Maryland woman's winning lottery ticket mistake

Sep 21, 2011, 10:34 am (23 comments)

Maryland Lottery

Includes video report

ANNE ARUNDEL, Md. — Many of us have had the dream. We've imagined what it would be like to have a winning lottery ticket in hand.

A Maryland woman thought she was getting just a little taste of that dream. But it turned out it was all a mistake.

You see, Donna Allen loves to play the lottery. She checks the numbers right after the drawing.

"Saturday night, just like any other night, I checked at ten after 8pm and it said 4157," says Allen.

It appeared she had a winning ticket for Maryland's Pick 4. Allen and her husband have both been out of work, so this win felt good.

"Like the whole world was off my shoulders," says Allen.

Immediately she thought of how she would spend the $2,600.

"I said 'Oh, my God. That's our mortgage payment. That's the electric bill. That's the water bill'," says Allen.

Her stress lifted and she says she "went to sleep with a smile on my face."

But she awoke from the dream rather abruptly.

"I woke up Sunday morning and I had bought a Powerball ticket. I went back on the computer to see if I had won that and I glanced up at the computer and it said 3-5-7-4."

"I said, 'that's not the number'," says Allen. So she went outside and got the newspaper.

Her numbers were there. She thought: "I'm good. It's in the paper."

A lottery employee told her they had accidentally put the incorrect numbers on their website. She picked 4157. The correct numbers were 3574.

The lottery blames "human error" for the website mistake and told Allen: "You're the only person who's called. I said 'Well, good. Then it's not gonna cost you that much to honor the ticket'," says Allen.

A Maryland Lottery spokeswoman told Fox 5: "We apologize. It does occasionally happen. It was five minutes, not five days. It was very, very quickly corrected." Allen thinks they should honor her ticket.

"The lottery basically thrives on the backs of people who are hopeless. We're looking for that little bit of luck to help us with those bills or whatever. When you get a windfall like this it's really a big thing," says Allen. A really big thing — until it isn't!

Fox 5

Comments

dpoly1's avatardpoly1

I thought it was a mistake the time that I won $100 in Powerball.

I hope that she actually wins someday!  Thumbs Up Sounds like she could use some extra cash!

I hope that my recent dream of winning a jackpot comes true on Friday!

surimaribo24's avatarsurimaribo24

this really sks . poor lady . you get excited you won and next day it was human error. my a$$ human error they should honor the lady with her win is only one person who called so whats the big deal for them to honor that . she even got proof its in the paper .

maryland lottery rippoff aholes and i thought nyl was badRoll Eyes

OldSchoolPa's avatarOldSchoolPa

Quote: Originally posted by surimaribo24 on Sep 21, 2011

this really sks . poor lady . you get excited you won and next day it was human error. my a$$ human error they should honor the lady with her win is only one person who called so whats the big deal for them to honor that . she even got proof its in the paper .

maryland lottery rippoff aholes and i thought nyl was badRoll Eyes

Unfortunate error.  But who sits by the TV waiting for the numbers to come up?  I just can't live like that.  It feeds into the lottery hysteria.  I prefer to just buy ticket and check ticket next day absent the suspense of the drawing.  Much easier to see that no one won so don't get hopes up.  I know p4 is different as anyone can win and their is no accumulating jackpot, but still.  Feel bad for the lady, but almost is not good enough.  Just like I almost purchased the winning Mega Millions and Powerball jackpot tickets...too bad so sad.  I almost won the Florida lottery...had all six numbers.  Only problem was 3 were on first line and the other 3 were on the line immediately below it.  I say just either keep on playing and karma will reward you or stop playing p4 and shoot for state or multi-state lottery game.  I look at potential bang for my buck...$1 playing p4 will at most net me a few thousand, but one buck playing pb or mm could net me a life changing sum of money.  I dream that I will one day be that 1 in 176,000,000 person holding the winning ticket!

LottoGuyBC's avatarLottoGuyBC

I think they should compensate her.

maringoman's avatarmaringoman

What we the lotto players seem to forget is that these lottery commisions are not our families or friends.

They are out to get us for all our worth. Sure they will pretend to care by including a number to call if you

"have a problem with gambling"  and thats only because they are legally required to do so. And they dont

have to be nice either because they dont have any real competitors other than a few scattered casinos.

This woman deserves to be given something for the emotional stress they caused her. Thats only fair.

Matter of fact, I'm gonna email the MD lottery to tell them they suck. Guys lets not desert this woman.

rdgrnr's avatarrdgrnr

One wonders why the most incompetent people in the world always wind up working for government or government agencies.

And there never seems to be any accountability for any of their daily clusterflux or incompetencies.

It's just like the mailmen who can't seem to match the number on the letter to the number on the box. It's just too difficult for them or they simply don't care because they know nothing can be done to them anyway.

This could all be remedied by accountability measures.

