I asked a few more questions about the pre tests.
Hi Seth,
Got more questions for you. I found two videos for drawing procedures. The first is Maryland, the second one is for South Carolina. I will assume they are both the same procedures
https://youtu.be/nKrjGK5-W9k
https://youtu.be/QLI3c9Fji0Y
At the 3.00 minute mark of the SC video they talk about pulling a ball set if a number comes up too many times in one position. If it comes up 3 out of 5, they test 3 more times. If it comes 2 of the 3 they pull the ball set.
Question #1 Why does the same ball appearing 3 out of 5 times in one position seem to raise a red flag for you guys?
Question #2 Why do you have to test it 3 additional times if it does?
Question #3 If it does come up 2 more times why do you pull the ball set?
To me it would seem to be a perfectly random event. That is what the lotteries want everything to be correct? Midday Pick 3 7/15-7/19 the 9 hit in the first postion 3 times in 5 draws officially. The 3 did it midday in the first position 3 times in 5 draws. 3/31- 4/5 officially. The 6 hit 3 days in a row in the second position, the 3 hit three days in a row in the third position this month in the official draws. Perfectly normal, it happens. So why the concern when it does it in the pre tests?
Statistically speaking, lottery officials think a number should not come up a certain number of times in the same position during the pre tests and get concerned when it does. Well, we as players know that statistically, the Pick 3 should not go 18 days in a row without a double like it did this month on the midday. But it happens. It's a completely random event, right? So why aren't the pretests treated the same way?
Looking at the security that South Carolina goes through, it would be impossible for someone to tamper with anything considering the seals on the doors, weighing of the balls, video surveillence, ball calibration at the labs etc. Which leads back to my question from yesterday. Why don't they just have one official drawing and that's it? What comes up, comes up. No need for pre tests. If you want to test the machines to make sure they work properly, why not just use blank unnumbered balls?
The reason I am asking all this is because on some of the lottery sites I belong to the subject of pre tests comes up every once in awhile. It is topic that never fails to get players riled up.We do not like them at all. To us, random is random, what happens happens. When you guys (state lottery officials) start pulling ball sets, we question the randomness. It's as if you don't like that number coming up, so let's stop it by changing the balls. Also, why is Texas the only state that publishes their pre test results? Why doesn't Md.do it? Why don't all states do it?
Here is what they said.
Hi,
I can't speak for South Carolina's testing procedures, but it seems theirs are somewhat similar to ours. In our procedures, we do four draws on each chamber. If we get the same number out of any chamber all four times, it triggers a second round of tests on that chamber. We'd do 10 more draws. If that same number came out of that chamber four more times out of those 10, it would mean that number was drawn eight times out of 14 total draws -- more than 50 percent -- and that would lead us to replace the ball set.
Our current drawings manager has been here for nearly 25 years. In his time on the job, there have been a handful of times that the second round of draws has been triggered, but he's never had a ball set that had to be replaced on the basis of the tests. We understand your concern, but we do the test draws to make sure that we don't have to pull the ball sets.
The existence of the test draws doesn't have any impact on the outcome. As you mentioned, random is random. We understand you may have favorite doubles and triples you like to play, but statistical probabilities aside, there's no guarantee that any particular combination of the numbers will ever be drawn.
Seth