Computerized lottery drawing glitch picks same numbers for 3 days

Dec 23, 2005, 7:22 am (40 comments)

Kansas Lottery

Problem clearly demonstrates how computerized drawing faulty program code can go undetected — even for something as obvious as three consecutive days of repeating numbers.

A computerized drawing system glitch caused the Kansas Lottery's Pick 3 game to draw identical numbers in the same order three days straight, from Dec. 16 through Sunday.

Apparently some players caught on. By day three of picking 5-0-9, ticket sales were $12,223, and the payout was $23,480, which is 192 percent of sales. The usual payout is 50 percent to 60 percent, Kansas Lottery executive director Ed Van Petten said.

The 5-0-9 picked on Dec. 16 was legitimate, but on the next two days the numbers resulted from a computer hardware failure in the drawing system that has since been fixed, officials said.

Mike Harmon received a message about the Pick 3 computer malfunction shortly after he began his shift Thursday afternoon as a clerk at the Kwik Shop at Ninth and Mississippi streets in Lawrence.

"It was bound to happen at some time. I'm surprised it hasn't happened before," Harmon said.

But he said the Pick 3 ticket had been much less popular than the Powerball and Kansas Cash drawings, and Harmon estimated that he didn't sell a Pick 3 ticket every day.

Because of the malfunction, lottery officials plan a special promotion Saturday, giving anyone who makes a Pick 3 ticket purchase of $1 or more a free $1 Quick Pick, Pick 3 ticket.

In addition, players who have nonwinning Pick 3 tickets from Dec. 17 or 18 and want to return them for a refund may mail or bring the tickets, along with their return address, to: Pick 3 Refund, Kansas Lottery, 128 N. Kansas Ave., Topeka 66603.

The lottery will issue coupons to players for the purchase price of their nonwinning Pick 3 tickets from the Dec. 17 and 18 drawings. The coupons may be used for Quick Pick tickets in future Pick 3 drawings.

The deadline for players to return these Pick 3 tickets is Jan. 27.

Lottery Post Staff

Tags for this story

Other popular tags

Comments

LOTTOMIKE's avatarLOTTOMIKE

i think all computerized drawings should be banned...........

Dream's avatarDream

i think all computerized drawings should be banned...........

I agree

Rip Snorter

I'm betting some online LP members playing the 'forbidden' site cleaned up on this.  Guess it wouldn't show on the official records.

Wonder if they'll pay off now that it's established there was an error.

-----------------------------

Incidently, interesting to note there was evidently no mechanism for detecting the problem other than watching the draws...... hmmm two days, just a coincidence.  Three days in a row and someone starts looking at things.

If they're going to use computers I suppose that's just the cost of doing business.

Jack

DoubleDown

Did they make good on the tickets or weasel out of it ?

Todd's avatarTodd

...

Incidently, interesting to note there was evidently no mechanism for detecting the problem other than watching the draws...... hmmm two days, just a coincidence.  Three days in a row and someone starts looking at things.

...

Jack,

That's what I've been trying to say ever since I started the petition.  With computerized drawings, the lottery "draw operators" cannot possibly see what program code is actually generating the numbers every night, so there's no way for them to have the slightest clue if they are being scammed by a hacker or insider.  The only way they can know everything is OK is by "guessing" -- looking at the results and trying to somehow "sense" if something is wrong.

Now we clearly see the results of the stupidity called "computerized drawings".

Two days of Kansas Pick 3 games are total junk.

I really don't care if people say that they personally think it's great because they played the same numbers again, taking advantage of the computer error.  The fact is that the citizens of Kansas did not create a lottery so that they could guess what kind of computer error would generate bad results.  They want a lottery with fair and auditable drawings, and they will never have that as long as their state government allows computerized drawings to remain.

Are all the financial losses associated with this computerized drawing error going to be taken into account when the lottery tries to show how much money they saved by switching to computerized drawings?  I'm sure they won't, even though the lost productivity, lost credibility, refund payments, and disproportionately-large prize payouts will add up to a sizable chunk of revenue.

