COMPUTERIZED DRAWING GLITCH STRIKES ARIZONA LOTTERY

Aug 20, 2013, 9:30 pm (202 comments)

Arizona Lottery

This is why computer­ized drawings are bad

Undiscovered problem existed for 2 months — some tickets had no chance of winning

The lottery had no idea until players started complaining

By Todd Northrop

TUCSON, Ariz. — Due to an error in the computerized drawing system for the Arizona Lottery Pick 3 game between June 10 and Aug. 3, replacement tickets are being offered to eligible people who purchased tickets during that time frame, according to a press release.

Pick 3 is an Arizona Lottery draw game in which players pick three numbers and can win a prize up to $500. Tickets cost $1 each and drawings are held every day, Monday through Saturday.

On Aug. 5, the Arizona Lottery discovered there was an issue in the Pick 3 programming code that prevented the numbers eight and nine from being drawn in certain positions between June 10 and Aug. 3. This error resulted in 92.3 percent of tickets purchased having a better chance to win, and caused 7.7 percent to have no chance of winning.

From a trust perspective, perhaps the most frightening part is that because the lottery cannot actually see the drawings taking place — like they can with traditional ball machines — nobody at the lottery had a clue that there was a problem for nearly two months.  It was only when lottery players started complaining that the lottery had an inkling that a problem existed.

"Can you imagine our concern when a Pick 3 player just casually mentioned to us they weren't seeing as many nines lately on the game, I mean that's a red flag," said Jeff Hatch-Miller with the Arizona Lottery.

Computerized drawings occur inside a computer, which is supposed to generate random numbers.  But because a computer program cannot be "watched" like a traditional lottery ball drawing, the computer operator simply trusts that the computer is functioning perfectly, and that the drawing numbers that suddenly appeared on the computer screen were generated randomly.

With a traditional ball machine, it is simple for any layman to see when a problem occurs, because they can watch the drawing and see that in fact the right number of balls are in the drum.

A problem with ball drawings happens rarely — once in a long while.  But it does not happen undiscovered for months at a time.

In the case of this latest computerized drawing problem, the Arizona Lottery is offering replacement tickets for any Pick 3 ticket purchased during that time period using the number eight and nine on all of the Pick 3 play types listed in the chart below.  (Click the chart to open in full-size.)

As soon as the error was suspected, the Arizona Lottery immediately assembled an investigative team to research the issue.

"Once the error was identified, it was immediately corrected," said Jeff Hatch-Miller, Director of the Arizona Lottery. "The Arizona Lottery assures our players that the issue has been remedied, and the Pick 3 drawings will continue to move forward with the utmost integrity."

Beginning Monday, Aug. 19, 2013, the Arizona Lottery will be offering eligible players three options to receive replacement tickets equal to the sales price of the affected tickets purchased. If numbers were selected by the player, the replacement tickets will reflect the same numbers. If the tickets were a Quick Pick, then the newly issued tickets will be Quick Pick, but replacements will have different numbers than the originals.

Unfortunately, the lottery will only provide replacement tickets for those players who kept the original tickets purchase.  For many people who commonly discard losing lottery tickets, there is no remedy for the tickets they purchased with no chance of winning.

Option 1: In Person

Players must bring their affected tickets to the Arizona Lottery offices in Phoenix or Tucson prior to Sept. 30. Replacement tickets equal to the sales price of the affected tickets purchased will be issued. Tickets must be relinquished upon replacement.

Phoenix Office:
4740 E. University Drive
Phoenix AZ 85034
480-921-4400

Tucson Office:
4010 E. Grant Road
Tucson, AZ 85712
520-628-5107

Option 2: In-State Mail

Players must mail affected tickets to the Arizona Lottery (Phoenix office only) to receive replacement tickets equal to the sales price of the affected tickets purchased. Tickets will be printed and mailed via U.S. Postal Service prior to the draw, but received after the draw. Check the winning numbers for the draw date printed on the tickets.

Mail to:
Attn: Ticket Replacement, Arizona Lottery
P.O. Box 2913
Phoenix, AZ 85062-2913

Option 3: Out-of-State Mail

Out-of-state players must mail affected tickets to receive a letter offering replacement tickets. The original letter with the embossed Lottery seal must be presented in person to the Arizona Lottery offices by close of business on December 31, 2013.

