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N.C. resident speaks out against computerized lottery drawings
Editorial / Opinion: N.C. resident speaks out against computerized lottery drawings
Editor: The following letter appeared in the News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.) this morning, November 23, 2005. The Lottery Post staff urges other North Carolina residents to do as this bright woman did, and speak out on this important issue. Don't sit back and risk the possibility that your state will use a computer instead of real lottery drawings!
I'm very happy that North Carolina has joined the rest of the East Coast in adopting a state lottery, and I'm excited to start playing. However, as someone who has a keen interest in lottery games, I am aware of an important issue that most people don't know about.
Several state lotteries, mostly in the West, have gotten rid of lottery drawing machines and replaced them with computerized drawings. That means that instead of players being able to see a fair lottery drawing, where numbered balls are drawn from a tumbling drum or some similar system, a computer is programmed to select the numbers using a "Random Number Generator" and players don't have a chance to witness the numbers being selected on live TV.
The states with computerized drawings try to convince the public that they are a way to have fair drawings while lowering operating costs. Hogwash! With computerized drawings, there will always be a suspicion about validity and fairness. Who knows what's actually going on inside the computer, or if some hacker has managed to get around the computerized security?
This issue is especially important to North Carolina residents because our new executive lottery director, Tom Shaheen, instituted computerized drawings in New Mexico, where he has been lottery director. We want real drawings in North Carolina; do not bring computerized drawings to our state.
Janet Austin
Charlotte
News & Observer
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21 comments. Last comment 4 years ago by .
Chief Bottle Washer New Jersey United States Member #1 May 31, 2000 17054 Posts Online |
| Posted: November 23, 2005, 11:47 am - IP Logged |
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United States
Member #380
June 5, 2002
11297 Posts
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| Posted: November 23, 2005, 12:17 pm - IP Logged |
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The NY King Kong Millions online game will be drawn by computer. It can be rigged so that a "26 annual payments" ticket wins.
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Coastal Georgia United States Member #2703 October 30, 2003 1868 Posts Offline |
| Posted: November 23, 2005, 12:45 pm - IP Logged |
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I agree- way too much suspicion with the RNG
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Charlotte NC United States Member #17704 June 18, 2005 3476 Posts Online |
| Posted: November 23, 2005, 12:54 pm - IP Logged |
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 !
TakeemtotheBank
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ORLANDO, FLORIDA United States Member #5011 June 3, 2004 2514 Posts Offline |
| Posted: November 23, 2005, 12:59 pm - IP Logged |
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WTG Janet, that's what I would call "getting involved". Every resident of NC should do the same. Let your voices be heard!!!!
Carbob
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United States Member #11779 February 17, 2005 24 Posts Offline |
| Posted: November 23, 2005, 2:35 pm - IP Logged |
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I suspect demographic bias in my (RNG) state lottery - I've noticed suspicious patterns. Maybe it's me.
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Memphis,Tennessee United States Member #8005 October 15, 2004 11291 Posts Offline |
| Posted: November 23, 2005, 3:22 pm - IP Logged |
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you very well might've just saved NC from RNG HELL......good luck,lets spread the word.....
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Fenton,Mi United States Member #1524 May 12, 2003 3852 Posts Offline |
| Posted: November 23, 2005, 4:28 pm - IP Logged |
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They better start a letter writing campaign before the "director" makes the purchase...otherwise, its all over. Michigan has rng for everything but the 3 and 4 digits....the number game is their cash cow and I think they would be scared to death to change to the RNG type drawings for fear of out right revolt, therefore they resort to changing the ball sets EVERY drawing.....better that than the RNG tho....To me you have a better chance at winning on an instant ticket than any thing that is RNG generated, that is why I rarely play anything other than the 3 and 4 pick games and the mega-millions.... at least those 3 drawings are live? VAL
Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me: I may not follow.
Just walk beside me and be my friend.
Albert Camus
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North New Jersey United States Member #5812 July 18, 2004 11650 Posts Online |
| Posted: November 23, 2005, 6:01 pm - IP Logged |
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Double amen to that. You go Girl...!
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Morrison, IL United States Member #4741 May 13, 2004 1632 Posts Offline |
| Posted: November 23, 2005, 8:24 pm - IP Logged |
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The NY King Kong Millions online game will be drawn by computer. It can be rigged so that a "26 annual payments" ticket wins.
How would the lottery benefit from rigging the drawing so that happens?
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Atlanta, GA United States Member #1288 March 13, 2003 2632 Posts Offline |
| Posted: November 23, 2005, 9:14 pm - IP Logged |
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Awesome!!! Well done!! You go girl!!  
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United States
Member #380
June 5, 2002
11297 Posts
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| Posted: November 24, 2005, 3:44 pm - IP Logged |
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The NY King Kong Millions online game will be drawn by computer. It can be rigged so that a "26 annual payments" ticket wins.
How would the lottery benefit from rigging the drawing so that happens?
The NY Lottery itself does NOT benefit whenever a winner receives annuity payments. If anything, it creates more overhead. The real winner in this case is the company that would sell the annuity to the lottery.
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Wisconsin United States Member #1327 March 27, 2003 1509 Posts Offline |
| Posted: November 25, 2005, 5:59 am - IP Logged |
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They better start a letter writing campaign before the "director" makes the purchase...otherwise, its all over. Michigan has rng for everything but the 3 and 4 digits....the number game is their cash cow and I think they would be scared to death to change to the RNG type drawings for fear of out right revolt, therefore they resort to changing the ball sets EVERY drawing.....better that than the RNG tho....To me you have a better chance at winning on an instant ticket than any thing that is RNG generated, that is why I rarely play anything other than the 3 and 4 pick games and the mega-millions.... at least those 3 drawings are live?
Are you certain MI uses balls for Pick 3 and Pick 4? I've been operating/playing under incorrect notions then...I had thought that MI was using RNG for all of their drawings. I pretty much had stayed clear of MI for that reason on P3 and P4.
In the end though, I guess its not so much whether one can find "trends" in RNG games (seems like they show there as much as in the manual games) but its the potential for abuse/rigging that the game operators have at their disposal that is the problem. Lottery Commissions are basically government, and since government has made themselves a track record of being untrustworthy and sneaky over the years, is it any wonder that so many of us view them with high suspicion on everything they do?
I know I trust government about as far as I could toss a horse ! ============
How can you tell if a politician is lying?
Answer: His lips are moving.
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Memphis,Tennessee United States Member #8005 October 15, 2004 11291 Posts Offline |
| Posted: November 25, 2005, 6:33 am - IP Logged |
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another reason i hate computerized drawings is at the end of the day for all we know they could just get the computer to choose the number that was bet on the least by players then they would maximize and make most of the money back the players spent in the first place......
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