Posted on 02/19/2024 1:49:37 PM PST by nickcarraway
A Washington DC man who thought he won a jackpot worth $340m (£270m) has sued Powerball and the DC Lottery, who claim they published his numbers by mistake.
John Cheeks said he felt "numb" when he first saw Powerball's winning numbers matched his ticket in January 2023.
But when Mr Cheeks presented his ticket to the Office of Lottery and Gaming (OLG), his claim was denied.
"One of the claims agents told me my ticket was no good, just to throw it in the trash can," he told the BBC.
Instead, Mr Cheeks held on to that ticket and found a lawyer.
He is now suing the lottery for damages, in the amount of the Powerball jackpot, plus the interest he would have earned on it per day - totalling $340m.
'Accidental error'
According to court documents, Powerball and a lottery contractor, the DC-based Taoti Enterprises, claim the confusion arose from a technical error.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
“published” yes...but they were not the numbers publicly drawn ...which is on video.
Not sure he has any grounds to recover due to a typo
on a published document that made him “think” he won...even though the disappointment would be huge.
They were not the numbers drawn in the drawing. How does a typo in a document allow him grounds to recover? Other than "emotional distress" what grounds does he have to recover? If they weren't the numbers drawn (which is on video), he didn't win.
It’s DC and probably a scam. My cousin posted my numbers and you know the rest of the story.
“They know all the numbers played and then they do the drawing.”
Here in MA we have KENO playing in all the bars and a lot of convenience stores, a new drawing every 3 or 4 minutes.
I have always believed that that is how the winning numbers are picked.
The main computer analyzes every combination of numbers played state wide at the last second then picks a combination of winning numbers that will have the lowest payout.
When KENO first showed up here years ago i was hitting $500 wins fairly often but can’t even hit the side of a barn since.
of course i may be wrong..
What would have happened without the mistake? Claimant would have gotten zilch because his numbers didn`t win. So the mistake caused absolutely no material damage. He must be gutted though, believing (albeit for a short time) that he was rich. Maybe there`s a possibility to give him some small compensation for that. Everybody knows (or should know) you can`t take a lottery ticket to the bank.
True that the “law” is often unfair.
Note that the settled law always benefits the moneyed interest.
After all those functioning slot machines are just (dis)honest mistakes.
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