Ohio Lottery: 111 on 1-11 means one big loss for Ohio LotteryTriple ones cost the Ohio Lottery nearly $3.5 million on 1-11.
The Pick 3 Numbers day drawing was 111 on Tuesday, forcing the lottery to pay out more than $3.9 million to winners despite only $427,094.50 in sales.
Everyone who played 111 on their $1 ticket won $500.
It's the second time 111 has been drawn on 1-11. It happened previously on Jan. 11, 1982.
Pick 3 was first drawn Dec. 6, 1979, the Ohio Lottery said.
The odds of any three-digit number occurring in any one Pick 3 drawing are 1 in 1,000 (000 to 999). The number 111 has come up 10 times since it was first drawn April 28, 1981.
People like to play dates, birthdays and anniversaries in the three-digit game, Ohio Lottery spokeswoman Mardele Cohen said.
"Those who played 111 certainly had a nice little payday today," she said Tuesday.
The mathematical probabilities of the game tend to give the lottery a profit over the long term, Cohen said.
