Human error caused expensive Va. Lottery mistake

Comment #17

Kaptainess — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 14:09:29 GMT

LAWSUIT?!?! If I spent my money and they didn't pay off I would get together with the other winners and file a class action suit against both the State and the company that put the game in the system. Somebody has to pay up! This thing about us spending money either in a casino or lottery and the mistake is their fault and not paying has to stop.

Make an issue out of it for all of us playing

Comment #16

RJOh — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 21:44:13 GMT

On pick3/4 games, states know the maximum they would have to pay out on those game because they limit the number of bets per combinations. In Ohio lottery advertisements, they don't say you can win money any more, now they say you will have fun and support our schools.

Comment #15

Dead_Aim — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 07:05:44 GMT

So what keeps them from doing the same thing with the Pick 3 and 4 games? They are suppose to be random! I say they pick and choose what they want to come out as long as it was a combo that had very few tickets bought compared to the others. It is really random when drawn with computer? I highly doubt it, but we will never know. With games like this they prove they can manipulate an online game just as easy as scratchers. Anything to rape the player for as much as they can get from them.

Comment #14

KY Floyd — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 06:05:00 GMT

Why would that bother you? From the sound of it, this game was essentially a scratcher style game except that the tickets were printed on the spot. While it might be possible to design a similar game that worked with random results, there's no reason it has to work that way to be fair. The only thing that has to be random is the distribution of the winners.

Comment #13

LckyLary — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 01:13:55 GMT

Sorry, it should be 4+ million, I was thinking 77777, not 7777. It said 609 of them had the incorrect printing of the top prize instead of $2. Am guessing that the odds of $2 were supposed to be 1 in 4 or such, that's what normally they'd be on such a game. Every $4 out yields $2 in winnings, a 50% takeout ratio as usual. Even then if it's 4MILL that supports my point all the more...just pay it, avoid the bad publicity.

What would happen if the opposite happened, what if people thought they o... [ More ]

Comment #12

spy153 — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 00:34:56 GMT

by george, I think you finally got it

Comment #11

Drivedabizness — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 15:12:36 GMT

The article is short on information...but it does say that a human error caused the malfunction.

That makes it sound like the error was made by the system operator ... but data center people shouldn't be having anything to do with setting game parameters like those at issue here. That leads me to believe it was a programming error - the kind that would show up in any basic quality assurance test. Both GTECH and the State (VA likes ot operate their own system) should have caught this.... [ More ]

Comment #10

ThatScaryChick — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 03:12:49 GMT

I agree. I think they should pay out the $4.7 million. Otherwise I can see some of those 600 people going to court over this.

Comment #9

LckyLary — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 02:56:21 GMT

Here is what I speculate happened, and this is only speculation:

I saw a picture of one of these tickets, it is NOT a scratch-off but a numbers-type game looking like a tic-tac-toe board printed on the ticket. A program was written that was to generate a field of prize slots ranging from nothing to the top prize. Many of them were supposed to be for $2 and a few for $77777, but the variable meant for printing $2 prizes was swapped or assigned to $77777. I am guessing that the only random thin... [ More ]

Comment #8

RJOh — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 01:38:23 GMT

The thing that bothers me is if the results were to be truly random why even if a mistake was make it produced so many combinations with that many sevens on start up. If the program was designed to limit combinations with that many sevens and instead mistakenly set to produce more of them then the program was never random but could be set to simulate randomness and produce a fixed number of winners.

Comment #7

Bradly_60 — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 17:02:10 GMT

Actually with only 609 winners with could only cost $4.7 Million if all the winners were of $7,777. No $40m+. Four million for a lottery isn't much, but I agree GTECH should foot some of the bill as well.

Brad

Comment #6

spy153 — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 14:53:57 GMT

Last year, a New Mexico man filed suit against the Sandia Resort and Casino in Albuquerque after he was told his winning pull on a slot machine was a malfunction and he would not be awarded the nearly $1.6 million prize.

Also last year, a Pennsylvania man said he was denied the $102,000 that he won off a slot machine at the Philadelphia Park Casino after security officials told him the jackpot was caused by a flawed test the casino was running.

I don't remember reading about these, bu... [ More ]

Comment #5

RJOh — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 14:43:55 GMT

Debra Benett said she told her husband, a retired Lt. Colonel in the Air Force, that if they don't get their $7,777, she's through playing the Virginia Lottery.

Lotteries makes mistakes from time to time, people get mad and stop playing for a while but most of them soon forget and start playing again. To most lottery players the chance to win a big prize for a one dollar bet is just too tempting to be avoided.

Comment #4

MysteryMan424 — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 00:48:37 GMT

Dey betta pay up else dey get paid a visit from Vinny Vella

Comment #3

Dead_Aim — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 00:26:45 GMT

This situation should be treated no different than the law that says if a product is mis-priced you get it for the price listed on the product, otherwise it is false advertising. Those situations are caused by human error as well. Why should this be treated any different

Comment #2

LckyLary — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 00:16:08 GMT

It would cost them $47,366,193 to pay all of the tickets. They have to decide if that cost outweighs the cost of defending up to 600 lawsuits and the huge negative publicity. I wonder what they spend in advertising; paying on all these tickets would be a dramatic boost to their sales as others hope there's another big goof. Not paying will make not only the 600 or so winners very very very angry but trigger an unorganized boycott that may cost more in sales than what they save. It IS their error... [ More ]

Comment #1

MaddMike51 — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 00:04:50 GMT

The good will that paying all of the winners will bring to the Virginia lottery will be priceless.They couldn't purchase that kind of publicity at any price.Personaly,I think that GTECH should foot the bill.They could gain from the publicity,too.

Human error caused expensive Va. Lottery mistake

Lottery Post — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 22:44:22 GMT

New Game Generated More Than 600 Winning Tickets

Debra and Raul Bennett are faithful lottery players, though in nearly 15 years of playing they never had won much more than pocket money.

So on Sunday, when the retired Hampton, Va., couple realized they had a winning ticket from the Virginia Lottery's brand-new Fast Play Super 7s game, they were ecstatic. Plans for spending the $7,777 the game's top prize came fast and furious.

But when the Bennetts went to the Hampton Virginia Lottery o... [ More ]