A man has revealed he missed out on the $136 million Euro Millions lottery jackpot — because he let winner Dolores McNamara buy her ticket first.
Larry Moriarty stepped aside as they both queued for lucky dips in the EuroMillions rollover reports The Sun.
"I left the pub to buy a ticket at the shop. Dolores was outside and we chatted. Then I let her go ahead of me in the queue," Moriarty said.
"So I was directly behind her when the machine gave her the winning numbers."
He added, "It could not have happened to a nicer woman. I wish her well. She deserves it."
One of his pals said, "It's typical for Larry to have let a woman go in front of him."
Dolores has six children with husband Adrian.
Doesn't the RNG constantly refresh? So, if the clerk punched in a quick pick a split second earlier or later, you would have a different combination? He would not have won anyway, right?
Whoever got that ticket would have been the winner. So if the guy had not let her go first, he would have gotten the winning ticket.
One of his pals said, "It's typical for Larry to have let a woman go in front of him."
Live and learn. Last time I let a woman with a couple of items ahead of me in a grocery line her husband and kids joined her before she got to the register. 16 cases of beer and sundry items necessary for an evening of relaxation. Then she tried to write a check, which took a while, followed by a study of the receipt and a long argument over the price of an item she'd bought..... a call for a gopher to go back to the shelf and check the price, a manager to explain things to her....
Nope. I cling to my place in line with hair teeth and toenails. If she's behind me and gets a winning ticket I'd have gotten by being courteous, so be it. I'll cheer for her.
I was with my granddad at a rural electric coop meeting once when I was a kid. A man and woman let him in line ahead of them because he was an old man and (probably) because they wanted me in front of them where they could keep an eye on me.
Granddad won a television at the drawing and they pointed out to him that they'd have won it if they hadn't let him in line. He gave it to them.
Fact is, the closest television broadcasts were from Roswell, 90 miles away, and a television antenna had to be about 100 feet tall to pick up better snow than you could pick up with just the set. I doubt he figured he was giving up much.
Jack
Larry Moriarty in just one of hundreds that have either bought their losing tickets directly ahead or behind a person that bought the winning lottery ticket. By allowing her to go first he can claim he sacrificed his chance to win so she could win. Had he gone first and she still bought the winning ticket, he could have claimed he sacrificed his chance to win by buying the losing tickets ahead of her which allowed her to win. Maybe by being one the few to ever reveal such a fact, he's thinking she might want to share her winnings with the persons that made such sacrifices so she could win.
Cheese with that whine?
Lottery RNG's do refresh constantly. There is a very very very slim chance that by letting her go in front of him she got the ticket. The clerk would have to have had hit the create ticket button at the exact millisecond to get the same numbers.
Brad
Larry Moriarty in just one of hundreds that have either bought their losing tickets directly ahead or behind a person that bought the winning lottery ticket. By allowing her to go first he can claim he sacrificed his chance to win so she could win. Had he gone first and she still bought the winning ticket, he could have claimed he sacrificed his chance to win by buying the losing tickets ahead of her which allowed her to win. Maybe by being one the few to ever reveal such a fact, he's thinking she might want to share her winnings with the persons that made such sacrifices so she could win.
Seems a likely motive. Who knows? She might be the sort to pass over a few thou to him if she remembers. But more likely it won't take her long to be exposed to enough other rationalizations along those lines to harden her.
J
And who said "chivalry" has died, Cheers...!
No good deed goes unpunished!
Doesn't the RNG constantly refresh? So, if the clerk punched in a quick pick a split second earlier or later, you would have a different combination? He would not have won anyway, right?
You are 100% correct. Even if she had gotten her ticket a split second sooner or later, the numbers would have been different. All this talk about letting or not letting someone in ahead of you is meaningless.
Len
Another common misconception people have. Anyone of us of can probably win the lottery within a minute of walking into a store, you just need the right millisecond.
Another common misconception people have. Anyone of us of can probably win the lottery within a minute of walking into a store, you just need the right millisecond.
That might be true for the QP players, but for the players who pick their own numbers any time is a good time if they pick the right numbers.
Everyone who says that the numbers constantly refresh are not necessarily correct. You are all assuming that the RNG in the lottery machine is programmed a certain way. The fact is that all lottery machines are NOT programmed the same, so the way you're making a blanket statement is not necessarily true.
You're also making the assumption (like an episode of Star Trek) that if the other person went first then somehow the time continuum would be disturbed, and the clerk would not have generated the numbers at the precise millisecond that he did for the lady.
You know what? I think the guy was right, and he would have won if he went first.
Doesn't the RNG constantly refresh? So, if the clerk punched in a quick pick a split second earlier or later, you would have a different combination? He would not have won anyway, right?
