Lottery officials say ticket too damaged to pay $63 million

[JEDI]

http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/05/us/man-claims-winning-lottery-ticket-feat

u cant see the barcode.
heck, you cant even see the numbers!

 

[Elixer]

Hey wait, I have a winning ticket as well, and by complete coincidence, it also is damaged like that!

 

[Craig234]

For $63.1 million, they can do a very advanced document recovery proving it.

 

[zinfamous]

For $63.1 million, they can do a very advanced document recovery proving it.

but the lottery now holds and refuses to return the original ticket.

lulz

 

[sandorski]

Haven't these idiots heard of Visual Basic?

 

[SSSnail]

Haven't these idiots heard of Visual Basic?

Only if it runs on Unix.

 

[BUTCH1]

but the lottery now holds and refuses to return the original ticket.

lulz

I'm not sure what to make of this story, the Cali. lotto Rep. says he has no record of any claim being filed but although the bar-code is unreadable the numbers on it ( in the middle of the ticket) are readable and since the state's computer has a record of where/when every ticket is purchased he should be able to state the day/time/location of the winning ticket.

 

[Itchrelief]

I'm not sure what to make of this story, the Cali. lotto Rep. says he has no record of any claim being filed but although the bar-code is unreadable the numbers on it ( in the middle of the ticket) are readable and since the state's computer has a record of where/when every ticket is purchased he should be able to state the day/time/location of the winning ticket.

Those aren't the numbers of the draw. They're probably something to ID the roll of lotto tape. The date and location of the winning ticket sale is already public knowledge.

 

[mikeymikec]

When you see the face of Jesus in a lottery ticket

 

[tynopik]

my understanding is that typically there there are the numbers themselves (which are publicly announced) and then a verification code (which is not). It's the verification code that validates a ticket rather than any fancy anti-counterfeiting technology

so if they can pull the verification code off, that should be sufficient

 

[Jimzz]

Those aren't the numbers of the draw. They're probably something to ID the roll of lotto tape. The date and location of the winning ticket sale is already public knowledge.

But those numbers should match the roll that was in the machine when the ticket was sold, if its the winning ticket.

If they match then pay out, esp if there is video. If not then they have a case to not pay. But seeing that have not said that and they will not even return he ticket they are making it look bad for themselves.

 

[3chordcharlie]

It's very unlikely that a ticket is too damaged to verify. More likely that verification does not fit into whatever procedure the gaming commission has established to use. There is probably pressure to let the prize lapse, which is why awarding lapsed prizes to another body (rather than make-up prizes) is a bad policy no matter how well-intentioned. Support for school boards or whatever should be built in to the lottery, not considered a windfall.

In Canada they try very hard to find winners. I'm fairly sure they have awarded prizes with no ticket at all if a complete circumstantial case can be built. With computerized sales they know exactly where and when the ticket was sold, and sometimes will have video proving who bought it.

Lottery is big business, probably stores selling tickets should be asked to keep video until whatever the window would be to contact them about having sold a winning ticket (maybe a rolling 2-week period or something like that).

 

[QueBert]

It's very unlikely that a ticket is too damaged to verify. More likely that verification does not fit into whatever procedure the gaming commission has established to use. There is probably pressure to let the prize lapse, which is why awarding lapsed prizes to another body (rather than make-up prizes) is a bad policy no matter how well-intentioned. Support for school boards or whatever should be built in to the lottery, not considered a windfall.

In Canada they try very hard to find winners. I'm fairly sure they have awarded prizes with no ticket at all if a complete circumstantial case can be built. With computerized sales they know exactly where and when the ticket was sold, and sometimes will have video proving who bought it.

Lottery is big business, probably stores selling tickets should be asked to keep video until whatever the window would be to contact them about having sold a winning ticket (maybe a rolling 2-week period or something like that).

Unless Canada's the nicest place on the earth, I doubt the award with no ticket thing. And there would be too many what if's even if they had video of someone with no ticket. What if I had given you the money to buy me a ticket, so it was my winning ticket. Paying out a winning ticket without the actual ticket would open a shit storm of potential law suits. A Friend hit at the casino for $35k a few years back. He had to sit at the machine and wait for the manager to come so he could get paid, the attendant told him if he got up from the machine for anything he wouldn't get the money as it hadn't been verified by the floor manager yet. No problem, except he had to piss like a race horse and he ended up having to sit there for a little over an hour before they showed up. He told me he was close to pissing himself 25 minutes in. Obviously if $35k's on the line if you couldn't help it, you'd piss yourself.

Lottery and casinos will look for any reason to not pay out a jackpot.

 

[JEDIYoda]

Too many armchair questerbacks! The bottom line is if you can`t read the tickey -- no money!!

 

[destrekor]

Too many armchair questerbacks! The bottom line is if you can`t read the tickey -- no money!!

Define: read.

They can read the verification numbers. One only has to run that against the computer which tracks when and where the winning ticket was printed. They shouldn't even need to confirm video of who bought it - possession of the winning ticket (with signature match IIRC) is all that is necessary for lottery redemption. If that ticket is deemed a winner by way of matching the ID code printed on it, then they must payout.

They're trying to essentially get away with not awarding the prize by claiming it fails procedure, much as they would if the deadline to claim had passed.

 

[BUTCH1]

Those aren't the numbers of the draw. They're probably something to ID the roll of lotto tape. The date and location of the winning ticket sale is already public knowledge.

Oh, OK, didn't know that. I guess it comes down to the bar-code which is fubare'd. How in hell does someone let a lotto ticket get that damaged anyway, looks like it had an encounter with a blow-torch.

 

[eng2d2]

That lotto tickets condition if left in a wallet for a year will look like that. It deteriorates on its own.

