The Tennessee Lottery should investigate whether fraud was behind a computer malfunction that affected the results for Cash 3 and Cash 4 games, the lottery board's audit chairman says.
James H. Ripley, a Sevierville attorney who heads the 3-year-old lottery's audit group, said the agency should probe more deeply into why a computer software problem prevented duplicate numbers from being drawn for a three-week period.
"A lottery depends on its integrity, and so, you always want to rule that out,'' Ripley said in a telephone interview Monday. "I have seen absolutely no evidence of fraud at this point.''
Lottery officials announced Aug. 20 that a coding error had rendered their system incapable of generating duplicate winning numbers for Cash 3 and Cash 4 - such as 2-5-2 or 3-7-7-7 - for 23 days. Because of the glitch, players who picked numbers with such repeating digits had no chance of winning.
Those who picked single numbers had a higher chance of winning, however.
The glitch began on July 28, the day the lottery had switched to a computer-run system intended to draw random numbers, pushing aside the older method of using numbered balls drawn from transparent containers.
Ripley wrote to lottery director Rebecca Paul Hargrove last week asking for a probe to discover:
The nature of all human and machine errors that contributed to the failure of the system;
The identity of all the people who were responsible for the problem or who failed to prevent it, including lottery personnel and employees of New Jersey-based Smartplay International Inc., the company that sold the computer system to Tennessee for $221,200;
An analysis of whether the software error could have been inserted deliberately, and, if so, whether anyone profited by the improved odds for those who played single numbers;
A written account from Smartplay explaining the cause of the problem and why it was not detected;
An explanation for any delay in detecting or reporting the problem.
Hargrove said the lottery would get all of Ripley's questions answered. The agency's internal auditor is working on that now, said Wanda Wilson, the lottery's general counsel.
"We're going to look at all his questions and answer them the best we can," Hargrove said Monday.
James Berry, a Tennessee lottery player from Hopkinsville, Ky., said he didn't think anyone intentionally rigged the game, but that he was disturbed that his e-mails to the lottery pointing out the lack of double numbers did not appear to have been taken seriously.
"They just wrote it off that I was crazy or something,'' Berry said. "I think they could have looked a little further."
Hargrove said she did not believe fraud was involved. She said a player would have had to spend $720 to win $500 in the Cash 3 game and $5,040 to win $5,000 in Cash 4, making it unlikely anyone would purposely rig the games.
"It just doesn't make any sense," she said.
She also said the glitch and the publicity about it had not hurt sales of Cash 3 and Cash 4 tickets, which were somewhat higher last week. The lottery has increased the prize money for those games.
Ripley said he planned to call a meeting of the audit committee in September, before the next board meeting in October.
Lottery officials have said the glitch occurred because of a computer coding error. A Smartplay employee typed in a "u" for "unique" instead of an "r" for "repeat" in the computer code, they said.
The error wasn't caught by another company that the lottery had paid $5,000 to verify that the new system was operating properly.
Officials with that firm, Gaming Laboratories Inc., have returned the money to the lottery, Hargrove said.
How to get your lottery refund
Players who picked duplicate numbers in the Cash 3 or Cash 4 games held from July 28 through Aug. 20, 2007, and have their tickets can get a double refund for each ticket or two free plays equal to the play amount on the ticket.
The deadline for refunds is Sept. 13.
You can get your refund by taking your signed tickets to a district office or by mailing them to Tennessee Education Lottery, P.O. Box 280360, Nashville, TN 37228-0360.
The above documents are in "pdf" format, which can be displayed using the Adobe Acrobat Reader. (Click link to download the latest release of the reader.)
"Hargrove said she did not believe fraud was involved. She said a player would have had to spend $720 to win $500 in the Cash 3 game and $5,040 to win $5,000 in Cash 4, making it unlikely anyone would purposely rig the games."
This statement is about one of the biggest red herrings I have ever read. WOW.
Could you please elaborate and explain, how this has anything to do with rigging draws?
