Commission’s budget at $0 for two years beginning in September.

What People Are Saying

The New York Gaming Commissionsaid in a post on X, formerly Twitter: “Bulk purchases, particularly by large investment groups or syndicates aiming to buy nearly all possible combinations, can undermine the public’s perception of fairness and randomness in the lottery. This proposal seeks to enact measures to mitigate the risk of such an attempt and to protect the fairness of access to jackpot prizes by all purchasers of a lottery tickets.”

Its commissioner John A. Crotty said: “It will help the integrity of the game itself, which was not upheld in Texas.”

What Happens Next

The New York rules entered a public comment period before final adoption, and commissioners signaled further reviews of courier services, temporary terminal leases and electronic payment methods that could enable high-volume purchases.

Regulators said they did not have evidence of a Texas-style bulk purchase in New York but argued preventive rules would protect lottery integrity; the commission indicated it would consider additional measures on courier sales and electronic purchasing later.