Mail to:
Attn: Ticket Replacement, Arizona Lottery
P.O. Box 2913
Phoenix, AZ 85062-2913

News story photo(Click to display full-size in gallery)

Lottery Post Staff

Comments

LottoPerro

Yipe.

JAP69's avatarJAP69

" drawings will continue to move forward with the utmost integrity."

___________________________________

Green laughGreen laughROFL

Igamble's avatarIgamble

something to meditate about :"Pick 3 programming code that prevented the numbers eight and nine from being drawn in certain positions"  so i get from this is that there is definetly a mathematical algorythm behind this.absolutly nothing is random in the computer drawings  !maybe code is something like- IF 8 is drawn 5 times with 6 then draw 7 5 times with 5 and so on...

grwurston's avatargrwurston

They only looked into it when lottery players complained... So how come they couldn't tell something was wrong?

Worse yet, in how many other states is the same thing happening, because the players have not complained?

Worse still, in how many states has this happened and the players complained, but the lottery officials didn't or wouldn't

listen to them?  Something to think about...

duckman's avatarduckman

If they must use computerized drawings, I would think they would do a series of test drawings immediately prior to each actual drawing. This would be quick and easy with a computer, just have it do 10,000 draws and print out a statistical analysis of numbers drawn percentages, positions/numbers percentages, combination percentages, etc. The more pre-draw trials the better as the more draws the more equal all number sets should be...

Cashman777$

Quote: Originally posted by Igamble on Aug 20, 2013

something to meditate about :"Pick 3 programming code that prevented the numbers eight and nine from being drawn in certain positions"  so i get from this is that there is definetly a mathematical algorythm behind this.absolutly nothing is random in the computer drawings  !maybe code is something like- IF 8 is drawn 5 times with 6 then draw 7 5 times with 5 and so on...

I hope they don't mess up my PA Mid day computer drawing...my bread and butter.

Sweet as honey.

mypiemaster's avatarmypiemaster

Are we supposed to take their word for it?. It will happen again.

cash4ninja

Why didnt anyone from LP take advantage of the mistake

Instead of a 10x10x10 for a straight.. it wouldve been
10x 9X 9 for a straight.  810 numbers for a $900 online win... all day everyday

rdgrnr's avatarrdgrnr

"The Arizona Lottery assures our players that the issue has been remedied, and the Pick 3 drawings will continue to move forward with the utmost integrity."

That's absolute nonsense.

How can you assure anybody of anything when you don't even know when your fake computer drawing is malfunctioning?

What the bloody hell is so wrong with real ball drawings?

Is it just too hard to program wins for your buddies that way or what?

Your silly excuse that it's too expensive is bullsh*t and you know it.

You're a bunch of thieving crooks just like everybody else in government.

RJOh's avatarRJOh

I guess you can't believe lotteries when they say they constantly check and test their equipment to make sure their drawings are fair.  Sounds like they wait until someone complains and then check.

earthdragon72

I noticed it to a while back I thought I was going crazy myself. I do play online and I was looking at all of the past patterns.

In Arizona the keys are usually the 1st and 3rd positions only never in the 2nd. I thought this was odd.

rdgrnr's avatarrdgrnr

Quote: Originally posted by RJOh on Aug 20, 2013

I guess you can't believe lotteries when they say they constantly check and test their equipment to make sure their drawings are fair.  Sounds like they wait until someone complains and then check.

That's right RJOh, they're our state lotteries but they're about as responsive to us as anybody else in government is, which is not at all.

The players want real ball drawings and they simply refuse because we'd be able to see what's going on too easy.

And they're all just political hacks with plush, cushy jobs who got their positions because of who they know and they couldn't care less what we think.

luckyshoes's avatarluckyshoes

Utmost integrity?.......LOL yeah, and maybe things will start to fall ....UP !

MonEl

Quote: Originally posted by luckyshoes on Aug 20, 2013

Utmost integrity?.......LOL yeah, and maybe things will start to fall ....UP !

People are mistaken when they think that "Random" means that anything can happen.

Maybe that is why they don't notice some problems.

Even with so called "random" there are some limits.

Perhaps even the so called "Math Experts" don't understand random statistics any better than "Joe Blow", it is for sure that the state lottery people are not  "Lottery Experts", remember the "No Doubles" pick 3 thing on Tennessee?

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