Quote: Originally posted by jarasan on Aug 28, 2007
"Hargrove said she did not believe fraud was involved. She said a player would have had to spend $720 to win $500 in the Cash 3 game and $5,040 to win $5,000 in Cash 4, making it unlikely anyone would purposely rig the games."
This statement is about one of the biggest red herrings I have ever read. WOW.
Could you please elaborate and explain, how this has anything to do with rigging draws?
That's a GREAT POINT!
Why would she even entertain the idea of rigging the drawings is computerized drawings were "so secure"?
I would say if someone WAS rigging the drawing that they succeeded nicely.
I wonder if that person would made the "keypunch error" played any Pick 3 or Pick 4 numbers during that stretch -- or maybe someone they know did?
I doubt it was an intentional error or fraud. Most likely it was the result of a software person making a change (or setting an parameter incorrectly) and then making the MAJOR MISTAKE of not TESTING the system after the change.
A SIMPLE software test would have caught this problem. By running a trial statistical sample and looking at the results, it would have been obvious that something was wrong when number combinations had 0.00% hits.
Either way, fraud or an unintentional mistake, this points up a major problem with computerized drawings...
"A lottery depends on its integrity, and so, you always want to rule that out,'' Ripley said in a telephone interview Monday. "I have seen absolutely no evidence of fraud at this point.''
_________________________________________
Isn't that the problem? Isn't that our POINT???
When mechanical drawings are compromised, everyone can see it; when computer drawings are purposely sabotaged, no one can see it except a programmer who scrutinizes the code line by line, command by command. Any programmer who's being paid by the lottery to conduct such an inquiry would be as trustworthy and honest as any expert witness testifying in court; he's going to say what he's being paid to say, regardless of whether it's factually accurate. This is not meant to imply that programmers are inherently dishonest. Here in Indiana, however, if a programmer came forward with damaging information he obtained from examining their computer code, he'd find himself facing fifty years in prison for "Disclosing Confidential Lottery Information."
I don't understand why these people expect us to believe that any computer system used by a state lottery is infinitely more secure than those used by the Pentagon. Or those used by the Veterans Administration. Or those used by any other government agency whose system has been compromised in recent years.
Since I'm feeling a little psychotic today, I'll make the following prediction: They'll play out this little comedy they call an "internal investigation," and no wrongdoing will be found. They'll refund the money or, if they follow Indiana's lead, replace the losing tickets from the period in question, and then they'll tell the public how much integrity they have. The vast majority of Tennessee lottery players will shrug their shoulders and begin buying tickets again, and the Tennessee Lottery will make tons and tons of money, setting sales records year after year, due to fewer payouts.
That's my prediction, and yes, I know I misspelled "psychic."
since this glitch thing started and corrected(not) Tn has been getting double digit numbers just about everyday(since Aug 20th). seems to me somebody else has her hand in the cookie jar
Quote: Originally posted by nobie23 on Aug 28, 2007
since this glitch thing started and corrected(not) Tn has been getting double digit numbers just about everyday(since Aug 20th). seems to me somebody else has her hand in the cookie jar
Quote: Originally posted by jarasan on Aug 28, 2007
"Hargrove said she did not believe fraud was involved. She said a player would have had to spend $720 to win $500 in the Cash 3 game and $5,040 to win $5,000 in Cash 4, making it unlikely anyone would purposely rig the games."
This statement is about one of the biggest red herrings I have ever read. WOW.
Could you please elaborate and explain, how this has anything to do with rigging draws?
I believe that statement was made to take the attention from who would benefit the most by having a rigged drawing.
When Hargrove announced the Tennessee Lottery was going to computer drawings she sited "to maximize dollars for education" as one of the reasons. When players began pointing out a possible problem with the new computer drawings because no doubles were drawn, they were told that security had looked into it to insure integrity of its games "to maximize dollars for education".
Even if we assume the explanations of the "U" and "R" keys as the truth, there is still that matter of those emails saying security ran test draws and doubles were drawn. Hargrove's statements prove that was a lie, but whether or not those emails were sent out by a summer intern or the official lottery spokesperson is irrelevant because the emails came from Hargrove's office.
