Realizing he also bought three (3) Powerball tickets at the same time, he realized he'd better check those tickets too. Much to his shock, his three Powerball quick picks were duplicates too. Worst part was that he bought PowerPlay meaning he spent $12 for three "identical" Powerball tickets. He said he knows winning is highly unlikely but still, he at least wanted 3 chances to win no matter how slim the chances.

On Tuesday, November 1, Jason called the Arkansas Lottery to complain and to ask for a refund. But as fate would have it, no one answered the phone at the lottery so he had to leave a message. He explained his problem on the lottery's recording - 3 duplicate quick picks for two separate games. After waiting several hours for a return call, he called The Lotto Report (me) for help. We played phone tag but finally got together around 4:35 p.m. At that time, I decided it would be best for us to call the Arkansas Lottery to give them a chance to explain how this could possibly happen and to right a wrong.

But the Arkansas Lottery closed at 4:30 p.m. What rotten luck we had - they'd be no closure for Jason today!

I then asked Jason to return to the same store where he bought the duplicates so he could to buy 3 more quick picks. I advised him to make sure he found the same store clerk that sold him the duplicate tickets the day before. So he obliged. He called back within an hour to tell me that he bought 3 more quick picks but this time, they each had a different set of numbers. This was a test and it told me plenty. But I'll wait a little while before I discuss it. (Sorry)

On Wednesday, Nov 2, I contacted the Arkansas Lottery. Initially I spoke with Donna Bragg. I explained the situation and the reason for my call. She said she'd never heard of such an occurrence but explained that she was relatively new to to lottery. I did ask who the lottery vendor was - Sci Games or Intralot and she said "both." So basically that told me that most likely Intralot was the vendor who was responsible for the lottery terminals and the software.

Anyway, Donna said I'd need to talk to the director. She took my name and phone number and said she'd pass the information on. Sure enough, shortly thereafter I received a call from Director Bishop Woosley. Again I told him the same thing ... a player bought quick picks that contained identical numbers on 3 lines each. I asked him, "How could this happen?" And ... I asked who the lottery vendor was? He confirmed it was Intralot.

Immediately he asked for the serial numbers of the tickets so he could "look them up." In my attempt to read the serial numbers, he suggested that I just email him copies of the tickets. I said OK then I sent him copies of the tickets. He said he'd have to check on it then he'd get back to me.

Shortly after sending him copies of Jason's tickets, I received a message from Director Woosley that read, "Received. If you can send me your questions related to these tickets I will get to work on the responses to those as well. That may shorten the process of responding."

Today, Dec 3, I replied in writing with my questions. When the Arkansas Lottery responds, I will post on this page for all to read.

Based on the fact that Intralot is Arkansas lottery vendor, I'm going to predict that the lottery terminals in Arkansas allows clerks to print duplicate quick pick tickets. This was the case in NM, LA and VA. Apparently, the software has not been changed by Intralot indicating to me that the states are purposely allowing the printing of duplicate tickets. This would certainly be in their favor - it means less "coverage" for each draw meaning it would be less likely that someone would win.

Believe it or not, I was told by two lotteries that they have this feature on their terminals because players want to purchase duplicate QP's. They say that "pools" want duplicate tickets so each player can have their own ticket. Hogwash! The whole purpose of pooling monies is to give players more chances to win.

Not to mention the simple fact that the Arkansas Lottery website (and many other lotteries) quote this in how to play a game ..

Excerpt - Arkansas Lottery Website

Terminals that can purposely print duplicate tickets does NOT conform to the definition of "quick picks" as presented to players by lotteries. Needless to say, this is deceptive and misleading. After one QP is printed, additional tickets with the same numbers should be considered self pick tickets.

Below you can see Jason's six (6) Quick Pick tickets. Please notice they are all clearly marked as QP, printed on the same date and within 3 minutes. What do you think the odds are of the below numbers being picked at "random?"

When I see and hear these stories, I often wonder if the lotteries are banking on
players not checking their own tickets. If players depend on ticket checkers and/or
these new phone apps to check their tickets, then players would never realize they
had duplicate tickets. This is certainly one way lottery's could increase their revenues!

As you see, poor Jason didn't win with his ONE chance to win for a cost of $12.
Fortunately he spoke up PRIOR to the drawing. He'll never know if he would have
won IF he had received the 3 Quick Picks he thought he bought.

Players Take Action - Speak Up About Lottery Selling Duplicate Tickets
What players should do is contact your State Rep and you State Senator and tell them
that your lottery is selling duplicate Quick Picks. Be sure to explain to him that
Quick Picks are defined as "random number selections!" The states are aware of this
but haven't taken action to stop. (See Related Stories - links at top and bottom of this page)

Speaking of "random" numbers .... Check Out these Texas "QP" Tickets
Does anyone believe the numbers on these Texas tickets are random picks?

Please notice the Cash 5 tickets were bought on Sept. 7, 8 and 9, 2016,
at three different retail locations and at various times during the day.
Then notice that all tickets have 3 and 4 identical numbers on both lines.
# 1) 15-19-26-32 & # 2) 4-9-23 & # 3) 11-21-33.

This is NOT an occasional incident - I obtain tickets like this regularly.

I'm sorry, but I do NOT believe Texas quick picks are truly "random" picks. This is precisely why I advise
players to pick their own numbers. If all players randomly picked numbers for the games they play, I firmly
believe we'd have more winners on the jackpot games. I say this because there are entirely too many duplicate
tickets printed and it appears in some states, their lottery terminals allow clerks to print duplicate tickets.

What players need to understand is that when you receive duplicate tickets and
then you complain to the store, all the store does is to print you another
ticket to satisfy you. Then he sells your duplicates to other customers.
You don't really think he's going to lose that money, do you?

Folks, this may be one reason WHY there are multiple winning tickets causing
reduced prizes and WHY winning tickets go unclaimed. The retailer simply
trashes the extra tickets printed as he knew he couldn't cancel them.

I'll update when I hear from the Arkansas Lottery.

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