Texas Two Step Number Generator

Texas Two Step is a small-jackpot draw game sold only in Texas. Its name is the dance, and so is its shape: step one is four numbers, step two is a single Bonus Ball. It went on sale in May 2001 and the first drawing was held on May 18, 2001; to launch it, the Lottery co-sponsored a two-step dance contest in Pasadena that drew nearly 500 entries.

Drawings moved to the current Monday and Thursday schedule on Saturday, June 26, 2004, after the commission gave the executive director the power to set Two Step draw days. Today the game belongs to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR), which took over the Texas Lottery on September 1, 2025 when Senate Bill 3070 abolished the Texas Lottery Commission. The Lottery's own releases call Two Step "the game that produces the most jackpot winners in Texas each year", because its jackpot is far easier to hit than the state's lotto jackpot.

Each drawing has two parts. First, four different numbers are drawn from a set of balls numbered 1 to 35. Then a single number is drawn from a separate set, also numbered 1 to 35. Because the sets are separate, the Bonus Ball can carry the same number as one of the four main balls, and on your ticket the Bonus Ball you choose may repeat one of your four. The four main numbers can match in any order, but the Bonus Ball only counts against the Bonus Ball.

Drawings take place on Mondays and Thursdays at 10:12 p.m. Central Time, witnessed by an independent CPA who also inspects the equipment before and after. Ticket sales pause for the draw break from 10:02 to 10:15 p.m. CT, so Two Step tickets for that night must be bought by 10:02 p.m.

Checked: 2026-11-04, source: Texas Lottery, Texas Two Step.

A play is $1. Two Step has no add-on and no multiplier: the dollar buys one set of four numbers plus one Bonus Ball. With the Multi-Draw feature the same plays run for up to 10 consecutive drawings, which is five weeks of Monday and Thursday draws, starting with the next drawing after you buy.

You can only get a Two Step ticket face to face, from a retailer licensed by the Texas Lottery, at the address on that retailer's license. There is no online sale, no subscription and no courier: the Lottery banned courier services in 2025, and SB 3070 made buying a lottery ticket by phone, website or mobile app a Class A misdemeanor. Pay with cash or a debit card; the State Lottery Act forbids buying on credit.

Checked: 2026-11-04, source: Texas Lottery, Texas Two Step how-to-play brochure.

Step one has C(35,4) = 52,360 possible sets of four, and each can be paired with 35 Bonus Balls, so there are 1,832,600 different Two Step plays. Of those, 34 match all four main numbers but miss the Bonus Ball, 124 match three plus the Bonus Ball, 4,216 match three without it, 2,790 match two plus the Bonus Ball, 17,980 match one plus the Bonus Ball and 31,465 match only the Bonus Ball. Added up, 56,610 plays win something, which reproduces the published 1 in 32.4. The lottery odds calculator handles the same two-field math.

The four middle prizes are estimates and move with sales and the number of winners. The game rule sets each pool as a share of the drawing's sales: 2.79% for four without the Bonus Ball, 0.34% for three plus the Bonus Ball, 4.60% for three without it and 3.04% for two plus the Bonus Ball. Each pool is divided equally among its winners, rounded to the nearest dollar, and money left in a pool because nobody won that level is carried forward to the same level at the next draw. The $7 and $5 prizes are fixed; the state tops them up if their 6.87% and 8.58% shares of sales are not enough. One play collects only its highest prize.

The second field is what makes Two Step's numbers unusual. Matching all four main numbers alone is a 1 in 52,360 chance; the jackpot then also needs the right Bonus Ball, a 1 in 35 shot, so the two together give 1 in 1,832,600. Most plays that hit four main numbers miss the Bonus Ball (34 of every 35), which is why the four-number prize has odds of 1 in 53,900.

The Bonus Ball also carries the bottom of the table. Three of the seven prize levels need only one or no main number as long as the Bonus Ball matches, and the plain Bonus Ball match on its own, worth a guaranteed $5, is the most common win at 1 in 58. A random quick pick does not change any of these odds; it only saves you choosing.

Every jackpot run starts at $200,000 and the amount increases for the next drawing each time nobody matches four numbers plus the Bonus Ball. The advertised amount is set by the Lottery for each drawing and is funded by 23.78% of sales over the run, with other state funds covering any shortfall. When one or more tickets hit, a new run begins at $200,000 with the next drawing, and several winners split the jackpot equally.

Unlike Lotto Texas, Two Step has no annuity: all prizes, the jackpot included, are paid in a single payment. The store that sells a jackpot-winning Two Step ticket can earn a $5,000 retailer bonus.

Checked: 2026-11-04, source: 16 Tex. Admin. Code § 401.312, Texas Two Step game rule.

The $5, $7, $20 and roughly $50 prizes can be cashed at the counter of any Texas Lottery retailer, which may pay winnings up to $599. The four-number prize of around $1,500 needs a claim center, the Texas Lottery mobile app (for $600 to $5,000) or a claim form mailed to the Austin Claim Center, PO Box 16600, Austin, TX 78761-6600. A single-winner jackpot of $200,000 to $999,999 can be claimed at a local claim center, at headquarters in Austin or by mail; bigger jackpots follow the Lottery's higher claim bands.

Claims must be made within 180 days after the drawing. Federal tax of 24% is withheld from prizes over $5,000 and 30% from nonresident aliens on $600 and up, so a Two Step jackpot is paid in one sum after withholding. A ticket nobody has signed belongs to whoever holds it, so sign it as soon as you buy.

Checked: 2026-11-04, source: Texas Lottery, Claim Your Prize.

On a Two Step slip, mark the four main numbers in the upper "Pick 4" area and the Bonus Ball in the lower "Pick 1" area of the same playboard; either area has its own QP box if you only want the terminal to fill one part. Buy it at a Texas retailer before 10:02 p.m. CT on Monday or Thursday. More in how to play a quick pick.

Texas Two Step tickets are for adults 18 and over, and a generated line is no more likely to win than one you pick (why). For help, the Texas Lottery lists the 24/7 National Council on Problem Gambling line, 1-800-MY-RESET or 800-522-4700 by call or text, plus Gamblers Anonymous groups in Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio; see play responsibly.