Will the probe investigate that and call for Hargrove's resignation or will they whitewash it because we all know who benefits the most by having a rigged drawing?
"James H. Ripley, a Sevierville attorney who heads the 3-year-old lottery's audit group, said the agency should probe more deeply"
I thought auditing a lottery was an ongoing operation which was independent of the people running the games that checked equipment before each drawing and approved changes before they were installed to insure the results would be fair and random. From Mr.Ripley statement I get the impression an audit doesn't occur until after a mistake is obvious and then the checks are done by people running the games who reports back to the audit group. In other words when the farmer want to know what happened to his chickens he ask the fox in the hen house to investigate and report back to him.
Quote: Originally posted by Stack47 on Aug 28, 2007
I believe that statement was made to take the attention from who would benefit the most by having a rigged drawing.
When Hargrove announced the Tennessee Lottery was going to computer drawings she sited "to maximize dollars for education" as one of the reasons. When players began pointing out a possible problem with the new computer drawings because no doubles were drawn, they were told that security had looked into it to insure integrity of its games "to maximize dollars for education".
Even if we assume the explanations of the "U" and "R" keys as the truth, there is still that matter of those emails saying security ran test draws and doubles were drawn. Hargrove's statements prove that was a lie, but whether or not those emails were sent out by a summer intern or the official lottery spokesperson is irrelevant because the emails came from Hargrove's office.
Will the probe investigate that and call for Hargrove's resignation or will they whitewash it because we all know who benefits the most by having a rigged drawing?
I am no computer programmer, but I guarantee you and everyone else, there were no tests done. If the RNG can't generate a double, then there so called test can't generate a double unless , a programmer over rode the code. If a programmer can change the code to generate a double. What's to stop that same programmer from generating a winning number and buying a 100 tickets, or a friend from buying a hundred tickets. They need to back track and see if a big group of winning tickets were purchased at the same time. This is worse than they are saying. They are acting like a cat in a litter box. A fox is in the hen house, Rjoh.
The glitch began on July 28, the day the lottery had switched to a computer-run system intended to draw random numbers, pushing aside the older method of using numbered balls drawn from transparent containers.
"Hargrove said she did not believe fraud was involved. She said a player would have had to spend $720 to win $500 in the Cash 3 game and $5,040 to win $5,000 in Cash 4, making it unlikely anyone would purposely rig the games."
This statement is about one of the biggest red herrings I have ever read. WOW.
Could you please elaborate and explain, how this has anything to do with rigging draws?
That's a GREAT POINT!
Why would she even entertain the idea of rigging the drawings is computerized drawings were "so secure"?
I would say if someone WAS rigging the drawing that they succeeded nicely.
I wonder if that person would made the "keypunch error" played any Pick 3 or Pick 4 numbers during that stretch -- or maybe someone they know did?
I doubt it was an intentional error or fraud. Most likely it was the result of a software person making a change (or setting an parameter incorrectly) and then making the MAJOR MISTAKE of not TESTING the system after the change.
A SIMPLE software test would have caught this problem. By running a trial statistical sample and looking at the results, it would have been obvious that something was wrong when number combinations had 0.00% hits.
Either way, fraud or an unintentional mistake, this points up a major problem with computerized drawings...
The story has been updated. I have added three internal documents showing the complaint, actions, and summary.
The Tennessean contacted me about doing a editorial about the Lottery mess but I don't think I will do it because I don't have time.
from the article:
"A lottery depends on its integrity, and so, you always want to rule that out,'' Ripley said in a telephone interview Monday. "I have seen absolutely no evidence of fraud at this point.''
_________________________________________
Isn't that the problem? Isn't that our POINT???
