A number of Texas Lottery players have been left feeling angry and disappointed by the lottery's "Fun 5’s" instant-win game, and didn’t find it much fun at all when they handed in what they believed was a winning ticket only to told that was not the case.
Several of the peeved punters have been in touch with, self-appointed, Texas Lottery watchdog Dawn Nettles.
Nettles has been monitoring the lottery's activities for over 20 years and publishing the results of her investigations—including instances where the lottery breaks its own rules—in her Lotto Report.
Based on the wording of the rules on the ticket, Nettles believes the players have a strong case against the lottery.
The games rules, as printed on the ticket, state: "Reveal a 'money bag' symbol in the 5X box, win five times that prize."
Austin resident, Geraldine Steele, scratched off her ticket and believed she'd won $500,000, but when her husband took it back to the gas station Geraldine had purchased it from he was told the ticket had no value.
"We were disappointed because the machine showed that it was not a winner, and we thought that it was a winner," James Steele said.
Nettles says she knows Geraldine and James Steele are not alone in their frustration because she has received over 150 calls from angry players. All of them thought they’d won because their tickets had the money bag symbol in the 5X box.
Texas Lottery officials are adamant that the players have misinterpreted the rules of the game, but Nettles disagrees and has already sent a letter of complaint to the Travis County district attorney.
