Mistake on lottery ticket would have won $30M jackpot

Comment #36

KY Floyd — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 17:27:08 GMT

It's all part of their plan to sucker people into buying more tickets.

Comment #35

JWBlue — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 16:28:34 GMT

I agree with the poster that said that the lottery commission should not anounced this. It only is going to make the person that didn't buy the ticket feel horrible.

Comment #34

LittleAsianguy — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 23:21:40 GMT

I've had mistakes like having a extra on my ticket by accident and they ask if i wanted it void. Of course i always by the ticket as is and also by a extra ticket of how i wanted it. There's a few times where i had my tickets in the washer which where destroyed and lucky i wasnt the winner.

Comment #33

rdgrnr — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 20:37:04 GMT

The reason he didn't buy the mistake tickets is because he's a cheapskate.

Parallels can be drawn. It's like you're in a saloon and there's a broad smilin at ya from the other side of the bar. Everybody knows ya gotta at least buy her a drink or ya ain't gonna get nothin.

Well, Lady Luck was on the other side of the bar smilin at this guy but he was too friggin cheap to buy her a drink.

So he didn't get nothin.

Comment #32

Guru101 — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 06:59:39 GMT

The Atlantic Lottery made a statement saying they also check tickets that have also been voided. They saw this ticket matched all the numbers and they apparently wanted to make a story out of it, which I think should have never happened. Most people will feel that if she had bought the ticket she would have won, perhaps even the lady that declined to purchase the ticket. This type of thing can make a person sick. But really, nobody knows for sure what would have happened if she would have bought... [ More ]

Comment #31

barbos — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 00:49:33 GMT

It is not a great example of anything. I always bought my mistake tickets and they never won. I think if someone meant to win the ticket cannot run away anyhow. What is interesting to me is how did they find out the cancelled ticket had the winning numbers

Comment #30

RJOh — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 20:47:08 GMT

I think everyone who buys a lottery ticket dream about winning the big prize, it's just there are those who aren't surprised when they don't and are entertained by the fact they had a chance of winning.

Comment #29

Spare Change — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 02:15:41 GMT

If winning the jackpot was not meant to be, why bother playing in the first place? Unless you find entertainment value in just throwing your money away. If I'm going to play a lottery game I'm in it to win it. I'm laying my money down to put myself in a winning position.

Comment #28

iwillwin — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 01:30:59 GMT

A guy who used to work for me once bought a mistake . He was playing Pick3, and to save time sometimes bought a weeks worth on one trip to the store. The clerk misunderstood, and printed 5 for the same day. Per procedure, the clerk asked if he wanted to void them and he nearly jumped out of his skin to tell her no .

He said, this is karma , and he was right. He quintupled his win because of the error.

Like RJ said, however, you have the same chance with mistakes. I've been playing and payi... [ More ]

Comment #27

Guru101 — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 20:31:30 GMT

Really, it was only a matter of time before it happened. Technically speaking, had the customer bought the ticket, she would not have necessarily won. Most people aren't going to see it this way. Most people are going to believe she missed out on winning millions. Which is unfortunate, because the woman who didn't buy the ticket could very well be one of the people thinking this way. If she doesn't know about what happened, then I hope she never does. If she does, then I hope she doesn't think t... [ More ]

Comment #26

tungsten chef — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 18:13:28 GMT

its a ploy by the lottery commision to get more money.

see..look that could have been the winning ticket.

don't cancel...give us more money

Comment #25

ttech10 — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 15:32:09 GMT

Personally I'd still suggest playing the ticket instead of canceling it. Though I can't remember which ones, I've read about 2-3 people who won big with tickets they thought about canceling. The guy who wanted 3 numbers on individual tickets comes to mind first, the cashier printed off 1 ticket with 3 numbers instead of how he wanted but he kept it instead of having her cancel it.

Plus having to live with knowing you had the winning numbers right there in front of you would pretty hard.... [ More ]

Comment #24

RJOh — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 15:17:38 GMT

As a system player I make out play slips with the combinations I want to play so I have no interest in playing someone else's mistakes. I suppose if you were buying quick picks, someone else's mistakes would be fine.

Comment #23

TheOtherOne — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 14:47:26 GMT

This is exactly why I go ahead and purchase the mistake tickets.

But, like others pointed out, it is a big difference going from 12 to 27. If she only had 12 or 15 to spend, coming up with the remainder can be tough.

Comment #22

sully16 — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 11:45:38 GMT

If you think of the movie SIGNS then just maybe she had someone watching over her and she didn't know it.

Comment #21

bashley572 — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 11:44:26 GMT

Yea, I know what you mean. I missed on $200 because I didn't check my tickets just a couple of weeks ago... BUT WORSE...I missed on $40k as I DIDN'T play my NY Take 5 numbers and they HIT. So I think of it this way, I GAVE the 80k winner (who would have had to split the winnings with me) 40k, I am just THAT nice...

Comment #20

Mastermind — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 11:08:53 GMT

You have a very good point Rjoh, My decision is every time I would accept a 10 and 20% mistake like a tip (depending on the experience) not 100% so I would told the clerk just give some of those not all, not because of the money been short but because I m not really fan of people telling me what to do with my money, I know I should be used to by now right(US Gov) hey maybe store is doing this as a side business who knows.

