Texas Lottery Winners
The Texas Lottery creates thousands of winners every day across its wide range of draw games. Many players have even been lucky enough to land multimillion-dollar jackpots, some of which have stretched into nine figures. The biggest wins have mostly come on multi-state lotteries Powerball and Mega Millions, but Lotto Texas has also been known to get above $100 million. Find out about the largest lottery wins in the Lone Star State.
Top 10 Winners
Here are the top 10 biggest lottery winners in Texas. Read their stories, find out how much they won and the games that paid out their life-changing prizes.
February 11, 2015 - This Powerball jackpot was the fifth-highest in US lottery history. It was split by the TL Management Trust of Texas, Marie Holmes of North Carolina, and an anonymous ticket-holder in Puerto Rico. The Trust purchased its ticket in Princeton, TX and opted for the cash value payout of $127 million before taxes.
September 24, 2019 - An anonymous player in Leander, a suburb of Austin, hit this Mega Millions prize, the largest ever won by a single Lottery player in Texas. The ticket was sold in Cedar Park and the winner took the cash option of $157 million before withholdings.
March 31, 2017 - Eliberto Cantu, a construction worker from Lubbock, took home this Mega Millions jackpot with a ticket he purchased while working in Arkansas, after convincing a colleague to stop at a gas station. Cantu chose the cash option and received $72 million before taxes. "My father got up the other morning at 5:30, and realized he didn’t have to go to work," said Cantu’s son Rodrigo. "He’s been playing since Texas started its lottery. I’m sure he’ll keep playing. You can’t break a 30-year-old habit."
June 19, 2004 - Alfredo Ornelas Barragan claimed this record-breaking Lotto Texas grand prize on behalf of VOM Enterprises, Ltd. The prize was won with a ticket purchased in El Paso. "We are very happy and thankful for this gift that God has given us," Barragan said. He opted for the cash payout of $82.5 million before withholdings.
January 29, 2010 - At the time, this Mega Millions prize was the biggest ever won in the Lone Star State. Katy resident William R. Kiefer took the annuity option of $144 million (before taxes) paid in instalments over 26 years. "I plan to give 60 percent of all [my] after-tax winnings to charity," Kiefer said. A member of his church said he was a "really good man with a big heart."
July 6, 2007 - The Dallas-based H & H Trust took home this incredible Mega Millions jackpot, which set a record at the time as the game’s highest prize ever claimed in Texas. "We were daydreaming about winning the lottery and taking some time off," said a Trust member. "We checked the ticket just for fun."
January 9, 2007 - The Crump, Allen & Lewis General Partnership of Amarillo hit the biggest Mega Millions jackpot ever won in Texas with a ticket sold in Amarillo and opted for the lump sum payment of $73,572,690 prior to taxes. "To all the millions who bought tickets and didn’t win, I thank you very much," said retired postal worker Ronald Crump. He planned to travel to the Caribbean, New York and Las Vegas. "I thought I’d better make Vegas last," he joked.
March 1, 2005 - The second Mega Millions jackpot to be won in the Lone Star State was claimed by Dennis Cane and his wife on behalf of MAL Holdings, LP of Rowlett. The winners took the cash option of $68,208,778 before taxes. "My wife and I have been together since 1978. We’re high school sweethearts," said Mr. Cane. "I think we’re just going to take our time with all this, and enjoy it." A neighbor expressed that the Canes are devoted to their three children and their church.
October 1, 2004 - The first-ever Mega Millions top prize to be hit in Texas was won by Ut Van Nguyen of Carrollton. His daughter Jennifer remembered the morning her father found out he won. "I could hear him crying, and I thought to myself, ‘my God, what’s wrong with him,’ " she said. "When I walked out there, he was standing there hugging my mother and crying like a baby." The lucky winner chose the lump sum of $62 million before withholdings.
April 22, 2023 - A player from Colleyville pocketed this Lotto Texas jackpot to break a run of 93 consecutive drawings without a winner. Ticket sales had surged in the days leading up to the draw, taking the jackpot up from $73 million three days earlier and making it the largest lottery prize in North America at the time. The lucky ticket was sold at Lottery Now on 5200 Colleyville Boulevard #500, Colleyville 76034, and the winner was left with a decision over whether to take the jackpot as an annuity or go for a lump sum of $57.5 million.