News writer
A life-changing $78 million lottery jackpot is still sitting unclaimed in Texas - and there's only one month left for the winner to claim it.
The winning ticket for a Lotto Texas drawing held on November 15, 2025, has yet to be turned in as the deadline approaches on May 14 at 5 p.m.
The ticket was purchased at Gordon's Bait & Tackle in Brownsville, Texas, and matched all six winning numbers: 7, 17, 23, 28, 39, and 48. After the deadline, the money is gone for good.
A tight deadline with high stakes
Under Texas law, lottery winners have just 180 days to claim their prize. If the deadline passes, the full jackpot - estimated at $78 million, or about $43.7 million as a lump sum before taxes - will be forfeited.
Unclaimed winnings don't disappear. Instead, they are redirected to state programs, including public education and veterans’ services. Still, forfeiting a prize of this magnitude would mark one of the largest missed lottery opportunities in recent memory.
How Lotto Texas works
Lotto Texas is one of the state's flagship draw games. Players choose six numbers from a pool of 1 to 54, with drawings held three times a week.
Tickets cost just $1, but the odds of winning the jackpot are steep - approximately 1 in 25.8 million. Despite those long odds, the game has generated billions of dollars since its launch in 1992, supporting state-funded initiatives while creating multimillion-dollar winners.
How to claim the jackpot
The winning ticket holder must call the Texas Lottery and make an appointment. They must then present the ticket in person at the Texas Lottery headquarters in Austin.
Not the first unclaimed fortune
While rare, unclaimed jackpots are not unheard of. Each year, millions of dollars in lottery prizes go uncollected across the United States, often due to lost or forgotten tickets.
There have been notable cases of large prizes slipping away. In 2011, a $77 million Powerball jackpot in Georgia went unclaimed after the winner failed to come forward before the deadline. In other instances, smaller prizes have come within days - or even hours - of expiring before being claimed at the last minute.
A growing mystery
The unclaimed Texas ticket has sparked curiosity and concern, with officials urging players to check old tickets tucked away in wallets, drawers, and cars.
For now, the identity of the would-be winner remains unknown. Somewhere, a single slip of paper holds the key to a $78 million fortune. Whether it's found in time - or becomes another cautionary tale - will be decided in the final days before the deadline.
