DC Lottery to Pay Out $127K for Losing Tickets Due to ‘Human Error'

Officials say 330 losing tickets can still be redeemed for a total of more than $50,000

Check your lottery tickets.

The D.C. Lottery says it is paying out tens of thousands of dollars to people who have losing tickets after what lottery officials are describing as "human error."

The mistake is limited to the evening drawings of the DC-2, DC-3, DC-4 and DC-5 games on Dec. 12, 2018.

According to data provided by D.C. Lottery, 773 losing tickets were designated as winning because of the error. The total winnings for those tickets is $127,505. As of Tuesday, 443 of the tickets had been redeemed so far for a payout of $77,147.50.

About 2 percent of all winning tickets go unclaimed, according to D.C. Lottery.

People who have tickets for the Dec. 12 drawing have until June 10, 2019 to cash them in. The tickets awarded in error can only be redeemed at DC Lottery Prize Center at 2235 Shannon Place SE.

Once the mistake was discovered, lottery officials announced the correct set of winning numbers and decided to pay out both the actual winning numbers as well as the numbers that were announced by mistake.

"New software was installed to our draw system by our vendor to ensure this error cannot reoccur. DC Lottery has reviewed and updated policies and procedures as needed,” Agnes Moss, a spokesperson for the D.C. lottery, said in an email to News4.

Moss said this type of mistake has never occurred in the past and was the result of  “human error by DC Lottery staff.”

The mistake comes as the lottery and its vendor, Intralot, are at the center of a debate over what company should get the multi-million dollar contract to operate the District’s online sports betting system.

The D.C. Council was set to vote on emergency legislation that would have pushed the contract to Intralot circumventing an open bidding process.

The Chairman of the D.C. Council withdrew that legislation at the last minute and will now hold a public hearing later this month to determine how to award the sports betting contract.

Here's a breakdown of the tickets that accidentally were listed as winning:

As of Jan. 8, the payout for the winning tickets issued in error are as follows:

DC 2 - 5 of 25 winning plays claimed for $137.50
DC 3 - 417 of 682 winning plays claimed for $73,310
DC 4 - 13 of 38 winning plays claimed for $3,700
DC 5 - 0 of 15 winning plays claimed for $0.00
Total: 435 of 773 winning plays claimed for $77,147.50

Here are both sets of numbers that will be paid out for the Dec. 12 drawing:

Actual Winning Tickets
Players with tickets bearing the following set of numbers can bring them to any DC Lottery retailer for validation:

DC 2: 25
DC 3: 410
DC 4: 8937
DC 5: 09353

Mistakenly Awarded Tickets
Players with tickets bearing the following set of numbers can bring them to the DC Lottery Prize Center at 2235 Shannon Place SE, for validation:

DC 2: 32
DC 3: 518
DC 4: 7508
DC 5: 57581

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