Ireland's national television broadcaster is hoping the country's newest Lotto millionaire hasn't thrown away their winning ticket after watching the live drawing broadcast on Saturday night.
RTE was forced to rectify a huge mistake on air, after broadcasting the wrong numbers for two draws, including the main Lotto results.
Many people from Northern Ireland also play the Republic's lottery, as well as the British National Lottery, to increase their chances of instant riches.
Lotto headquarters confirmed that a winning ticket for Saturday night's colossal €4,817,816 (US$6.3 million) jackpot was bought in the south of the country.
Bumbling producers of Saturday night's Lotto draw managed to portray the incorrect 'winning' numbers for two draws on the graphic immediately after the live program.
Frantic programmers quickly spotted the mistake and an hour later, before the main evening news on RTE1, rectified the error with a brief broadcast of the correct graphic.
Two further broadcasts, containing an apology and the correct numbers, were made before midnight on Saturday.
Before the correct graphic was screened in the three later transmissions, the station's continuity announcer said: "On this evening's live Lotto draw, the closing graphic displayed the Lotto and Lotto Plus 2 numbers incorrectly."
An RTE spokeswoman said yesterday the blunder was being investigated by programme chiefs.
She said, "It was a technical error in the studio, but the correct numbers were transmitted three times after that. We don't know yet which numbers were displayed incorrectly after the original program. It's being looked into."
In the original live Lotto draw broadcast, presenter Ella McSweeney told viewers that an extra €1m (US$1.3 million) had been added to the jackpot, before urging viewers: "Make sure to check those tickets very carefully."
But assuming his or her ticket hasn't been dumped, one lucky winner can look forward to a memorable Christmas after becoming the latest Lotto multi-millionaire.
Another 46,000 tickets won cash prizes of lesser value.
The correct winning numbers were 3, 10, 24, 26, 32, 44 and 6.
One person won the €350,000 Lotto Plus 1 draw, but there was no winner of the Lotto Plus 2's jackpot of €250,000.
Thanks to myturn for the tip.
It happens...some places more than others.
I've heard the annoncer here in Maryland read off a number wrong as it's being pulled and never correct it.
That's why I never listen to the broadcast. I just go to the terminal and get a printed copy of numbers once a week.
I never listen to the radio for drawings results and I'm seldom watching TV at the right time to see them when they are shown so I depend on the state website and LP for my information.
i always check the numbers myself online, and then go to agent to chack the ticket at the terminal before tossing. i do have a membership card that is supposed to send any unclaimed prized to my bank account now. and have had i think 3 unclaimed prizzes in my life!
kind of makes me worry about those tickets i dont enter on my members card!
This is one beautiful feature about the Illinois lottery subscription service now being ran by a private company. We too have a card and when you purchase tickets via subscription (either online or telephone), any winnings automatically hit your account. No need to even check the numbers, though I do. However, we don't have that feature of being able to add tickets purchased at retail outlets to our card account. Maybe that might come around in the future. But I am like everyone who have posted here...I rarely watch the drawing on TV. I always check my numbers either at the self-checker or online (who buys newspapers anymore to check them in the newspaper?!!!)
The elderly.
There is an older gentleman, who comes into one of the stores where I play lottery frequently.
He sometimes ask anyone present, if we know what came out in Virginia the previous day because that is one state that he likes to watch.
He sometimes, doesn't get out in the morning in time to purchase a newspaper before they are all sold out where he usually purchase it.
I believe he stated recently that the newspaper has stopped posting the Virginia lottery numbers here.
I have tried to get him to log on to Lotterypost only to learn he doesn't have internet access and is afraid to use a computer.
I find too many of the elderly afraid to use computers.
This is where registration can come in handy, if you win, they will call you!
It's never a good idea to register yourself or anything you own or do with the government if you can avoid it. It may seem like a good idea at the time but it can have a very bad ending. And it sets the precedent for more and more registering of anything and everything.
Take gun registration for example, governments have always touted it as being for crime solving and gun safety.
Until they decide it's better to just confiscate them and your name is on the list.
We already have a President in power here who is trying to organize his own personal army of secret police brown shirts. Not a good thing.
Nor a good time to be putting your name on government lists of any kind.
And if he and his party win the next election, our Constitution and Bill of Rights will go in the shredder.
But I'm confident the good people of this country will let their voices be heard loud and clear in November.
Freedom will triumph over tyranny, the Good Lord willing.
yea,its free to register, but registration is never free !
Why you have to highjack every thread wit Obama Hate. The thread was reading good about wrong lottery results, winning deposits into bank accounts, the elderly depending on the paper for results not having a computer and you come in with your politics and hate for our president. Your bigotry will not allow you to stay on topic. Why don't you keep your hateful politics in your blog and allow us the read the threads which is suppose to be about the lottery and the topic at hand.
I am a rude Obama Hater. I am also a Racist. I have such a low tolerance for Obama that I can't respect conversations and topics at hand without throwing in my hate for our president. I am a miserable person. Please help me.
Oh wow. I didn't know that OldSchoolPa. I was wondering how the private company was going to work out.
Private industry almost always does things more effectively and efficiently than government.
And the bigger the government, the less effective and less efficient it is.
You can see it in practice with our current federal government.
Total incompetence accompanied by total arrogance.
Arrogant Incompetence - you heard it here first.
Litebets27, The gentleman is right. The Baltimore Sun no longer publishes the Va. lottery results, assuming thats the paper he looks at. However, he can get all the states results in the USA Today.
Perhaps you could look up the phone # for the Va. lottery and pass it on to him so he could call them when he wants to.
Thanks grwurston, the next time I see him I'll pass that on to him.