It appears that once again the Tennessee Lottery has made a mistake so glaring it requires them to pay out two sets of midday numbers.
The lottery spokepeople must be getting tired of the mistakes too, because they didn't even attempt an explanation this time.
A terse statement on the Tennessee Lottery web site Monday evening reads as follows:
"The official midday Cash 3 and Cash 4 numbers for Sept. 17, 2007 are 133 for Cash 3 and 6121 for Cash 4. Players can claim prizes at any retailer location. The TEL will also pay players who played the following numbers for the Sept. 17 midday draw: 216 for Cash 3 and and 0573 for Cash 4. Players must mail these tickets to the TEL, P.O. Box 280360, Nashville, TN 37228-0360. Please provide a return address and/or claim form. Thank you."
The unprecedented mistakes made in the last month by the Tennessee Lottery started when they suddenly changed over to computerized drawings, blocking lottery players from seeing how the numbers are drawn.
Computerized drawings use a computer program to pick the winning numbers, rather than the traditional lottery balls drawn from a tumbler one at a time.
Some lottery players learned of the switch to computerized drawings when the lottery issued a statement on its web site a couple weeks before the changeover. Other players may have learned about the switch when the drawings ceased to be televised. And many learned of the changeover when stories started appearing in local media about flawed drawings generated by a computer, in which a high percentage of the tickets sold had absolutely no chance of winning.
Tennessee Senator Kyle Friday wrote letters to the state House and Senate Speakers, asking to urgently convene the Tennessee Lottery oversight committee.
When Lottery Post contacted Senator Kyle's office this morning, Mike Krause, Policy Advisor for Senator Kyle, said that he expected a meeting to be arranged soon, but the date is not yet set. The meeting date will be coordinated with the members of committee, who will be coming to Nashville from around the state.
Senator Kyle is asking lottery players who wish to voice their concerns about the Tennessee Lottery to call his office at (615) 741-4167.
The auditor for the TN lottery gets in a big traffic jam/minor car accident that delays his/her arrival.
Not only that, the computers for the evening drawings aren't booting properly/the lottery software keeps crashing.
It's getting close to the deadline, so the TN lottery employees decide to do a ball drawing instead for that night. So they go into the closet an pull out the good ol' ball machines.
The auditor finally arrives after the drawing has taken place, and decides to do a post investigation of the ball drawing machine, only to find out that there are 3 balls missing from the machine because nobody counted the balls!
As a result, the next day, when the computers are up and running, the TN lotteryperforms a secondary drawing for the previous night and posts on their website: "In addition to the official results last night's Lotto 5 evening drawing, we will also honor tickets with the following numbers: 7 13 19 28 33. These winning tickets will need to be claimed by mail".
I don't know if that's any good, but I gave it a shot.I tried to use my imagination.
Quote: Originally posted by Guru101 on Sep 17, 2007
Ok, I think I got something.
The auditor for the TN lottery gets in a big traffic jam/minor car accident that delays his/her arrival.
Not only that, the computers for the evening drawings aren't booting properly/the lottery software keeps crashing.
It's getting close to the deadline, so the TN lottery employees decide to do a ball drawing instead for that night. So they go into the closet an pull out the good ol' ball machines.
The auditor finally arrives after the drawing has taken place, and decides to do a post investigation of the ball drawing machine, only to find out that there are 3 balls missing from the machine because nobody counted the balls!
As a result, the next day, when the computers are up and running, the TN lotteryperforms a secondary drawing for the previous night and posts on their website: "In addition to the official results last night's Lotto 5 evening drawing, we will also honor tickets with the following numbers: 7 13 19 28 33. These winning tickets will need to be claimed by mail".
I don't know if that's any good, but I gave it a shot.I tried to use my imagination.
They'd have to be in a mighty big rush to miss something like missing balls.
Quote: Originally posted by Uncle Jim on Sep 18, 2007
Just think...if they had televised Ball Drawings this mistake wouldn't have happened.
I wonder if the Tennessee Education Lottery will spend some of the money they raise on computer classes for their employees?
Jim
LOL--though it's beginning to NOT be funny.
One could only hope--hope a taxpayer group sues the TN Lot Com over the funds lost to Tennessee's schools that are having to corrent these mistakes. When the pocket feels the pinch--perhaps the Lot Com will reconsider (HAH!)
Quote: Originally posted by Uncle Jim on Sep 18, 2007
Just think...if they had televised Ball Drawings this mistake wouldn't have happened.
I wonder if the Tennessee Education Lottery will spend some of the money they raise on computer classes for their employees?
Jim
In casinos with Keno games, you can watch the draws from your room, but you're not seeing the actual drawing. They show an animated computer program with an 80 number keno grid, the 20 numbers drawn will be shown on a ball in the middle of the screen and the corresponding numbers on the grid will be highlighted. The casinos that use goose neck ball machines probably have somebody enter the numbers into a computer. There is a website that shows drawings from several casinos.
Accuracy depends on casino process and I've seen wrong numbers entered and changed after a double check but before the Keno drawing was declared official. It appears somebody in the Tennessee Lottery gave the wrong numbers to the TV stations, but it doesn't say if the stations showed the drawings.
There have been live ball drawings where the host has called the wrong digit or number but those mistakes are easily fixed because the draws were viewed by the players. The Tennessee Lottery did fix this mistake but players must wonder if this was because of the other mistakes.
"I wonder if the Tennessee Education Lottery will spend some of the money they raise on computer classes for their employees?"
That's not the problem because not very many people see the numbers generated by the computer and none of those people are the players.
