Unluckiest Couple Celebrates $52 Million Lottery Win, Then Weeps
invite response
2016 Jan 1, 11:15am 2,577 views 8 comments
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Ceffer
2016 Jan 1, 11:26am
It only sucks as far as you allow your perceptions to make it suck.
Judging from the terrible stuff that seems to follow a lot of lottery winners, losing may be the blessing.
Tenpoundbass
2016 Jan 1, 11:30am
I hope they didn't do some crazy splurge before they got in touch with the Loto folks.
"Cancel that Monogrammed Bentley!"
turtledove
2016 Jan 1, 12:50pm
It only sucks as far as you allow your perceptions to make it suck.
I'm just trying to figure out how one might "perceive" having won millions only to learn you haven't won those millions due to an app error.... as a good thing. I wonder if it was an Android or iPhone?
Judging from the terrible stuff that seems to follow a lot of lottery winners, losing may be the blessing.
I see your point, but I'd still take my chances. The biggest thing you'd have to worry about with me is that I'd start all whole bunch of money-losing programs for abused/neglected animals....
turtledove
2016 Jan 1, 12:52pm
I hope they didn't do some crazy splurge before they got in touch with the Loto folks.
"Cancel that Monogrammed Bentley!"
It was the holidays. Maybe enough places were closed to prevent them from doing anything really stupid.
Dan8267
2016 Jan 1, 1:06pm
Sounds like fraud. They should sue for ten times the lottery amount and demand a jury trial. The lottery, fearing that a sympathetic jury of commoners would side with the couple, will gladly settle for the original amount.
Tenpoundbass
2016 Jan 1, 1:08pm
Some years back I was starting a database to hold the historical lotto results.
I had queries that returned the most hit numbers, and their ranking.
My theory was that over time as I got more data. I would write algorithms to deduce the most top ranking numbers, in a series of possibilities.
By now there would have been plenty of data. It was to be an exercise when I had a few grand to play with.
My prediction was I would at least hit a lot of 3 to 5 out of 6 numbers to have at least recouped some if not most of the money I invested.
Every time I would test 2000 random 6 numbers and match them against the winning numbers. My odds were going up by a small noticeable percentage.
Sadly my laptop got stolen out of my car and I lost all of my work and research I did on it. The last time I checked Florida Loto website doesn't have aggregated historical data in a format that you can just import. The data that I used to originally seed my DB back in 98, I had to download html files and manually extract the data out of the columnar data. I hate starting all over on code. Perhaps this will be the year I try to find the data and do it all over again.
turtledove
2016 Jan 1, 1:15pm
Some years back I was starting a database to hold the historical lotto results.
Some of the online lotto ticket sellers claim to have ways to help you find commonly winning numbers... or numbers that are due for a win... stuff like that. I don't know how good they are... but they seem to be trying to do what you are talking about.
The Grinch apparently works the lottery now.
A couple in the U.K. was reportedly denied $52 million in winnings due to a faulty smartphone app.
Instead of ringing in the New Year with their 35.4 million pound windfall by choosing all six winning numbers, grandparents Edwina and David Nylan of England are nursing a hangover of missed fortune.
When Edwina called the U.K. lottery to claim the jackpot, a representative told the pair they had entered the drawing too late.
"We've tried to have a laugh about it but we're completely distraught," Edwina told SWNS. "We've spent years paying out for the lottery and this money could have changed our lives. We feel like we've been cheated out of it."
The couple said they used a cell phone app to purchase a ticket on Dec. 23, SWNS reported. When they were alerted that their account required more funds for the purchase, they added more money. Then they bought the ticket with six numbers they chose randomly, and the app confirmed the buy, they said. But lottery officials say they have no record of the purchase.
Authorities reportedly confirmed they have a record of the couple repeatedly trying to add funds as the 7:30 p.m. drawing limit approached -- but assert they did not register a completed transaction before the deadline.
"When anyone successfully purchases a ticket on the Lottery website they will see a purchase confirmation screen, receive an email confirming their purchase and be able to see the ticket in their National Lottery online account," a spokeswoman told the Telegraph.
Edwina conceded to outlets, "I didn't remember to check because it was just before Christmas and I was so busy."
The payment was eventually processed, but not until midnight, on Dec. 24, way past the deadline, the Mirror reported.
"It was like all our dreams had come crashing down around us," Edwina said to SWNS.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/couple-celebrates-52-million-lottery-win-then-weeps_5686a127e4b06fa688826fec?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000592