"I punched twice, before 9 p.m.," Mr. Iranpur recalled yesterday in an interview. "The first ticket came out. I said, 'It's still 8:59, it's still 8:59!' "

The second ticket, however, didn't come out until seven seconds after 9 p.m., making it eligible for the next draw.

It appears to me the terminal machine should be programmed for the ticket time to be when the data or playslip is entered. Not when the ticket is printed.

Enter data at 8:59 and 55 seconds the machine should print ticket time at 8:59 and 55 seconds.

Wow every player's NIGHTMARE! , but this is why I agree that EVERYONE should be taking care of their ticket buys (especially a big prize draw like this) -  and I know he already had tics but bought on impulse - these things should not be done last second.  Like, when I tell my family I am gonna go buy tickets and they say "you have two hours, what's the rush?"   I tell them better safe than sorry (especially because I usually selct my numbers right from the quick pick generator on this site it's a game I play with myself) !

 Now I currently live in Florida, but I grew up in Ontario and to answer your question above, NO THE GENERATOR does not restrict the player from being a duplicator of a previously played set..The way Super 7 works (AND  it is my favourite Canadian lottery FOREVER) is that you pick 7/47  and pay $2 for a ticket.  However, the ticket consists of three lines of 7 numbers per ticket (so if you select your own set , every set you select is $2 , and in turn you receive also 2 quick pick lines for every 1 selection you picked!)  Liek I say, it is a great value for your money , especially when the Canadian  lotteries are TAX FREE!!

Now let's look at this from another perspective... CAN U IMAGINE  being the person who actually won the $27 million?? HOW LUCKY would that  guy feel?? 

As far as my forecast goes, I predict that there is a VERY slim chance of the ciurts ruking in his favor especially because it could possibly cause a situation where the canadian lottery actually loses money on a draw!

I know I would not rule in his favor....a clock is a clock !!

And WOW ... Super 7 ... 7 seconds late......7 SURE is not this guy's number huh??

Good Luck to EVERYBODY ALWAYS!!!

I usually get aggrivated when people try to take advantage of the system, but I can't say I'd be doing anything different if I were in this guy's shoes.  There have been plenty of times I went in to buy tickets late, simply because I work in another state and can't get home in time some evenings.  If he was intending in purchasing tickets for that evening's drawing, and it was machine lag that caused the ticket to be late, I hope he gets it.  Everyone else would do the same thing if they were in his position.

  Most players if they had an argumentable chance of winning the jackpot would probably try to take advantage of it. 

In Ohio, terminals are suppose to shut down or change over to the next drawing 15 minutes before the drawing.  I've played the MegaMillions game as late as 10:50 pm but I accept the risk that the terminal might print my tickets for the next drawing.  I don't understand why Loto-Québec doesn't have a similar disclaimer.

I find it interesting that a few posters on this lottery site would side with the lottery on this issue. Basicially we are all trying to be in that guys shoes. If the cut-off time for that night's drawing was 9 pm there should have been at the least a 5 minute gap before tickets for the next drawing could be printed. This way there's no confusion, the clerk says tonight's drawing is closed you can purchase tickets for the next drawing in a couple of minutes. Jeez you know how many jackpots go unclaimed- mabye they should put that money into a special account just for a situation like this. I hope that guy wins his case, since the machine gave out the ticket late.

well it has to SUCK to be that guy... I would be so annoyed.

But at the same time I agree with what you guys are saying. Firstly if it WAS a QP, then there's no way he could prove that he actually would've got those same numbers if the ticket did print 7 seconds earlier. Secondly it is his own fault for getting the ticket at the last minute. That's why they have cut-off times, so you know when to get it before! 

I do feel for him though, the worst part would be thinking you'd won, then realising you missed out!

Amanda

Wow! What a tear jerker!  Very sad for the poor guy!

We're not on the side of the lottery, we're on the side of common sense and responsibility. The machine gave him his ticket exactly on time. The problem is that he got to the game too late. That's not the lottery's problem.  If there was a 5 minute gap, he wouldn't have gotten either  ticket. Not having a break as they move from one game to the next gives the last minute players a chance that they wouldn't have had otherwise.

"The consumer is not responsible for the delays relating to theprinting of the ticket," he said. "He [Mr. Ifergan] acquired the ticketprior to the 9 p.m. deadline. It's just crazy."

He may have asked for the ticket before 9, but he acquired the ticket after 9. The consumer may not be responsible for the delay, but neither is the lottery, and the delay is in processing the request, not printing the ticket. It takes a few seconds to process the request and log it in the database. That's just a fact of life. If he doesn't like it he should buy his tickets earlier.

I agree with 100% Mysteryman424!  If we here @ LP can figure out a simple way to make the system work to avoid these types of issues then the Lottery should be forced to pay him for THERE failure to have a proper cut-off set up.  Should be interesting to see what the court says.

Not having a break as they move from one game to the next gives the last minute players a chance that they wouldn't have had otherwise.

A break in the system would not give the last minute players any extra chance, it would force the early players for the next game to wait 5 minutes.

Current: Sales end 8:59:59, next sales begin at 9:00:00.

With Break: Sales end at 8:59:59, next sales begin at 9:05:00.

This would cause any ticket entered at 9:00:00-9:04:59 to throw an error and alert the player the sales are closed, instead of printing out a ticket for the next draw and letting the player assume he purchased the ticket for the draw which he intended to.

I know I've purchased a few tickets right at the deadline, because there were reasons out of my hands that kept me from getting to the convinient store earlier.  I can sympathize with this guy.  I doubt anyone here would do anything differently than he is doing right now either.  Letting $13,500,000 go is much easier said than done.