Errors and Glitches

Errors and glitches aren’t things that we like to associate with lottery games, but they can and do occur from time to time. For example, a computer glitch prevented an estimated 800,000 tickets from being purchased for the Lotto draw on Saturday 27 December, 2008.

This particular glitch affected both online and offline ticket sales, and resulted in a jackpot of £3.4 million being won instead of a jackpot that would have been worth £4.2 million. At the start of the live Lotto show, which is broadcast on BBC1, presenter Carole Machin apologised for the glitch and said that it was: “Due to a network communication issue.”

Such errors and glitches are, fortunately, rare, but when they happen they can be both inconvenient and costly. That said, how might we adjust our own habits so that we are able to avoid becoming victims of errors and glitches? I have three main suggestions:

Buy Tickets Early – If you leave the purchasing of tickets until the day of the draw, you have very little room for manoeuvre, and could well end up being forced to skip participation in that draw altogether. Buying your tickets earlier in the week, on the other hand, will give you time to wait out any glitch that arises or go elsewhere.

Buy Repeat Tickets – One good way of avoiding errors and glitches is to reduce the number of times you have to use the lottery system, and the easiest way of doing that is to buy tickets for several draws at a time. These enter the same set(s) of numbers for as many draws as you select on your play slip.

Phone A Friend – If your local area is experiencing a lottery glitch and you don’t want to buy UK Lotto tickets online) consider phoning a friend who lives in a different part of the country and asking them to buy a ticket on your behalf. Of course, you will need to trust your friend completely when doing this, because the person holding the ticket is the legal owner of any prize it wins (see Bearer Instruments), and you need to be sure they will hand it over. Agreeing to give them a slice of any large win in advance might be a good idea.

None of these ideas will prevent errors and glitches from occurring, but they can all help you to reduce the chances of being negatively affected by them.

Here’s to a glitch-free and Happy New Year!

Article Last Updated: 27/04/2010 13:09:32

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