JAG I think I agree with you on that one
He just wants a cut. Live and learn, dude. You pays your money and you takes your chances.
These RNG in the lottery terminals are just like the ones that run slot machines. All RNG's run on the basic concept. As long as there is a power supply the computer program is spitting out different numbers every millisecond. This is just like the same as you getting off a slot machine and the next person hitting it big. You would of had to have hit the SPIN button the exact same millisecond as the person that won the jackpot did too. Now if they were instant tickets or something then I could see...but not in this case.
Brad
too bad for him.i guess it wasn't meant to be....
These RNG in the lottery terminals are just like the ones that run slot machines. All RNG's run on the basic concept. As long as there is a power supply the computer program is spitting out different numbers every millisecond. This is just like the same as you getting off a slot machine and the next person hitting it big. You would of had to have hit the SPIN button the exact same millisecond as the person that won the jackpot did too. Now if they were instant tickets or something then I could see...but not in this case.
Brad
Like I had mentioned earlier, that's not necessarily true. It is only true IF the RNG is programmed to use a different seed value every time a new ticket is generated.
Perhaps it's only programmed to use a different seed once every 5 minutes.
Or perhaps it doesn't use the internal clock as its seed.
Or there are a million other "maybe"s that could affect this story.
The only one who knows for sure is the manufacturer of the machine.
A RNG does not work like a slot machine. What works like a slot machine is the computer's internal clock, which continually counts the number of milliseconds since the computer was powered on. Many times, people program RNGs to use the internal clock as the RNG's seed value, because they know that the clock will not be the same from one moment to the next.
However, a programmer choosing to use a particular seed value is a lot different than the thought of a RNG as some kind of perpetually spinning random number sequence like a slot machine. That's just not the way they work.
That's the reason that if the lottery machine was not programmed to use a different seed value every time a ticket was produced, then a different amount of time passing as a result of a different person buying the ticket would not necessarily affect the numbers generated.
As someone who has programmed many systems like this, there are too many "if"s to be able to come to an absolute decision on what would have happened if the two people hadn't changed positions in line.
A couple of years ago a woman jumped in line in front of a gentleman, and just the opposite happened. He got the jackpot on a Quickpick. Her excuse was she was in a hurry. When I read his story, sometimes it pays to be a gentleman.
A couple of years ago a woman jumped in line in front of a gentleman, and just the opposite happened. He got the jackpot on a Quickpick. Her excuse was she was in a hurry. When I read his story, sometimes it pays to be a gentleman.
And, as in the instance of this story, sometimes it doesn't. There's evidently no connection between gentlemanliness and whether it pays, insofar as the coincidence coordinators are concerned.
Which brings it down to a man having to find other reasons to be, or not to be a gentleman. It generally relates to females, once you boil it down, a sort of reciprocity. And whatever crimes most 21st century females are guilty of, being ladies isn't one of them.
Jack
Haha, Jack.
Well, whatever the case may be with the RNG, if I were this man, I would convince myself that I would not have won anyway, but still milk it for all it was worth.
Everyone who says that the numbers constantly refresh are not necessarily correct. You are all assuming that the RNG in the lottery machine is programmed a certain way. The fact is that all lottery machines are NOT programmed the same, so the way you're making a blanket statement is not necessarily true.
You're also making the assumption (like an episode of Star Trek) that if the other person went first then somehow the time continuum would be disturbed, and the clerk would not have generated the numbers at the precise millisecond that he did for the lady.
You know what? I think the guy was right, and he would have won if he went first.
I agree with Todd. It all depends on how the lottery machine is programmed. Taking that into consideration, the gentleman "could" have won if he wasnt such a "nice guy." I wonder if he had heard the song "Nice Guys Finish Last" by the band Greenday.
That would make me angry if I had let someone go ahead of me at a line to buy lottery tickets and they ended up winning what I was supposed to. I have let people go ahead of me before at lottery counters and regretted it afterwards when I found out there was a big win from the store and that might have been the person who I let go in front of me.
That would make me angry if I had let someone go ahead of me at a line to buy lottery tickets and they ended up winning what I was supposed to. I have let people go ahead of me before at lottery counters and regretted it afterwards when I found out there was a big win from the store and that might have been the person who I let go in front of me.
Would it make you equally angry if someone allowed you to go ahead of him in line and won the prize you'd have won if you'd kept your original place? Where would you direct your anger?
Jack
I used to work in a store that sold tickets, and where I worked the terminal had a list inside that you could punch up and those numbers would be the next list of numbers that would be printed if someone requested a QP. In my case the terminal didn't reconfigure a new list every time someone bought a QP. I didn't look to see if the list was updated every few minutes or so. But there is a good chance that if the gentlemen and the lady were in my store at the time, it would of probably mattered, letting her go first, because that same list would probably have not changed.