 

[Itchrelief]

But those numbers should match the roll that was in the machine when the ticket was sold, if its the winning ticket.

If they match then pay out, esp if there is video. If not then they have a case to not pay. But seeing that have not said that and they will not even return he ticket they are making it look bad for themselves.

Yeah, but how many people bought lottery tickets at around the same time from the same machine? I'd see it would be possible to pay out if only one buyer bought any within a few hours of the sale of the winning ticket, but if not, you open the doors to 10 different people smudging up their losing tickets and asking for the jackpot. Or possibly the number is unique for each individual ticket? I don't know, but I doubt it. That might be how they have to go if this keeps happening though. edit: the red numbers that are (almost the only things) readable seem to change from the top to the bottom of the ticket. If the machine somehow knows which numbers correspond to which ticket, he might be able to get it.

 

[MustISO]

What they don't explain well in the article is the condition of the ticket when he first went in. They gave him a "congratulatory note" along with a photocopy of his ticket. At that point you would think someone would have noticed it wasn't readable.

Later in the article they say the lottery never received his claim. So he either has the note from the claim process or he doesn't but you'd think that would be sufficient evidence. Something doesn't seem right but there's a lot of missing details.

 

[stlc8tr]

Define: read.

They can read the verification numbers. One only has to run that against the computer which tracks when and where the winning ticket was printed. They shouldn't even need to confirm video of who bought it - possession of the winning ticket (with signature match IIRC) is all that is necessary for lottery redemption. If that ticket is deemed a winner by way of matching the ID code printed on it, then they must payout.

They're trying to essentially get away with not awarding the prize by claiming it fails procedure, much as they would if the deadline to claim had passed.

The linked article didn't say that the verification numbers were readable. Did another article state this?

 

[3chordcharlie]

Unless Canada's the nicest place on the earth, I doubt the award with no ticket thing. And there would be too many what if's even if they had video of someone with no ticket. What if I had given you the money to buy me a ticket, so it was my winning ticket. Paying out a winning ticket without the actual ticket would open a shit storm of potential law suits. A Friend hit at the casino for $35k a few years back. He had to sit at the machine and wait for the manager to come so he could get paid, the attendant told him if he got up from the machine for anything he wouldn't get the money as it hadn't been verified by the floor manager yet. No problem, except he had to piss like a race horse and he ended up having to sit there for a little over an hour before they showed up. He told me he was close to pissing himself 25 minutes in. Obviously if $35k's on the line if you couldn't help it, you'd piss yourself.

Lottery and casinos will look for any reason to not pay out a jackpot.

If the money was otherwise destined for another draw, why refuse to investigate properly to prove the authenticity of the ticket? The issue here is that someone has something to gain by not paying out the jackpot.

Questions of rightful ownership of the ticket are nothing new, and are not related to the presence of the actual ticket - they happen anyway.

Absence of the actual ticket is not an insurmountable issue as far as proving who won, but it's also a different topic than the one in this article. See: http://www.torontosun.com/2013/12/03/olg-on-outstanding-50m-jackpot

The only thing that is random about the lottery and lottery tickets is the winning combination. Everything else is very well tracked and documented.

 

[QueBert]

Define: read.

They can read the verification numbers. One only has to run that against the computer which tracks when and where the winning ticket was printed. They shouldn't even need to confirm video of who bought it - possession of the winning ticket (with signature match IIRC) is all that is necessary for lottery redemption. If that ticket is deemed a winner by way of matching the ID code printed on it, then they must payout.

They're trying to essentially get away with not awarding the prize by claiming it fails procedure, much as they would if the deadline to claim had passed.

If that's the picture of the actual ticket, the verification numbers are absolutely 100% unreadable. I'm not sure how it works for the jackpot, but at my store if we can't scan a tickets barcode, as long as we can input the ticket # and it verifies it. The person will still get paid. Of course on a jackpot it's not going to be that simple. The only thing I see on that ticket that's readable is the lot number for the roll the ticket was printed off of. They could track that to the store, but beyond that it's of no use here since the bar code & ticket # are both FUBAR'ed

 

[destrekor]

If that's the picture of the actual ticket, the verification numbers are absolutely 100% unreadable. I'm not sure how it works for the jackpot, but at my store if we can't scan a tickets barcode, as long as we can input the ticket # and it verifies it. The person will still get paid. Of course on a jackpot it's not going to be that simple. The only thing I see on that ticket that's readable is the lot number for the roll the ticket was printed off of. They could track that to the store, but beyond that it's of no use here since the bar code & ticket # are both FUBAR'ed

Sorry, I was referring to the lot/ticket number.

Wouldn't the machine that printed the winning ticket, or some database at least, have a connection between what was printed on what lot number? The lot /ticket number counts per every predetermined section on the roll. I'd think there would be a connection between somewhere between those numbers and what was printed. But perhaps not, I guess? Does the lottery system actually not track those numbers? I would have thought those numbers would match date and time they were printed from the system unless that is not recorded at all.

 

[3chordcharlie]

Sorry, I was referring to the lot/ticket number.

Wouldn't the machine that printed the winning ticket, or some database at least, have a connection between what was printed on what lot number? The lot /ticket number counts per every predetermined section on the roll. I'd think there would be a connection between somewhere between those numbers and what was printed. But perhaps not, I guess? Does the lottery system actually not track those numbers? I would have thought those numbers would match date and time they were printed from the system unless that is not recorded at all.

Of course they track that. Otherwise there would be no reason for that. It sounds like the major issue here is the jackpot defaults to another 'winner' if it isn't claimed.

The lottery corporation definitely, absolutely knows whether this ticket is genuine or not.

 

[SagaLore]

Forgery. Nobody is going to have a winning ticket all this time with it washed AND burned. If he didn't realize it was the winning ticket for so long he would have thrown that out.