The man who cracked the lottery

Comment #21

LiveInGreenBay — Wed, 16 May 2018 14:48:15 GMT

I wonder if the Fukushima nuke accident had any latent effect on the lottery numbers drawn? Weird how that RNG stuff works.

Comment #20

noise-gate — Sun, 06 May 2018 18:45:01 GMT

Two 2nd prize winners in the PB jackpot from Bison country. Who would have ever thought. Just goes to show, there is no such thing as States that always win. The population of both these winners could fit in a petri dish.

Comment #19

Stack47 — Sun, 06 May 2018 18:20:10 GMT

The PA pick-3 drawing was intentionally rigged by Nick Perry but anybody playing 666 won. So in effect the chances of matching Perry's numbers were the same as in any honest drawing. Even though Tipton rigged the games so he could win, he did nothing preventing a lottery terminal or a player from picking his numbers. Both were illegal and both went to prison.

To the contrary, the TN RNG prevented 27% of the possible pick-3 numbers and 49% of the pick-4 numbers from being drawn because of how... [ More ]

Comment #18

TheOtherOne — Sun, 06 May 2018 15:13:05 GMT

So this dude slipped the string of code in while in the direct company of 2 other co workers.

The articke never mentions if those co workers would be held liable or AT LEAST interviewed and questioned. Ok Liable is a strong word but they should at least be investigated.

Moreover, what is being done to ensure this never happens again? How do we know other lotteries don t have similar bugs in the code preventing true winners who aren t Breaking Vegas or Breaking the Lottery so to speak

Comment #17

rcbbuckeye — Sun, 06 May 2018 12:58:46 GMT

I could be wrong, but I think the difference is that the Hot Lotto draws were rigged intentionally by Tipton. The TN Pick 3/Pick 4 was accidental, not trying to cheat.

Comment #16

Stack47 — Sun, 06 May 2018 00:23:18 GMT

makes me mad thinking I could ve possibly won something big if not the jackpot ugh but the numbers were changed by him

The odds against matching the drawn numbers using a QP are exactly the same whether they were picked by the RNG or Tipton. Because the RNG was rigged, it was more like when the pick-3 and pick-4 players picked doubles when the TN RNG was programmed for no repeat digits.

Even though the TN doubles players had no chance to win, no charges were brought and nobody is in jail.... [ More ]

Comment #15

music* — Sat, 05 May 2018 15:42:19 GMT

dallascowboyfan: Where have you been? I am sure that you have been missed. You are not alone in your anger toward Eddie Tipton Co.

His friends should have obeyed the law and turned Eddie in.

Comment #14

dallascowboyfan — Sat, 05 May 2018 14:03:03 GMT

Wow excellent read.....I use to play this game on the regular makes me mad thinking I could ve possibly won something big if not the jackpot ugh but the numbers were changed by him The scary thing is he could ve gotten away with it again if he would ve gave the playslip numbers to a another family member or friend and split the jackpot with them

Comment #13

Artist77 — Sat, 05 May 2018 00:21:48 GMT

Lol. Should I mention radon as well

Comment #12

Artist77 — Sat, 05 May 2018 00:20:06 GMT

I am looking forward to the Lifetime movie about this event. Todd can make a cameo appearance and mention the danger of computerized drawings.

Comment #11

lejardin — Fri, 04 May 2018 23:34:10 GMT

This guy, Rob Sands is being interviewed by Martha McCallum on Fox News about this story.

Comment #10

Stack47 — Fri, 04 May 2018 19:37:00 GMT

The cashier took the man's play slips, which had already been filled out with multiple sets of numbers. At 3:24 p.m.

If Tipton knew which number would be drawn, why did purchase multiple sets of numbers

Comment #9

bobby623 — Fri, 04 May 2018 15:12:14 GMT

I've read many stories about Eddie Tipton and have a couple of personal observations.

First, I'm in no way condoning what Tipton did. He's in jail where he belongs.

However, it has to be said that he had knowledge and access that only a few people have. He told MUSL the drawings could be compromised and he proved it.

Mostly importantly, he showed that even when you can manipulate the outcome, you still have to play hundreds of combinations to win.

The States using lottery computers h... [ More ]

Comment #8

music* — Fri, 04 May 2018 14:35:29 GMT

MillionsWanted, Why do you ask? Are you planning to write one?

This article from the New York Times is excellent. Maybe we should ask the Times.

What we need now is the end of RNG games.

Comment #7

MillionsWanted — Fri, 04 May 2018 13:53:25 GMT

Will you write a book about the story

Comment #6

rcbbuckeye — Fri, 04 May 2018 13:30:09 GMT

You weren't aware there is radiation in the air?

Radiation comes from all sorts, mostly from the ground, and even from buildings. That doesn't mean it's a deadly amount. It's trace amounts. So relax, you've been breathing it your entire life.

Comment #5

Nikkicute — Fri, 04 May 2018 13:22:01 GMT

Here's how the Multi-State Lottery Association's random-number generators were supposed to work: The computer takes a reading from a Geiger counter that measures radiation in the surrounding air, specifically the radioactive isotope Americium-241. The reading is expressed as a long number of code; that number gives the generator its true randomness. The random number is called the seed, and the seed is plugged into the algorithm, a pseudorandom number generator called the Mersenne Twister. At th... [ More ]

Comment #4

Mobile Merchant — Fri, 04 May 2018 01:31:33 GMT

I've been following this story ever since the Lottery Post team had it on their radar.....long before I even signed up as a member of the Lottery Post forum and I must say. congrats to Todd and his team of truth seekers who relentlessly kept an eye on this one and kept us all in the loop.

It's a pity the operators of the various RNG systems all over America and various other jurisdictions all over the world hasn't awaken from their slumber and see that the only true lottery drawings should be... [ More ]

Comment #3

music* — Thu, 03 May 2018 21:38:48 GMT

This is an excellent and interesting story. Could this be part of a book? It would require an experienced author.

Here is a coulda, woulda, shoulda. If only Eddie Tipton was more grateful for what he had. He should have contacted Terry Rich and told Terry what he had. What woulda happened?

Is there a movie here? Maybe.

Comment #2

noise-gate — Thu, 03 May 2018 20:29:33 GMT

l agree. As soon as I read This one, having to do with a suspicious lottery ticket worth $16.5 million -l knew then and there, that we were talking about Tipton. This story could have started with It was a dark and stormy night, and it would still have ended with Eddie.

Comment #1

Bleudog101 — Thu, 03 May 2018 19:01:19 GMT

Excellent story.

So glad Iowa lottery persevered. Really had a good chuckle when co-worker asked why was she listening to Eddie's voice on the tape?

Crime and RNG do not pay, even rigging the RNG didn't pan out in the end

The man who cracked the lottery

Lottery Post — Thu, 03 May 2018 18:49:05 GMT

Crime story: A recounting of the biggest lottery scandal in history

The file landed on Rob Sand's desk with something less than a thud. Despite holding the contents of an investigation still open after more than two years, the file was barely half an inch thick. Happy birthday, his boss said.

It was not Rob Sand's birthday. His boss, an Iowa deputy attorney general named Thomas H. Miller, was retiring in July 2014 after nearly three decades of prosecuting everything from murder to fraud. H... [ More ]