| (B) The ticket must be intact.
(C) The ticket must not be mutilated, altered, reconstituted,
or tampered with in any manner.
(D) The ticket must not be counterfeit or an exact
duplicate of another winning ticket.
(E) The ticket must have been issued by an authorized
sales agent, selling agent or retailer on official Texas Lottery paper
stock, or, for third-party point-of-sale systems approved by the commission,
printed on paper stock or otherwise issued in a manner approved by
the commission to provide tangible evidence of participation in a
lottery game.
(F) The ticket must not have been stolen, to the knowledge
of the commission.
(G) The Play data must have been recorded on the commission's
lottery gaming system prior to the Drawing and the Play data must
match this lottery record in every respect. In the event of a conflict
between information as printed on the ticket and as accepted by the
commission's lottery gaming system, the wager accepted by the commission's
lottery gaming system shall be the valid wager.
(H) The player or Quick Pick number selections, validation
data and the Drawing date(s) of an apparent winning Play must appear
in the official file of winning Plays, and a Play with that exact
data must not have been previously paid.
(I) The play must not be misregistered, and the Play's
ticket must not be defectively printed or printed or produced in error
to an extent that it cannot be processed by the commission.
(J) In submitting a Play for validation, the claimant
agrees to abide by applicable laws, all rules and regulations, instructions,
conditions and final decisions of the executive director.
(K) There must not be any other breach of the Powerball
Game Rules in relation to the Play that, in the opinion of the executive
director, justifies invalidation.
(L) The Play must be submitted to the Selling Lottery
that issued it.
(3) A Play submitted for validation that fails any
of the validation conditions shall be considered void, subject to
the following determinations:
(A) In all cases of doubt, the determination of the
commission shall be final and binding; however, the commission may,
at its option, replace an invalid Play with a Play of equivalent sales
price;
(B) In the event a defective ticket is purchased or
in the event the commission determines to adjust an error, the claimant's
sole and exclusive remedy shall be the replacement of such defective
or erroneous ticket(s) with a Play of equivalent sales price;
(C) In the event a Play is not paid by the commission
and a dispute occurs as to whether the Play is a winning Play, the
commission may, at its option, replace the Play as provided in subparagraph
(A) of this paragraph. This shall be the sole and exclusive remedy
of the claimant.
(h) Ticket Responsibility.
(1) Signature. Until such time as a signature is placed
upon a ticket in the area designated for signature, a ticket shall
be owned by the bearer of the ticket. When a signature is placed on
the ticket in the place designated, the person whose signature appears
in such area shall be the owner of the ticket and shall be entitled
(subject to the validation requirements in subsection (g) of this
section (Ticket Validation) and state or district law) to any prize
attributable thereto.
(2) Multiple Claimants. The issue of multiple claimants
shall be handled in accordance with Texas Government Code Chapter
466 and §401.304 of this chapter.
(3) Stolen Tickets. The Powerball Group, the MUSL and
the Party Lotteries shall not be responsible for lost or stolen tickets.
(4) Prize Claims. Prize claim procedures shall be governed
by the rules of the commission as set out in §401.304 of this
subchapter and any internal procedures used by the commission. The
MUSL and the Party Lotteries shall not be responsible for prizes that
are not claimed following the proper procedures as determined by the
Selling Lottery.
(5) The MUSL and the Participating Lotteries shall
not be responsible to a prize claimant for Plays redeemed in error
by a selling agent, sales agent or retailer.
(6) Winning Plays are determined by the numbers drawn
and certified by the independent auditor responsible for auditing
the Drawing. MUSL and the Participating Lotteries are not responsible
for Winning Numbers reported in error.
(i) Ineligible Players.
(1) A Play or share for a MUSL game issued by the MUSL
or any of its Selling Lotteries shall not be purchased by, and a prize
won by any such Play or share shall not be paid to:
(A) a MUSL employee, officer, or director;
(B) a contractor or consultant under agreement with
the MUSL to review the MUSL audit and security procedures;
(C) an employee of an independent accounting firm under
contract with MUSL to observe Drawings or site operations and actually
assigned to the MUSL account and all partners, shareholders, or owners
in the local office of the firm; or
(D) an immediate family member (parent, stepparent,
child, stepchild, spouse, or sibling) of an individual described in
subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) of this paragraph and residing in
the same household.
(2) Those persons designated by a Selling Lottery's
law as ineligible to play its games shall also be ineligible to Play
the Powerball game in that Selling Lottery's jurisdiction.
(j) Applicable Law.
(1) In purchasing a Play, as evidenced by a ticket,
or attempting to claim a prize, the purchasers and prize claimants
agree to comply with and abide by all applicable laws, rules, regulations,
procedures, and decisions of the Selling Lottery where the ticket
was purchased, and by directives and determinations of the director
of that Party Lottery.
(2) A prize claimant agrees, as its sole and exclusive
remedy, that claims arising out of a Powerball game or a Powerball
game promotion (as described in this section) can only be pursued
against the Selling Lottery which issued the Play. Litigation, if
any, shall only be maintained within the jurisdiction in which the
Play was purchased and only against the Selling Lottery that issued
the Play. No claim shall be made against any other Participating Lottery
or against the MUSL.
(3) Nothing in these Rules shall be construed as a
waiver of any defense or claim the Selling Lottery which issued the
Play, any other Participating Lottery or MUSL may have in any litigation,
including in the event a player or prize claimant pursues litigation
against the Selling Lottery, any other Participating Lottery or MUSL,
or their respective officers, directors or employees.
(4) All decisions made by a Selling Lottery, including
the declaration of prizes and the payment thereof and the interpretation
of Powerball Rules, shall be final and binding on all Play purchasers
and on every person making a prize claim in respect thereof, but only
in the jurisdiction where the Play was issued.
(5) Unless the laws, rules, regulations, procedures,
and decisions of the Lottery which issued the Play provide otherwise,
no prize shall be paid upon a Play purchased, claimed or sold in violation
of the MUSL Powerball Rules or the laws, rules, regulations, procedures,
and decisions of that Selling Lottery; any such prize claimed but
unpaid shall constitute an unclaimed prize under these Rules and the
laws, rules, regulations, procedures, and decisions of that Selling
Lottery.
(k) Powerball Special Game Rules: Powerball Power Play®.
(1) Power Play Description. The Powerball Power Play
is a promotional limited extension of the Powerball game and is conducted
in accordance with the Powerball game rules and other lottery rules
applicable to the Powerball game except as may be amended herein.
Power Play will begin at a time announced by the commission and will
continue until discontinued by the commission. Power Play will offer
to the owners of a qualifying Play a chance to increase the amount
of any of the eight Low-Tier Set Prizes (the Low-Tier prizes normally
paying $4 to $1,000,000) won in a Power Play Drawing. The Grand Prize
is not a Set Prize and will not be increased. MUSL will conduct a
separate random "Power Play" Drawing and announce results during each
of the regular Powerball Drawings held during the promotion. During
each Power Play Drawing a single number (2, 3, 4, 5 and sometimes
10) shall be drawn. The ten (10X) multiplier shall be available for
all Drawings in which the initially Advertised Grand Prize amount
is one hundred fifty million dollars ($150,000,000.00) or less. The
probability of the possible Power Play numbers being drawn is indicated
in Figure 16 TAC §401.317(k)(4)(D). The Powerball Group may modify
the multiplier features for special promotions from time to time.
Cont'd... |