If I missed the pot, that s because it didn t belong to me in the first... [ More ]

Comment #19

Nino224 — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 06:29:05 GMT

I buy them even if I have to go to an ATM for more money.

I've even bought tix from someone who was in line in front of me, and didn't want what the clerk handed them. The only good reason to not buy mistake tix is if you just don't have the money.

That way at least you can tell yourself there was nothing you could do when you get the bad news.

Comment #18

MILLION22Q$ — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 06:05:46 GMT

Everytime I have cancelled a ticket, or got to the register to change my ticket numbers.... well...

it happened, the number came out. So, I buy all mistakes now. Missed $600 on one, and $2500 on the other incident.

Missing the million, as mentioned in this story of the $30ML would have sent me in orbit

Comment #17

Kobra — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 05:19:40 GMT

i was thinking the same thing you said. the poor guy may not have had enough money to cover the extra tickets. I'll tell you what... if i was him i sure would not want to know what could have been.

Comment #16

Play-girl — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 03:24:21 GMT

OMG..I Think I Would Have 2 Be Hospitalized Too

Comment #15

Raven62 — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 03:20:14 GMT

He Played It the way He Saw It: Winning the Jackpot was Not Meant To Be

Comment #14

catsrule — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 02:35:13 GMT

I can't even imagine. That is alot of money to be gone.

Comment #13

RJOh — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 02:33:10 GMT

Think how the clerk that made the mistake must feel, if he/she had said my mistake I'll buy it, he/she would be set for life.

Comment #12

catsrule — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 02:13:44 GMT

That would stick with me for the rest of my life if that happend. lol

O well, life goes on.

Comment #11

myturn08 — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 02:12:16 GMT

i buy canceled tickets, it actually paid off in the past, although it doesnt happen to me often..and why did those 20 out of 21 end up less happier is because they probably did all the wrong things

Comment #10

dopey7719 — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 02:11:17 GMT

It's probably just that the guy didn't have the money to buy it. Heck...many are just playing with extra money or money they shouldn't be spending in the first place. When you're living paycheck-paycheck....27.00 is a lot of money to spend on a lottery ticket ESPECIALLY one made by mistake. I've canceled quite a few myself, but luckily none of them have come out. I've also bought the mistakes and still....they never came out. All I can say is Lord, Bless His Heart

Comment #9

MzDuffleBaglady — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 02:07:05 GMT

I would be sick, lol.

The store owner looks like he's sick. lol

One day, I ran 5 play slips, and I played the winning number, straight.

I didn't check my tickets and playslips until I got home, but, I knew I played the winning number.

Well, I checked my tickets and my playslips, and the cashier did not run my playslip with the winning number on it , :-(

He/she ran one of my playslips twice. I was heated.

Any tickets that are a mistake, I purchase, if I have the cash on hand.... [ More ]

Comment #8

Hermanus104 — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 02:01:05 GMT

Although I do feel bad for the guy, I think his life is going to turn out for the better: my psychological counselor told me about a survey of 21 lottery jackpot winners, and only 1 of the winners said that he was happier after winning the jackpot.

Comment #7

ThatScaryChick — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 23:00:13 GMT

I think I would also be quite ill. But then, I've never had to cancel any of my tickets before.

Comment #6

maringoman — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 22:51:23 GMT

sweet Refafu! this is the reason I am not pushy. I would have probably took those tickets

and forked over the $27...ok maybe not all 27 of them but atleast 12 of them or something.

I've done it many times but obviously luck has not been on my side. So far!

Maybe tonight I'll be lucky with the powerball jackpot. I'm getting me $10 worth.

Comment #5

Kobra — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 22:23:18 GMT

yea your right about mistakes having the same chance of hitting as tickets that are not. but seriously... do you want to end up looking like an idiot for not buying a mistake ticket that could be worth millions??? sorry sir but KOBRA want be that guy

Comment #4

weshar75 — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 22:14:57 GMT

I like to buy mistake tickets if I have the money to because you never know what might happen.-weshar75

Comment #3

RJOh — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 22:10:31 GMT

To our knowledge, we've never had such a potential of a winning prize, being so large, for a cancelled ticket.

Cancelled tickets are actually quite common. Dalton said customers cancel about 52,500 tickets every month, for a variety of reasons.

Lets see now 52,500 canceled tickets every month, this ticket would have cost $27 but figuring the average cancelled ticket is worth $10, that's 52,500 x $10 x 12 months or $6,300,000 per year in mistakes and this is the first time any one remember... [ More ]

Comment #2

Spare Change — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 21:39:06 GMT

If I cancelled a ticket worth that much I think I'd be sick for the rest of my life.

Comment #1

Kobra — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 20:21:56 GMT

this is a great example of why you should always buy tickets that are mistakes, well of course if you can afford it. I feel bad for the potential winner. i could not imagine what he/she is going through right now knowing they could have been $30 million richer

Mistake on lottery ticket would have won $30M jackpot

Lottery Post — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 20:12:59 GMT

Player voids mistake ticket, but it turned out to be the winner

A St. John's lottery player may have saved a dozen dollars while cancelling an overcharged lottery ticket, but missed out on a $30 million jackpot.

A customer at the Corner Store, a convenience store in the Goulds neighbourhood of St. John's, ordered a $12 ticket on May 21, leading up to that night's Atlantic Lottery Lotto Max jackpot.

The [clerk] printed it off and made a mistake on the machine, and it came out $27. She o... [ More ]