Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/02/21/man-sues-for-340m-after-powerball-site-shows-wrong-winning-numbers.html
…
6 Likes
This made me remember the famous ‘349 Incident’, which resulted in riots and deaths.
7 Likes
It would be way better if fewer people needed a huge windfall to make their lives less financially desperate.
14 Likes
Reminds me of when I was in grade school and a bunch of us kids would get awfully pedantic about something on a sign or in a flyer and then congratulate ourselves mightily, calling “False Advertising is what that is. You can’t do that because it’s illegal.” Meanwhile having absolutely no concept of legally binding contracts, terms, etc. Feels just like that 
1 Like
The erroneous numbers, it turned out, were part of a quality assurance test conducted by Taoti Enterprises, a contractor involved with the lottery, and were mistakenly not removed for three days.
Three days! I’m not sure it should cost them millions for that mistake, but that’s some pretty breathtaking incompetence and there should be some consequences.
12 Likes
I agree. If he made changes in his life based on the understanding that he’d won (like quitting his job or buying a fancy car) then he’s at least owed compensation for that, if not the full jackpot.
6 Likes
Winning the lottery as a retirement solution:
2 Likes
Diese Angaben sind wie immer Pazifisten.
One of my job tasks involves the impact of accuracy of items on company websites. It comes down to what the source of truth is. If the website is that, then yes, he’s going to get a good payout. Most likely there is a televised or other controlled draw though, and that is the source of truth.
I mean the website actually says this on it: “This website, however, is not the final authority on winning numbers”
He’ll probably get some money, but I doubt much. He wasn’t subject to any harm and him making decisions based on his expected winnings are, unfortunately, his problem. I’d guess he gets in the neighborhood of $50k, probably $10k or less.
1 Like
I am now convinced that I had the real winning numbers, saw the erroneous numbers on the website, and tore my ticket up.
I guess I’d better check if there are any unclaimed jackpots in places where I could conceivably have bought a ticket.
3 Likes
This is why you do not test in production
6 Likes
If I were the judge that was forced to hear the case I would award him… the original purchase price of the tickets, and none of his attorney fees. That way he can’t file an appeal since he is the prevailing party.
Good thing you’re not a judge, then, to cruelly rule against a normal person trying to hold a powerful agency accoutable for very real errors.
8 Likes
Six fingered man angry at levitating lotto ticket
4 Likes
Gaming has some really strange laws and regulations about its own conduct.
- In Keno, the prevailing record is not the collected balls in the tubes, but the punching of the “Keno Punch” ticket, which becomes the master record of the draw, and not the draw itself.
- In some newer variants of Video Poker, after selecting the hold cards and selecting draw, some games will reveal a fiction of what would have been the outcome had a different selection been made. This has no bearing on the actual game, but as a tease/psychological warfare on what could have been. Apparently this is legal as it “doesn’t affect the outcome of the original wager.”
2 Likes
Lotto people can post the most absolute incorrect info at any point, any medium… they don’t even have to TRY to get it right - because at the end of the day, it’s the numbers on the official sheet that gets signed and put in the vault.
Another case of we’ll tell you when we’re wrong, and if we are… too bad.
1 Like
Love the sixth finger that is just for pointing.
1 Like
2 Likes
4 Likes
