ROCKY HILL — The Connecticut Lottery is encouraging players to hold onto their tickets for a special New Year's game after 100,000 eligible tickets were mistakenly disregarded in the initial drawing.
The lottery organization said Monday that a new drawing will be held and winning tickets from both drawings will be honored. The date of the second drawing will be announced later this week.
Edward Flemmig of Orange spent $500 on 50 Super Draw tickets, none of which were included in Monday's drawing. Flemmig said the lottery's solution unfairly favors those counted in the first drawing.
"They've now got two chances to win in the drawing, and their chances of winning were astronomically higher because there were half as many tickets in the first drawing," said Flemmig.
Flemmig has a request for the lottery: "When you hold the second drawing, please just include the tickets for people that didn't have a chance to win in the first drawing," said Flemmig.
Flemmig said, despite the error, he will continue to play future Super Draw games.
The New Year's $1,000,000 Super Draw sold 275,000 tickets with unique six-digit codes ranging from 100,001 to 375,000. The lottery says a mistake in the range of the drawing meant some tickets were given no chance of winning. Prizes range from $100 to $1 million.
The lottery supplied answers to questions that customers might be asking in the wake of the incident.
CT SUPER DRAW Frequently Asked Questions
When did the CT Super Draw drawing take place?
- The drawing took place at 11:00 AM, January 1, 2018.
How many CT Super Draw tickets were sold?
- 214,601
Who performed the drawing?
- Employees from the CT Lottery and officials from the Department of Consumer Protection. The drawing was also witnessed by an independent auditor, Marcum LLP.
What happened?
- Due to human error, 100,000 ticket numbers were not included in the January 1 drawing. Tickets not included were tickets with numbers above 214,601.
What corrective actions are being taken?
- The CT Lottery will conduct an additional drawing that includes the correct ticket number range. Additionally, the CT Lottery will honor all winning tickets from both drawings.
When is the next drawing?
- The CT Lottery is working with its gaming system vendor, Scientific Games, its regulator, the Department of Consumer Protection, and its independent auditor, Marcum LLP to prepare for and schedule this additional drawing. Please check the CT Lottery website for details about the date and time of this drawing.
Why does the next drawing include all tickets, and not just the 100,000 that were excluded?
- Everyone who purchased a CT Super Draw ticket purchased one chance to win in one drawing. The January 1 drawing was not conducted according to the approved game rules and drawing procedures. Because of this, the CT Lottery is planning to conduct an additional drawing under the approved game rules and drawing procedures, which require that the total tickets sold should be included.
How will the CT Lottery pay for the drawing that was conducted in error?
- The CT Lottery will use unclaimed prize money.
When will I be able to cash my tickets?
- Cashing for both drawings will be made available shortly after the additional drawing takes place.
What about the odds in the additional drawing?
- The additional drawing will take place according to the official CT Super Draw game rules and approved drawing procedures. Based on the total number of tickets sold, the odds of winning the top prize are 1:214,601.
Will prizes ($) change in the additional drawing?
- No. The prize structure for CT Super Draw will remain the same -- 1,311 total prizes, including a top prize of $1 million.
I threw away my ticket. What do I do?
- If you discarded your ticket(s), please send an email to ctlottery@ctlottery.org. A CT Lottery employee will contact you to begin an investigation into your claim.
How is the Lottery handling this?
- There is an internal investigation being conducted by the CT Lottery. The Department of Consumer Protection is also conducting an investigation.