Maryland Lottery holds second Bonus Match 5 drawing after problem discovered

Mar 22, 2021, 10:34 am (9 comments)

Maryland Lottery

Players are urged to hang onto their tickets and check both sets of numbers

By Kate Northrop

On Thursday, the Maryland Lottery announced that it held two drawings for the Bonus Match 5 on March 18 due to a problem that occurred with the drawing that day.

A press release from the Lottery assures players that it will pay prizes on two separate sets of winnings numbers for the March 18 drawing, which are listed below. The Lottery also emphasized that each set of winning numbers is separate and independent, and that tickets must be compared to each set of winning numbers separately. Numbers from one set of results combined with the other set of results do not constitute a win.

11, 12, 14, 25, 31, and Bonus Ball 3

9, 20, 26, 27, 34, and Bonus Ball 17

"The Maryland Lottery conducts multiple drawings every day, 365 days a year, and for each and every drawing we adhere to a strict set of procedures, including pre- and post-draw tests of the equipment," the Lottery said in a statement to Lottery Post. "But unanticipated problems with drawings can occur, as was the case in the March 18 Bonus Match 5 drawing. As a result, we compensated players by making prize payouts on two sets of numbers."

According to the Lottery, the post-draw procedures revealed a problem with the ball set that was used for the March 18 Bonus Match 5 drawing.

"Because this had the potential to impact the outcome of the drawing, we conducted a second drawing, in accordance with our procedures, providing our players the opportunity to win on either set of numbers," the Lottery told Lottery Post.

Players are urged to check both sets of numbers and to hold on to tickets until they can be cashed.

In the two consecutive days leading up to the drawing on March 16 and March 17, an extraordinary event occurred in which the same set of numbers were drawn for both drawings, except the Bonus Ball. The Bonus Match 5 results for both those days were 8, 20, 26, 31, and 38. The Bonus Ball on March 16 was 12, and the Bonus Ball on March 17 was 2.

The Lottery also reassured that the nearly duplicate numbers had nothing to do with the problem that took place with the drawing on March 18, rather it was purely a matter of random chance. The drawings on March 16 and March 17 took place without any issues.

"While it is quite rare for two consecutive drawings to produce nearly identical outcomes, it is certainly possible because the winning numbers in our drawings are purely the result of random chance," the Lottery told Lottery Post. "Thus, any outcome is possible at any time."

The Lottery declined to comment on the number of winners and winnings awarded for the drawings.

The Maryland Lottery conducts most of its drawings using traditional mechanical ball machines, including Bonus Match 5. Drawings for Bonus Match 5 take place every day at 7:51 pm EST.

While the announcement of a drawing glitch may initially shake a player's confidence, in lottery industry terms it actually strengthens confidence in the state's drawings. Because the Maryland Lottery utilizes traditional ball machine drawings, even minor problems and errors can easily be discovered by attentive staff.

By contrast, states that utilize computerized drawings have had major problems and errors that have gone on for months before they were discovered. Lottery Post has documented numerous major computerized drawing errors over the years.

Lottery Post Staff

Comments

Stack47

The number "8" was drawn in four consecutive drawings and "20 and 26" were drawn in three consecutive drawings including the "extra drawing". The odds of all five numbers repeating is 575,757 to 1 and exactly the same odds as any other five number combo. 

They didn't say what the glitch was, but at least they acknowledge there was a problem and held a second drawing.

DELotteryPlyr's avatarDELotteryPlyr

Quote: Originally posted by Stack47 on Mar 22, 2021

The number "8" was drawn in four consecutive drawings and "20 and 26" were drawn in three consecutive drawings including the "extra drawing". The odds of all five numbers repeating is 575,757 to 1 and exactly the same odds as any other five number combo. 

They didn't say what the glitch was, but at least they acknowledge there was a problem and held a second drawing.