I know this because there were times I coudn't think of a number to play, so I would look at the list to see which ones were potential ones that looked good.
I used to work in a store that sold tickets, and where I worked the terminal had a list inside that you could punch up and those numbers would be the next list of numbers that would be printed if someone requested a QP. In my case the terminal didn't reconfigure a new list every time someone bought a QP. I didn't look to see if the list was updated every few minutes or so. But there is a good chance that if the gentlemen and the lady were in my store at the time, it would of probably mattered, letting her go first, because that same list would probably have not changed.
I know this because there were times I coudn't think of a number to play, so I would look at the list to see which ones were potential ones that looked good.
Thank you for posting that!
Not only does it support what I was trying to say, but it's a fascinating concept as well.
I'm actually quite shocked that the lottery would allow clerks to be able to see the upcoming Quick Pick ticket numbers! Not exactly the best system design, IMHO.
That would make me angry if I had let someone go ahead of me at a line to buy lottery tickets and they ended up winning what I was supposed to. I have let people go ahead of me before at lottery counters and regretted it afterwards when I found out there was a big win from the store and that might have been the person who I let go in front of me.
I am not going to let another person go in front of me at a lottery line again. I don't want to miss out on the jackpot.
how can a person tell which position line is the right one
when in reno playing the hotels free competition for 250 i had picked a machine i felt would win, however the hostess directed me to another and it was the winner, so i just take whatever life offers in that regard
how can a person tell which position line is the right one
when in reno playing the hotels free competition for 250 i had picked a machine i felt would win, however the hostess directed me to another and it was the winner, so i just take whatever life offers in that regard
First let me say Todd, you are right. Someone working at the place should not be able to see the list of the next QPS up for grabs. Actualy it really doesn't matter because the person viewing the numbers really doesn't know which one will come out, yet it seems unnerving to me. I can understand the uneasyness.
To answer Sagan's response....No one knows which line is the right one. Kudos to that, but I do strongly believe that the position that was dealt to you should be kept regardless of chivalry. Driving a taxi, a same situation has happened to me often. I'll let someone go ahead of me on the taxi line, only to find out they got a trip to Miami for $125.00 after gas. And I got a short ride for $9.00.
Anytime an agent accidently prints a ticket, that I didn't request, I buy it.
If I ever win a lottery, no one playing before or after me in the same line will feel cheated because I pick my own numbers.
pac i am sure what you say is right for you however in my life the opposite has been dominant
it might be fate too....
Everyone who says that the numbers constantly refresh are not necessarily correct. You are all assuming that the RNG in the lottery machine is programmed a certain way. The fact is that all lottery machines are NOT programmed the same, so the way you're making a blanket statement is not necessarily true.
You're also making the assumption (like an episode of Star Trek) that if the other person went first then somehow the time continuum would be disturbed, and the clerk would not have generated the numbers at the precise millisecond that he did for the lady.
You know what? I think the guy was right, and he would have won if he went first.
I agree with Todd. It all depends on how the lottery machine is programmed. Taking that into consideration, the gentleman "could" have won if he wasnt such a "nice guy." I wonder if he had heard the song "Nice Guys Finish Last" by the band Greenday.
Probably has no significance at all except to drive the final nail in the coffin of the already-ailing code of gentlemanly conduct. Germain Greer, Bella Abzug and the Womens Lib movement of the last quarter-century created an environment where gentlemanly conduct was punishable by scorn and guilt.
About the only conduct left forbidden to a gentleman is that they still can't draw to an inside straight.
Jack
If you do not understand how the lottery machines operate than naturally you would think , if you let someone in front of you and they win big, it would have been you had you not done that, HOWEVER as several others have explained , the machines are all connected so there is only one chance in a hundred million that if you did not let someone in front of you that you would have pulled up the same numbers! So the "timing" of the machine is kind of like it's own lottery in itself! Chances are (1 in 100,000,000) he wouldn’t have gotten the same ticket.
Another issue her is sharing. If I won all that loot and some man was kind enough to let me go ahead of him, the first thing I would do ( once I could ) is give him a big bunch of cash, and the person who works for minimum wage who sold me the ticket would be equally blessed. When I get a lottery ticket I always ask the person's name who is selling it to me if it is not on their shirt just in case!
I do not think it is good to assume any ill thoughts or ulterior motives of the man who said "Hey, it could have been me!" That is a very normal reaction anyone would have in the same situation, even if it is not actually so, if you didn't understand how the machines work , (and most people do not) his was just a normal assumption.
LOVEMEDO
LOVEMEDO,
I don't think you understand the difference between the lottery machines being connected in order to upload ticket selections vs. some kind of shared "number pool".
