Ohio Lottery Posts Wrong Results on Official Web Site

Mar 8, 2005, 9:54 am (17 comments)

Ohio Lottery

Ohio Lottery Commission officials say two employees responsible for posting an incorrect Super Lotto Plus number over the weekend will be disciplined.

The commissions deputy director for communications, Mardele Cohen, says the number 35, instead of 45, was posted Saturday night as one of the winning Super Lotto Plus numbers on the lotterys Web site and on its winning numbers phone line.

It stayed that way until Monday morning.

The correct winning numbers were 7, 9, 26, 27, 34 and 45 with a bonus ball of 37.

There was one winning ticket, sold at a food market in New Carlisle, near Springfield. It remained unclaimed Monday.

Cohen says shes hopeful that anyone who saw that they had at least five winning numbers would have held onto their ticket.

She says the two state workers involved in reporting the incorrect number, despite several checks and balances, face undetermined disciplinary action.

"If we don't have our integrity, what do we have?" she asked.

Thanks to MegaHopeful for the tip

WKYC

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mrmst's avatarmrmst

Off with their heads!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Todd's avatarTodd

They should send a clear message that mistakes of this type will not be tolerated.

Litebets27's avatarLitebets27

I'm surprised that the Ohio Lottery would consider any disciplinary action against the two workers, unless they have had a lot of complaints about the mistake and have to pay out a large amount of money for both the mistake and the real number that was drawn. We have had several mistakes over the years here in Maryland. The Lottery commission paid out on the mistakes and the actual numbers that were pulled, but they never reported any disciplinary action. They just chalked it up as a mistake.

And then they change the balls and get their money back.  I think.

litebets

four4me

This is another reason to watch the drawings on tv. On weekends and holidays when the big wigs are away i allways hold onto my tickets and double check my numbers in case they made a mistake. Especially if i didn't actually see the drawing.

Todd's avatarTodd
Quote: Originally posted by Litebets27 on March 8, 2005



I'm surprised that the Ohio Lottery would consider any disciplinary action against the two workers, unless they have had a lot of complaints about the mistake and have to pay out a large amount of money for both the mistake and the real number that was drawn. We have had several mistakes over the years here in Maryland. The Lottery commission paid out on the mistakes and the actual numbers that were pulled, but they never reported any disciplinary action. They just chalked it up as a mistake.

And then they change the balls and get their money back.  I think.

litebets





I completely disagree.  This is to worst kind of mistake, and can lead to someone throwing away a multi-million dollar ticket.  It is a good idea for players who hold on to their tickets, but it should absolutely not be an assumption on the lottery's part that the player will do so.

I do not think any mistakes in presenting drawing mistakes are acceptable, which is the standard I have for this site.  If I have a results mistake here, everyone has the right to jump all over me, since I have accepted the responsibility of displaying lottery results, and I take it seriously.  Same goes for the Ohio Lottery, except their responsibility is much greater.

NO mistakes are acceptable.

You don't justify bad behavior by pointing to other bad behavior, so saying that Maryland has made several mistakes is irrelevant.

The people responsible for the mistake should be given a very strong reprimand, and should be reassigned if it happens again.

RJOh's avatarRJOh

I didn't catch the mistake since I watched the actual drawing and updated my data accordingly.  However since I had participated in some lottery promotions last year, they had my email address and emailed about the mistake.  I believe only one number was posted wrong so the big winner would have thought he won $1500 rather than the $18M or someone who thought he won $18M would have only won $1500.  Either way I matched 3 for a free QP.

RJOh

Litebets27's avatarLitebets27
Quote: Originally posted by Todd on March 8, 2005



Quote: Originally posted by Litebets27 on March 8, 2005



I'm surprised that the Ohio Lottery would consider any disciplinary action against the two workers, unless they have had a lot of complaints about the mistake and have to pay out a large amount of money for both the mistake and the real number that was drawn. We have had several mistakes over the years here in Maryland. The Lottery commission paid out on the mistakes and the actual numbers that were pulled, but they never reported any disciplinary action. They just chalked it up as a mistake.