I saw the drawing live and checked my numbers, hit nothing on the live drawing.  Then in the next morning I saw the numbers were different and luckily still had my tickets, I had 2 $2 winners.  So now I am thinking 'do they have a policy or procedure' for disclosing WHAT happened?    I would think they are required to disclose issues. 

DELotteryPlyr's avatarDELotteryPlyr

So last night Bonus Match 5 throws these numbers, this is getting a little crazy! EekCrazy

3/23 - 6 22 28 35 36 bonus 14

night before 

3/22 - 1 15 28 35 36 bonus 9

So 3 numbers repeated in the EXACT same order, after throwing AN EXACT repeat OF ALL 5 NUMBERS on 3/17

Oh and the 36 hit on 3/21 in the last position, so 3 in a row for the 36 ?????

play4shekels's avatarplay4shekels

The odds of the exact same numbers being drawn twice in a row is somewhere north of 1 in 332 billion. And they don't admit there's a problem until the next draw???

KY Floyd's avatarKY Floyd

The odds of drawing the same numbers as were drawn yesterday are exactly the same as drawing any other set of numbers.

grwurston's avatargrwurston

I sent them the following email early morning 3/23. 

Hi, 

I just read this article. https://www.lotterypost.com/news/336061  and I was wondering, what exactly was the problem with the ball set during  the post test drawings.

Thank you.

This is what I got back.

Thank you for contacting the Maryland Lottery. This is an automated reply to let you know that we have received your message and will respond to your question or comment as soon as possible.

To be fair, they have responded to my emails pretty quickly in the past, so we'll see what they say this time.

grwurston's avatargrwurston

Quote: Originally posted by grwurston on Mar 24, 2021

I sent them the following email early morning 3/23. 

Hi, 

I just read this article. https://www.lotterypost.com/news/336061  and I was wondering, what exactly was the problem with the ball set during  the post test drawings.

Thank you.

This is what I got back.

Thank you for contacting the Maryland Lottery. This is an automated reply to let you know that we have received your message and will respond to your question or comment as soon as possible.

To be fair, they have responded to my emails pretty quickly in the past, so we'll see what they say this time.

I didn't hear from them so I resent the email yesterday. Their answer today:

Thank you for contacting us with your question. A drawing official didn't follow correct procedure in loading the ball set into the machine. While we can't prevent human error, our drawings procedures have many layers that allow us multiple opportunities to discover any such issues as part of our regular process. When we discovered this issue, according to our procedures, we drew another set of winning numbers and offered our players the opportunity to win on either of them.

Thank you for your interest in the Maryland Lottery. 

Seth Elkin
Maryland Lottery and Gaming Communications 

DELotteryPlyr's avatarDELotteryPlyr

Quote: Originally posted by grwurston on Mar 30, 2021

I didn't hear from them so I resent the email yesterday. Their answer today:

Thank you for contacting us with your question. A drawing official didn't follow correct procedure in loading the ball set into the machine. While we can't prevent human error, our drawings procedures have many layers that allow us multiple opportunities to discover any such issues as part of our regular process. When we discovered this issue, according to our procedures, we drew another set of winning numbers and offered our players the opportunity to win on either of them.

Thank you for your interest in the Maryland Lottery. 

Seth Elkin
Maryland Lottery and Gaming Communications 

Very interesting.  So what are the chances this is the REAL story.  It seems very convenient to blame something as simple as loading the balls.  If this was the ONLY issue going on I would be ok with this.  But with SO many strange things going on, I think they are covering something up. 

grwurston's avatargrwurston

Quote: Originally posted by DELotteryPlyr on Mar 30, 2021

Very interesting.  So what are the chances this is the REAL story.  It seems very convenient to blame something as simple as loading the balls.  If this was the ONLY issue going on I would be ok with this.  But with SO many strange things going on, I think they are covering something up. 

According to the news story it was during the post test. Maybe he forgot to put his gloves on... Or maybe they dropped one. Crazy

End of comments
Subscribe to this news story