Hoosier Lottery Finds Error

Hoosier Lottery officials have discovered an error that may have caused ticket holders with "4 of 6" or "5 of 6" winning numbers in the Hoosier Lotto drawings of June 23 and August 8 to show as non-winning tickets at the time they were presented for redemption. This error occurred when the vendor entered an incorrect draw date identification number. The total dollar amount of winnings possibly affected is $12,935.

Kathryn Densborn, Hoosier Lottery Executive Director, said the lottery has determined there are 201 tickets possibly affected, most for amounts of $41 or $44.

"This error did not in any way impact the actual drawing or selection of the winning Hoosier Lotto numbers. It involved the calculation of ticket redemption values and the validation and payment of four of six and five of six winning numbers," said Densborn.

Six numbers are drawn for the Hoosier Lotto game. A winning jackpot ticket must match all six numbers; however, tickets with three of six numbers, four of six numbers and five of six numbers correct are also eligible for cash prizes.

For the June 23 drawing, the error affects 85 tickets that matched four numbers correctly for $44 each and one ticket that matched 5 of 6 numbers correctly for $877; for the August 8 drawing, the error affects 112 tickets with four of six numbers for $41 each and three tickets that matched five of six numbers for $1,242 each.

Lottery officials said tickets from the June 23 drawing presented for payment between July 29 and August 20 would have shown as non-winning. For the August 8 drawing, tickets presented for payment between August 16 and August 20 would have been shown as non-winning tickets.

Tickets presented before the July 29 and August 16 dates or after August 20 have been properly validated and paid. Those who believe they may have a winning Hoosier Lotto ticket should present the ticket to a lottery retailer or any lottery office for validation and payment.

"We regret that this error occurred. It has been corrected and we have put measures in place to ensure it doesn’t happen again," said Densborn.

Lottery players have 180 days after the date of the drawing to submit winning Hoosier Lotto tickets for payment. The Lottery cannot determine how many of these eligible tickets may have been presented for payment and not paid, or those that have not yet been presented. As additional tickets are presented and paid the total dollar amount of winnings possibly affected ($12,935) will be reduced.

-30-