‘Tis the season for giving but the Texas Lottery wants parents to do so responsibly.
In a Monday press release, the Texas Lottery announced they’re taking part in the 2025 Gift Responsibly Campaign, joining more than 200 lotteries and community organizations across North America and abroad in promoting awareness about the risks of underage lottery play.
The initiative is led by the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) and backed by the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries (NASPL).
The agency points to research showing that gambling in childhood is strongly linked to a higher likelihood of developing gambling problems later in life.
“The Texas Lottery is committed to promoting responsible gambling and addressing problem gambling,” said Courtney Arbour, executive director of the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR), which oversees the Texas Lottery. “That’s why we continue to raise awareness about these risks and have taken steps to ensure lottery purchases and prize claims are restricted to adults.”
Here’s what Texas law says about underage gambling.
Texas law sets firm limits on how anyone under 18 can obtain lottery tickets and even details circumstances in which minors may face criminal charges for trying to buy them. A person younger than 18 who “falsely represents” their age—whether by using a fake ID or simply lying to a cashier—can be charged with a Class C misdemeanor and fined up to $250.
But can an adult purchase a lottery ticket or scratch off?
According to Texas Government Code § 466.3051. (c) “A person 18 years of age or older may purchase a ticket to give as a gift to another person, including an individual younger than 18 years of age.”
According to Texas Government Code § 466.405 “If a minor is entitled to prize money on a winning ticket in an amount less than $600, the director may make payment by delivery to an adult member of the minor’s family, or to the minor’s guardian, of a warrant payable to the order of the minor.”
If the prize is worth more than $600, then “the director may direct payment to the minor by depositing the amount of the prize in any financial institution to the credit of an adult member of the minor’s family or of the minor’s guardian as custodian for the minor.”
The law also bars minors from collecting any prize other than cash, directing the lottery to issue the monetary equivalent of any non-cash award.