I will try to make this as non-technical as possible:
Most, if not all, lottery machines create their own Quick Picks.
There is no "central number generator" for all machines, and there is no "central pool of Quick Pick numbers".
Each machine has its own independent Random Number Generator (RNG) that generates the Quick Picks.
AFTER the Quick Pick is generated, the lottery machine uploads the numbers played to the central lottery mainframe.
Here's the way it works, step-by-step, to generate a single ticket:
If someone plays their own numbers, then you just substitute "Clerk enters numbers into lottery machine" for Step 2.
Hopefully that will clear things up.
LOVEMEDO,
I don't think you understand the difference between the lottery machines being connected in order to upload ticket selections vs. some kind of shared "number pool".
I will try to make this as non-technical as possible:
Most, if not all, lottery machines create their own Quick Picks.
There is no "central number generator" for all machines, and there is no "central pool of Quick Pick numbers".
Each machine has its own independent Random Number Generator (RNG) that generates the Quick Picks.
AFTER the Quick Pick is generated, the lottery machine uploads the numbers played to the central lottery mainframe.
Here's the way it works, step-by-step, to generate a single ticket:
If someone plays their own numbers, then you just substitute "Clerk enters numbers into lottery machine" for Step 2.
Hopefully that will clear things up.
Exactly correct - with one addition. I read somewhere, that each "area: machine is pre-programmed not to RNG certain combinations during each sequence of winnings. This serves to maintain the odds-winner ratio.
Kindness always pays. Even if you lose the Lottery because of it ( which I don't think he did) , you get your reward in Heaven!
LOVEMEDO,
I don't think you understand the difference between the lottery machines being connected in order to upload ticket selections vs. some kind of shared "number pool".
I will try to make this as non-technical as possible:
Most, if not all, lottery machines create their own Quick Picks.
There is no "central number generator" for all machines, and there is no "central pool of Quick Pick numbers".
Each machine has its own independent Random Number Generator (RNG) that generates the Quick Picks.
AFTER the Quick Pick is generated, the lottery machine uploads the numbers played to the central lottery mainframe.
Here's the way it works, step-by-step, to generate a single ticket:
If someone plays their own numbers, then you just substitute "Clerk enters numbers into lottery machine" for Step 2.
Hopefully that will clear things up.
Todd,
Ok at si very clear.. thanks, I guess that explains how more than one person can win the big pot!
Lovemedo
Kindness always pays. Even if you lose the Lottery because of it ( which I don't think he did) , you get your reward in Heaven!
Whether the man lost the lottery because of it, or didn't, I think you've indulged in a severe overstatement. Kindness, or at least, courtesy, is good policy. A person tends to be better for it inside. But I'd say it generally has no relationship to payment of any sort, otherwise. If anything, it probably comes nearer being a liability paid in time and energies expended.
On the other hand, it's something to be weighed and considered as an option, most occasions. When a person's done that and made the choice to be kind to someone who absolutely is undeserving of kindness, managed to tolerate a fool joyfully, and follows it by being grateful for having done so despite the cost, it's worth it.
Otherwise the cost is probably too high.
I'm not expecting any payoffs in heaven. I'll take mine watching some scumball hitch-hiker three days since his last meal scarf up a can of Dinty Moore stew I gave him while I try to ignore his odor and do my best not to wish I hadn't picked him up.
But I'm not letting any female women in line in front of me at the store.
Jack
hey jack - female women? as oppossed to male women?
Jack,
Your a stitch..rewards are real.....as promised in the Bible. I think you're going to cash in, even if you dont let the ladies first!
lovemedo
Matthew 6
Giving to the Needy
1"Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
2"So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 3But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
hey jack - female women? as oppossed to male women?
Nowadays, Emily, a person just can't tell anymore. I don't imagine I'd give up my place for male women, either, except I don't like them standing behind me where I have to stretch my neck to keep an eye on them.
There's a town named Trinidad, just across the NM coastline into Colorado, where they're doing a land office business in turning men into women. Seems an awfully lot of them drift downhill and end up in Albuquerque.
Got nothing against them, I suppose, but I don't like having them behind me in line.
Jack
jack - miss your gun tottin' kitty
Likely as not she'll be back. But she's a prideful cat. I have to switch her off or she'll begin to see this whole LP thing as an audition. Try to sell herself to Hollywood.
She's always been a loaner...... every since she was weened I've had her on loan from a guy who's now dead. So we don't have what either of us would call a binding contract. I don't want to give her any ideas.
Jack
Kindness always pays. Even if you lose the Lottery because of it ( which I don't think he did) , you get your reward in Heaven!
why wait for reward in heaven? kimdness is the thing to do and makes you feel good here on earth.