When mechanical drawings are compromised, everyone can see it; when computer drawings are purposely sabotaged, no one can see it except a programmer who scrutinizes the code line by line, command by command. Any programmer who's being paid by the lottery to conduct such an inquiry would be as trustworthy and honest as any expert witness testifying in court; he's going to say what he's being paid to say, regardless of whether it's factually accurate. This is not meant to imply that programmers are inherently dishonest. Here in Indiana, however, if a programmer came forward with damaging information he obtained from examining their computer code, he'd find himself facing fifty years in prison for "Disclosing Confidential Lottery Information."
I don't understand why these people expect us to believe that any computer system used by a state lottery is infinitely more secure than those used by the Pentagon. Or those used by the Veterans Administration. Or those used by any other government agency whose system has been compromised in recent years.
Since I'm feeling a little psychotic today, I'll make the following prediction: They'll play out this little comedy they call an "internal investigation," and no wrongdoing will be found. They'll refund the money or, if they follow Indiana's lead, replace the losing tickets from the period in question, and then they'll tell the public how much integrity they have. The vast majority of Tennessee lottery players will shrug their shoulders and begin buying tickets again, and the Tennessee Lottery will make tons and tons of money, setting sales records year after year, due to fewer payouts.
That's my prediction, and yes, I know I misspelled "psychic."
KyMystikal??????????????????????????????????????????????????
do I understand that U were ask bi a newspaper to write a lil ole
editorial & YO <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<DON't have TIME......????
PLEASE @ least do us the honor of the SUBJECT!!!
Hell^^^^^PSYKOMO will write a HIT SONG about the lottery if we
we were ask by a state newspaper^^^^^!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Tennessean>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
(meanwhile)............. HAIL to Todd, HAIL Todd^^^^^^^^
hope U don't run out of
"TIME".............
otherwise we would not know what DEE HELL DEE Lottery was
try'n to do with RNG's and OTHER THINGS.........................TOO!!
since this glitch thing started and corrected(not) Tn has been getting double digit numbers just about everyday(since Aug 20th). seems to me somebody else has her hand in the cookie jar
i noticed that too!
watch for quads soon!!!!!
I believe that statement was made to take the attention from who would benefit the most by having a rigged drawing.
When Hargrove announced the Tennessee Lottery was going to computer drawings she sited "to maximize dollars for education" as one of the reasons. When players began pointing out a possible problem with the new computer drawings because no doubles were drawn, they were told that security had looked into it to insure integrity of its games "to maximize dollars for education".
Even if we assume the explanations of the "U" and "R" keys as the truth, there is still that matter of those emails saying security ran test draws and doubles were drawn. Hargrove's statements prove that was a lie, but whether or not those emails were sent out by a summer intern or the official lottery spokesperson is irrelevant because the emails came from Hargrove's office.
Will the probe investigate that and call for Hargrove's resignation or will they whitewash it because we all know who benefits the most by having a rigged drawing?
"James H. Ripley, a Sevierville attorney who heads the 3-year-old lottery's audit group, said the agency should probe more deeply"
I thought auditing a lottery was an ongoing operation which was independent of the people running the games that checked equipment before each drawing and approved changes before they were installed to insure the results would be fair and random. From Mr.Ripley statement I get the impression an audit doesn't occur until after a mistake is obvious and then the checks are done by people running the games who reports back to the audit group. In other words when the farmer want to know what happened to his chickens he ask the fox in the hen house to investigate and report back to him.
If so, you should make time, or refer them to Todd. IMHO. Really, or lottomike, it is a great opportunity.
I am no computer programmer, but I guarantee you and everyone else, there were no tests done. If the RNG can't generate a double, then there so called test can't generate a double unless , a programmer over rode the code. If a programmer can change the code to generate a double. What's to stop that same programmer from generating a winning number and buying a 100 tickets, or a friend from buying a hundred tickets. They need to back track and see if a big group of winning tickets were purchased at the same time. This is worse than they are saying. They are acting like a cat in a litter box. A fox is in the hen house, Rjoh.
i agree with jarasan you should pass it on to lottomike or let them know about lotterypost.com so they could get articles from here and talk to Todd.