When are the state legislators finally going to "get it" and write some laws that impose an outright ban on computerized drawings?

Rip Snorter

Crazy stuff, Todd.  Maybe it just has to happen a few more times, or on a jackpot draw before it joggles things enough to give them a scare.

Jack

Tenaj's avatarTenaj

ConfusedI think losing money will be the only thing that will scare them.  If enough people had played that number to r-e-a-l-l-y bring them to their knees it would have made a big impact.  And it would have to happen a lot.

I think the only way to stop computerized drawing is the take advantage.

KY Floyd's avatarKY Floyd

<< In addition, players who have nonwinning Pick 3 tickets from Dec. 17 or 18 and want to return them for a refund may mail or bring the tickets, along with their return address, to: Pick 3 Refund, Kansas Lottery, 128 N. Kansas Ave., Topeka 66603.

The lottery will issue coupons to players for the purchase price of their nonwinning Pick 3 tickets from the Dec. 17 and 18 drawings. The coupons may be used for Quick Pick tickets in future Pick 3 drawings. >>

 

Clearly evolution hasn't produced many intelligent lottery administrators in Kansas.  Hello, is anyone home? Wouldn't all of those pick 3 tickets from those two days make perfectly good coupons? Or perhaps they figure they can just rip people off, since many people will figure it isn't worth the bother and the 37 cent stamp (39 cents for anyone who procrastinates until 1/8) to get back a dollar. Of course it will cost Kansas a decent chunk of change to print the coupons, do the paperwork, and mail them back to people.

Issues about other problems with computer drawings aside, this seems to suggest that they are using a single computer and a single copy of the program that generates the numbers, and even that they didn't have any test drawings before the official draw. States that use balls don't have just one set of balls and one machine, because varying the balls and the machines helps to eliminate any problems from the balls not being 100% identical. Since computer generated numbers aren't 100% random even when everything goes perfectly, the least they could do is have multiple machines, each with multiple programs.

As for paying out, the payout is mentioned in the article  they really had no choice. People played that number and the lottery department picked those numbers. Unless they want an even bigger problem their only choice is to pay out on the winners, and refund the losers who didn't have a fair chance of winning. The $23,480 that they have to payout is pocket change,  and they expected to pay out about $6000, anyway.


fja's avatarfja

i think all computerized drawings should be banned...........

I agree

I Agree!

Just the same if they ever switch MM or PB over to computers....Guess what numbers one of the tickets I play are going to be.....that's right ......The previous draw.......I'll probably be one of the 15 million tickets that will play those numbers......

JADELottery's avatarJADELottery

YES, YES, YES... 

As I've predicted...  someone has taken advantage of a flawed method of number selection.

WTG!!!

JADELottery's avatarJADELottery

Be aware people,

It's coming to a Computer Generated Number (CGN) near you, watch for it.

CGN ≠ RNG

NBey6's avatarNBey6

YES, YES, YES... 

As I've predicted...  someone has taken advantage of a flawed method of number selection.

WTG!!!

I Agree!I Agree!I Agree!I Agree!I Agree!I Agree!I Agree!

MADDOG10's avatarMADDOG10

I've said it in the past and I'll keep saying it, if a human developed it , it's going to have a flaw no matter how they try. I too am surprised it hasn't happened sooner.

 Maybe now N.C. will take a closer look before even think about going computer...! 

Bradly_60's avatarBradly_60

I really don't understand why people are complaining about this.  This is an instance where you could actually beat the lottery.  They don't let you do that all the time.  If they are making mistakes or in this case a RNG is, well that is GOOD for the player.  See with RNG's you can see patterns if there is a flaw in the RGN which is just amking it easier for you to win.  With balls this can't happen.  This is why I really don't care if the numbers come from balls or a computer.  You can acually beat a flawed RNG.

Brad

Subscribe to this news story
Guest