S.C. Lottery assures public no computerized drawings used in state

Dec 23, 2015, 8:46 am (11 comments)

South Carolina Lottery

Disastrous computerized drawing scandal sparks public distrust, even in states with real lotto ball drawings

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Other states may be tainted by an alleged lottery scam involving rigged winning numbers, but not South Carolina, says S.C. Education Lottery executive director Paula Harper Bethea.

"We don't have the random-number generator in South Carolina, and we don't sell the Hot Lotto game," Bethea said Tuesday in response to a query.

Instead, she said, "We do live draws, where a human being draws your numbers. A random-number generator is where a machine draws your numbers."

In recent weeks, news reports have focused on an expanding investigation into Eddie Tipton, 52, an Iowa man who is accused of manipulating the computerized random-number generators that pick winning numbers for some state lotteries. Tipton is the former security director for the Multi-State Lottery Association, a group that operates a number of state lotteries.

In his job, he is alleged to have figured how to manipulate the winning numbers before the actual drawing date and communicated that information to cohorts, who then bought winning tickets. Earlier this year, Tipton was convicted of attempting to illegally collect a $16 million jackpot in an Iowa lottery.

Software Tipton surreptitiously installed allowed him to know winning numbers in advance. He allegedly fixed lottery jackpots in Colorado, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Iowa and Kansas worth more than $20 million, Lottery Post reported.

Bethea said South Carolina's lottery years ago made a decision to stick with the human picker of numbers rather than a computer.

"We feel the security around doing it the way we do it is better," she said.

Humans can make mistakes too, though, and when they do, the S.C. Lottery is candid about them, Bethea said.

On Friday, for example, a human caller incorrectly called out a winning number as 620 instead of 920. (See S.C. Lottery to honor two winning sets of Pick 3 numbers, Lottery Post, Dec. 22, 2015.)

On Monday, lottery officials put out a press release acknowledging the error and saying they would pay out for both numbers.

Bethea said she didn't know how much that mistake would cost the Lottery but said she wasn't overly worried.

"When you have human error, you can correct it, and that's what we did," she said. "That way, our players know who we are and that we do the right thing."

An incorrect call happens about once a year, she said, and each time, the lottery pays out for both the incorrect number and the actual number.

Botching winners isn't confined to lottery officials.

On Friday, Miss Universe host Steve Harvey called out Miss Colombia as the winner of the worldwide contest. Actually, Miss Phillipines had won, as an embarrassed Harvey acknowledged a minute later to an enormous television audience.

Lottery players in any state can determine the extent to which their state uses computerized drawings at Lottery Post's State Lottery Report Card. The report, which is exclusive to Lottery Post, displays all of the games in each state, color-coded to show whether the game uses real lotto ball drawings or computerized drawings, and grades the state based on the percentage of games that use real lotto ball drawings.

The State, Lottery Post Staff

Comments

tlady4's avatartlady4

yea well why you got to pay of two numbers liar and cheaters also a person can only draw one set at a time go figure

Todd's avatarTodd

Quote: Originally posted by tlady4 on Dec 23, 2015

yea well why you got to pay of two numbers liar and cheaters also a person can only draw one set at a time go figure

The person who read the numbers as the balls came out of the machine saw the 9 and thought it was a 6, so they called a "6" on the air.  But the number was actually 9, so they are paying both combinations.  I'm not sure what you're complaining about, as you had two chances to win the drawing because of the error, and your allegation about them being "liars and cheaters" is ridiculous because technically they did not have to honor to "6" since it was the host's fault for calling the wrong number.

Here's a link to the drawing video: http://www.wltx.com/videos/news/local/lottery/2015/12/18/77594032/

You can clearly see that NINE (9) was the first number drawn, and the host called SIX (6) instead.  You need to give the lottery credit when they are doing a good thing by honoring both numbers.

realtorjim

Quote: Originally posted by Todd on Dec 23, 2015

The person who read the numbers as the balls came out of the machine saw the 9 and thought it was a 6, so they called a "6" on the air.  But the number was actually 9, so they are paying both combinations.  I'm not sure what you're complaining about, as you had two chances to win the drawing because of the error, and your allegation about them being "liars and cheaters" is ridiculous because technically they did not have to honor to "6" since it was the host's fault for calling the wrong number.

Here's a link to the drawing video: http://www.wltx.com/videos/news/local/lottery/2015/12/18/77594032/

You can clearly see that NINE (9) was the first number drawn, and the host called SIX (6) instead.  You need to give the lottery credit when they are doing a good thing by honoring both numbers.

I Agree!  Absolutely.  A state using actual balls to draw instead of a random number generator, then honoring a miscall... I deem that pretty <snip> straight forward too!

This post has been automatically changed by the Lottery Post computer system to remove inappropriate content and/or spam.

music*'s avatarmusic*

"To err is human, to forgive divine."   

 Those lottery balls were also color coded. 

 Being on live tv is a high-stress event. When you win MM or PB you might experience that yourself. So, give the host a break.

 Good Luck LP members!US Flag

travelintrucker's avatartravelintrucker

RNGs suck!

BEZ22's avatarBEZ22

Way to go SCEL..

T0H9570128

The lottery was honest that person just don't know what he is talking about.

tlady4's avatartlady4

I am calling it the way I see it do you live in sc NOi have a Right to my opinion and yes they lie and cheat everyday !

Todd's avatarTodd

Quote: Originally posted by tlady4 on Dec 23, 2015

I am calling it the way I see it do you live in sc NOi have a Right to my opinion and yes they lie and cheat everyday !

I'd love to hear some examples of that lying and cheating.  And I have the same rights to speak about this as you, having played the South Carolina Lottery myself.

mjwinsmith's avatarmjwinsmith

Quote: Originally posted by tlady4 on Dec 23, 2015

I am calling it the way I see it do you live in sc NOi have a Right to my opinion and yes they lie and cheat everyday !

You have a right to your own opinion, but not your own facts. Fact of the matter is a human made a mistake and the State of South Carolina paid out on it anyway.

Way to go South Carolina, and any other state that goes the extra mile to keep the players happy.

 ~Michael

KY Floyd's avatarKY Floyd

Quote: Originally posted by tlady4 on Dec 23, 2015

I am calling it the way I see it do you live in sc NOi have a Right to my opinion and yes they lie and cheat everyday !

You've also got the right to use punctuation and proper English. You even have the right to remain silent.

End of comments
Subscribe to this news story