Glad I don't play in TN. I wonder if they pay on 2 sets of numbers is the payout still the same? i.e. on that drawing if you picked random numbers yourself you'd have had even money to win (100% return) rather than the usual (50% return). If they want I can upload to TN the RNG that I have in my Pocket PC, that one is much better than whatever they use! A good algorithm if your State ever <cringe> goes computerized, heavily play the non-doubles. I don't understand how they didn't backtest these draw systems??? We do it with our own systems!
I thought it was illegal to mail lottery tickets thru the mail! If so they made another mistake, by making people do something illegal.......
It is legal to send state lottery tickets by US Mail as long as the sender and the receiving address are within the same state as the lottery tickets being mailed...
Quote: Originally posted by duckman on Sep 18, 2007
It is legal to send state lottery tickets by US Mail as long as the sender and the receiving address are within the same state as the lottery tickets being mailed...
You CAN mail lottery ticket accross state lines. AFTER the drawing! I've claimed some small Powerball winnings from Pennsylvania that way in the past.
The biggest issue I see about this is that they are trying to have it both ways: on one hand begrudgingly offering prizes for tickets with the first set of winning numbers, but not doing so in a way that most winners will ever get the money. They either won't know about it, or many won't figure out that they need to mail it.
< Tennessee Lottery's new mascots
this states nightmare has to end soon
Lets have a guessing game about what goes wrong next.
Ok, I think I got something.
The auditor for the TN lottery gets in a big traffic jam/minor car accident that delays his/her arrival.
Not only that, the computers for the evening drawings aren't booting properly/the lottery software keeps crashing.
It's getting close to the deadline, so the TN lottery employees decide to do a ball drawing instead for that night. So they go into the closet an pull out the good ol' ball machines.
The auditor finally arrives after the drawing has taken place, and decides to do a post investigation of the ball drawing machine, only to find out that there are 3 balls missing from the machine because nobody counted the balls!
As a result, the next day, when the computers are up and running, the TN lottery performs a secondary drawing for the previous night and posts on their website: "In addition to the official results last night's Lotto 5 evening drawing, we will also honor tickets with the following numbers: 7 13 19 28 33. These winning tickets will need to be claimed by mail".
I don't know if that's any good, but I gave it a shot. I tried to use my imagination.
They'd have to be in a mighty big rush to miss something like missing balls.
i like to think my lotto not that incompetent
, to not notice missing balls
but am starting to have my doubts so to speak
According to The Tennessean, someone at the lottery sent out results of one of the test draws out as the acual draw results by mistake:
(story link)
Just think...if they had televised Ball Drawings this mistake wouldn't have happened.
I wonder if the Tennessee Education Lottery will spend some of the money they raise on computer classes for their employees?
Jim
LOL--though it's beginning to NOT be funny.
One could only hope--hope a taxpayer group sues the TN Lot Com over the funds lost to Tennessee's schools that are having to corrent these mistakes. When the pocket feels the pinch--perhaps the Lot Com will reconsider (HAH!)
In casinos with Keno games, you can watch the draws from your room, but you're not seeing the actual drawing. They show an animated computer program with an 80 number keno grid, the 20 numbers drawn will be shown on a ball in the middle of the screen and the corresponding numbers on the grid will be highlighted. The casinos that use goose neck ball machines probably have somebody enter the numbers into a computer. There is a website that shows drawings from several casinos.
http://ww2.kenousa.com/index_kenousa.asp
Accuracy depends on casino process and I've seen wrong numbers entered and changed after a double check but before the Keno drawing was declared official. It appears somebody in the Tennessee Lottery gave the wrong numbers to the TV stations, but it doesn't say if the stations showed the drawings.
There have been live ball drawings where the host has called the wrong digit or number but those mistakes are easily fixed because the draws were viewed by the players. The Tennessee Lottery did fix this mistake but players must wonder if this was because of the other mistakes.
"I wonder if the Tennessee Education Lottery will spend some of the money they raise on computer classes for their employees?"
That's not the problem because not very many people see the numbers generated by the computer and none of those people are the players.
An electrical storm fries the RNG computer in spite of all "safeguards" against this happening.
While examing the computer to see how this could possibly happen, it is discovered that a small mouse had also built a nest inside the main CPU.
The LC immediately announces that it will pay for all Cash 3 bets upon triples in the next drawing.
Yeah, and with some of the statements they're making pubicly, I think it shows they've got plenty of balls.
I thought it was illegal to mail lottery tickets thru the mail! If so they made another mistake, by making people do something illegal.......
Glad I don't play in TN. I wonder if they pay on 2 sets of numbers is the payout still the same? i.e. on that drawing if you picked random numbers yourself you'd have had even money to win (100% return) rather than the usual (50% return). If they want I can upload to TN the RNG that I have in my Pocket PC, that one is much better than whatever they use! A good algorithm if your State ever <cringe> goes computerized, heavily play the non-doubles. I don't understand how they didn't backtest these draw systems??? We do it with our own systems!
It is legal to send state lottery tickets by US Mail as long as the sender and the receiving address are within the same state as the lottery tickets being mailed...
You CAN mail lottery ticket accross state lines. AFTER the drawing! I've claimed some small Powerball winnings from Pennsylvania that way in the past.
The biggest issue I see about this is that they are trying to have it both ways: on one hand begrudgingly offering prizes for tickets with the first set of winning numbers, but not doing so in a way that most winners will ever get the money. They either won't know about it, or many won't figure out that they need to mail it.