When someone screws up, fine, that's human nature. But when someone screws up on a regular basis, repeatedly, make them pay for it in some manner or fire them.

When people learn that they will be held accountable for their job performance, only then will things get better.

tiggs95's avatartiggs95

Quote: Originally posted by rdgrnr on Sep 21, 2011

One wonders why the most incompetent people in the world always wind up working for government or government agencies.

And there never seems to be any accountability for any of their daily clusterflux or incompetencies.

It's just like the mailmen who can't seem to match the number on the letter to the number on the box. It's just too difficult for them or they simply don't care because they know nothing can be done to them anyway.

This could all be remedied by accountability measures.

When someone screws up, fine, that's human nature. But when someone screws up on a regular basis, repeatedly, make them pay for it in some manner or fire them.

When people learn that they will be held accountable for their job performance, only then will things get better.

Sounds like ridge is having a bad day..tiggs knows when ridge goes out to the mailbox he's hoping he get's someone elses mail...That will put a smile on ridges face Big Smile ..ridge all you get now is junk mail so just throw it away..Now go get drunker and buy tons of lottery tickets your close to the end at your age so stop worring about mail..Enjoy life like sweet tiggs who's always in a good mood..See Ya!..Give tiggs his best to the McNutts..Astalavista baaaaaaby..

Litebets27's avatarLitebets27

I watched that drawing that night and was ticked that it was so close to my 4376. When I checked the lottery post results it had posted the wrong number. I then went to the MDSL official site. Not only did they post the 4 digit wrong, but they had the 3 digit 115 posted on for midday and night.

What a mess.

sully16's avatarsully16

Yikes, that would make me sick, I hope her number falls.

malie10

Quote: Originally posted by LottoGuyBC on Sep 21, 2011

I think they should compensate her.

Maybe she should have watched the live draw on tv? She checks the numbers 5 mins after they go off? Wonder if it's televised or if this is a midday draw or something?

grwurston's avatargrwurston

Quote: Originally posted by Litebets27 on Sep 21, 2011

I watched that drawing that night and was ticked that it was so close to my 4376. When I checked the lottery post results it had posted the wrong number. I then went to the MDSL official site. Not only did they post the 4 digit wrong, but they had the 3 digit 115 posted on for midday and night.

What a mess.

Hi Litebets 27, If you miss the #'s, google maryland lottery, then click on MD LOTTERY TV, then click on MD LOTTERY TV a second time and select your game from the the drop down menu. You can then watch a replay of the live drawing. You can go back 50 drawings for the pick 3 & 4. No more wrong posts.

This will also work for other states.   Good Luck!!!

rdgrnr's avatarrdgrnr

Quote: Originally posted by tiggs95 on Sep 21, 2011

Sounds like ridge is having a bad day..tiggs knows when ridge goes out to the mailbox he's hoping he get's someone elses mail...That will put a smile on ridges face Big Smile ..ridge all you get now is junk mail so just throw it away..Now go get drunker and buy tons of lottery tickets your close to the end at your age so stop worring about mail..Enjoy life like sweet tiggs who's always in a good mood..See Ya!..Give tiggs his best to the McNutts..Astalavista baaaaaaby..

"Enjoy life like sweet tiggs..."

Ok, sweet tiggs, sweet ridge will try to enjoy life like sweet tiggs.

Right after I re-deliver all the mail to it's proper recipients everyday after it is put in my box. It's easier than going all the way to town to the post office. And leaving it til the next day in my mail box doesn't work cuz they won't even look at it.

That's all well and good but the problem is when they deliver my mail to the McNutts down the mountain or to Mulehead Jenkins up around the bend. If the McNutts get it, that's it, it's gone and I ain't never gonna get it. And if Mulehead gets it, I'll get it back about two weeks later and it's always opened and got gravy on it. I think the whole family likes reading my mail over supper.

I get all my junk mail just like clockwork though.

sully16's avatarsully16

Quote: Originally posted by rdgrnr on Sep 21, 2011

"Enjoy life like sweet tiggs..."

Ok, sweet tiggs, sweet ridge will try to enjoy life like sweet tiggs.

Right after I re-deliver all the mail to it's proper recipients everyday after it is put in my box. It's easier than going all the way to town to the post office. And leaving it til the next day in my mail box doesn't work cuz they won't even look at it.

That's all well and good but the problem is when they deliver my mail to the McNutts down the mountain or to Mulehead Jenkins up around the bend. If the McNutts get it, that's it, it's gone and I ain't never gonna get it. And if Mulehead gets it, I'll get it back about two weeks later and it's always opened and got gravy on it. I think the whole family likes reading my mail over supper.

I get all my junk mail just like clockwork though.

Now who the h*ll taught mulehead how to read?

CashWinner$

Better Luck next time!!

WIN BIG!! Sun Smiley

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