Broken ball prompts 2nd Penn. Lottery drawing, 2 sets of winners

May 2, 2007, 8:08 pm (4 comments)

Pennsylvania Lottery

Lottery players in Pennsylvania got a second chance to win after officials discovered a ball used in the MATCH 6 lotto drawing had broken into pieces.

A second off-air drawing was held Tuesday night and the state said it would pay off winning tickets for both sets of numbers.

No one won the $550,000 jackpot. But more than 200,000 winners in the two drawings will get anywhere from $2 to $2,500, according to the lottery's online statistics.

The first total payout was $366,805; the second was $411,216, said Pennsylvania Lottery spokeswoman Stephanie Weyant.

Lottery officials will investigate how the "36" ball broke into pieces during the time the balls bounce around a transparent chamber and buffeted by forced air. The winning numbers emerge when an operator pushes a button that forces air to push a ball into each of six chambers.

Typically, the lottery and its auditors weigh and measure the 49 plastic balls to be used in the drawing, then hold 12 test drawings before the official one and three tests after to ensure the balls exhibit a random pattern, Weyant said.

Different sets of balls are rotated for use in the twice-weekly drawings, and retired after three months of use, Weyant said.

The first set of winning MATCH 6 numbers was 13-18-27-29-32-33. The second set was 04-11-12-19-21-27.

"It's not something that happens often, but it can happen," Weyant said.

AP

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dphillips's avatardphillips

At least the PA Lottery officials are willing to correct the situation by paying off winning tickets for both sets of numbers. It is the right 'thing' to do!

Congratulations to the first and the second chance winners!

LckyLary

Usually the Lottery busts MY spheres, not the other way around! 1st time I heard of this. I don't play MATCH 6 much lately because one time I got a ticket that was in such a way to make it impossible to win some of the prizes. Only one # in the QP lines was duplicated; this means you could not get more than 7 matching numbers so the prizes for 8 thru 10 matches were impossible.

irondoor827

Quote: Originally posted by dphillips on May 2, 2007

At least the PA Lottery officials are willing to correct the situation by paying off winning tickets for both sets of numbers. It is the right 'thing' to do!

Congratulations to the first and the second chance winners!

you  said  it  ....pa  was  the  only  lottery  in  America  to  fix  one  of  their  own  problems...you  can  bet  for  sure  that  had  it  happened  in  NY  state  you  would  never  had  known  except  through  an  infromant  ; 

Lotto Czar's avatarLotto Czar

Thank you  As a second chance winer, much obliged.  Even if it was only $2

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