Dont let the shopkeeper check your lotto ticket

Something disturbing happened to me this morning.

I usually get 6 lines in the lotto. I tick the 8 Draws box so that the ticket is valid for the month. This saves me having to remember to get a new ticket twice a week.

Normally i miss the draws so ask the shopkeeper to check it in the machine and have been doing this for over a year.

This morning the shopkeeper ran it through the machine and it said 'not a winner'. I ran it through the self service machine on the counter myself and it said 'not a winner.

Now i checked this ticket last week against the draw on tv and got 3 numebr + the bonus number which gives me €20.

So i took out last weeks numbers and checked again in the shop. Yep, i had won, but the machine yet again said 'Not a winner'.

I think the problem is that the machine only compares the numbers from the last draw and therefore will not viladate a winning ticket which was for 8 draws and had won in a previous draw.

I feel i have wasted my money for over a year.
Beware.

My experience is that the self service checker works even if the ticket goes back a number of draws. I think you should raise the matter with the National Lottery Company because I think they would be very anxious to be aware of any glitches that your experience suggests might be in their systems.

Crunchie said:

My experience is that the self service checker works even if the ticket goes back a number of draws. I think you should raise the matter with the National Lottery Company because I think they would be very anxious to be aware of any glitches that your experience suggests might be in their systems.

Click to expand...

I think you are right. I would often save up lotto slips for weeks at a time and then check them all (when I finally remember!!) using the instore checker. It seems to have no problem telling me on those all too rare occasions when I have won something...

I would refer it to the Fraud Squad if you are sure you can replicate this glitch that systematically stops Winners from claiming their Winnings , have you tried it in another shop and have you double checked the numbers on lotto.ie and also ensured that the Bar Code is intact (not scuffed or marked , it is thermal paper after all )

can you key the numbers under the barcode in manually, if you are still rejected having done that then its off to the Fraud Squad I would go .

and don't forget Joe Duffy once the police are on the case

It amazes me that people want to check their lotto numbers in the shop, are they going to start whooping and screaming if they find out they win? They hold up a que when all they have to do is check 150 on aertel, check the papers, listen to the news, web etc... lazy tools with their pipe dreams, wha.

[broken link removed] also lists all draw results.

I cehcked in another shop and the machine got it right.
I had indeed won some money.
I suspect the shop assistant visually checked the numbers against only this weeks draw. Can't be sure though.