And then they change the balls and get their money back.  I think.

litebets





I completely disagree.  This is to worst kind of mistake, and can lead to someone throwing away a multi-million dollar ticket.  It is a good idea for players who hold on to their tickets, but it should absolutely not be an assumption on the lottery's part that the player will do so.

I do not think any mistakes in presenting drawing mistakes are acceptable, which is the standard I have for this site.  If I have a results mistake here, everyone has the right to jump all over me, since I have accepted the responsibility of displaying lottery results, and I take it seriously.  Same goes for the Ohio Lottery, except their responsibility is much greater.

NO mistakes are acceptable.

You don't justify bad behavior by pointing to other bad behavior, so saying that Maryland has made several mistakes is irrelevant.

The people responsible for the mistake should be given a very strong reprimand, and should be reassigned if it happens again.




As you've pointed out Todd, you too have made mistakes with postings on this site. To " to error is human ". And true all lottery commissions should hold their employees at high standards. But unless they have found this to be some kind of conspiracy between these two employees against the Ohio Lottery and/or this has happened several times and also involved this two employees public scrutiny only makes the Ohio Lottery Commission look good, which maybe their point. They will have more errors in the future, as will everyone else.
qutgnt

Mistakes happen, its not like it happens everyday, lets get over it. 

Litebets27's avatarLitebets27

 

 

litebets

Todd's avatarTodd

Well, litebets and gutgnt, all I can say is I hope you are never in a situation where you lose a million bucks because someone can't follow a simple procedure and post the right numbers.  Your attitude is puzzling to me.  There are many areas with the lottery where mistakes are not critical, but this is not one of them.  Moving on without learning is a bad idea.  I am happy to hear that the Ohio Lottery takes it seriously.

Litebets27's avatarLitebets27

In this situation the player would win either 1500.00 or 18mill. I know that there is a big difference in the two prizes. But as it was stated the mistake was caught. They announced where the winning ticket was sold. How many people do you know who would throw away a ticket with 4-5 winning numbers on it.

I guess my attitude comes from working with sick people in sometimes life and death situations. We bet on million dollar lotteries every week. We read about situations were people fight for money won at least once a month such as "Lottery Trail Sheds Light On OLGE miscue" that is posted on the site now. As stated before, to error is human. As long as it doesn't cause alterations to someones health or ends in death, it can be fixed since the Commission stood up to the fact that it was an error.

By the way. What kind of discipline do you think they should administer Todd.

LOL

litebets

Todd's avatarTodd

Litebets:

Check my post, I already stated what should happen to the people who screwed up:



The people responsible for the mistake should be given a very strong reprimand, and should be reassigned if it happens again.


You don't seem to be getting that I am not talking about one isolated dvent.  I am talking about making mistakes on reporting lottery drawings.  Next time it will be someone who loses a million bucks.  You want to limit this discussion to this one dvent, and I am trying to exaplain to you the importance of not making mistakes when reporting the drawings.


To err is human, but sometimes to err is to be a human who gets fired.


I guess if a bank "mistakenly" subtracts $1,000 from your bank account, they're only human, right?  The "to err is human" thing is rediculous when talking about positions of this kind of responsibility.

Litebets27's avatarLitebets27

Well Todd, $1600.00 was mistakingly taken from my bank account last year. It was a headache and a few hours recovering it, but no one was fired. There were alot of apologies given on the banks part. But no, each situation is different. I'm not just looking at this situation only. As stated earlier. If these two employees have committed errors in the past or it was found to be some kind of conspiracy then yes, fire them. When reporting the results the people posting must double check each other. apparently these two had a problem visualizing or determining the difference between the numbers 35 and 45. Because one posted the wrong number on the net and the other on the telephone recording. It is important not to make mistakes when posting any information to the public.

 Good luck and have a good night

litebets

Todd's avatarTodd

I'm glad we're in agreement.  Sorry to hear about your bank account.  You have a good night as well.

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