$200,000 Mistake

[Markel]

Why can't my mistakes pay off like this? link (http://apnews.myway.com//article/20070420/D8OKDBT00.html)

N.C. Clerk Wins $200,000 by Mistake

CONOVER, N.C. (AP) - A store clerk's slip-up at the cash register has paid off big time.

Wadburn Allen on Tuesday accidentally rang up two duplicate Powerball tickets for a customer in this western North Carolina town. At the end of the day, after she was unable to sell the second ticket, Allen paid for it herself.

The next day, Allen returned to the store and found the ticket matched all five numbers - earning her a $200,000 jackpot.

When Allen went to Raleigh to claim her prize, she met the customer who purchased the original ticket. The customer also will receive a $200,000 jackpot.

"They put two and two together and ended up hugging," said Pam Walker, a spokeswoman for the North Carolina Education Lottery. Allen hasn't yet decided how she will spend her money.

[Daedalus]

So...duplicate winning tickets don't result in 1/2 the winnings for each?

[Butch]

I would have been PISSED if I were the customer!

Sure, from the store clerk's perspective, the mistake ended up netting $200k . . . but from the customer's perspective, the mistake ended up costing $200k!

Of course, it's just 'one of those things' . . . but this is a zero sum thing . . . one person's gain is another person's loss.

[Markel]

So...duplicate winning tickets don't result in 1/2 the winnings for each?

I would have been PISSED if I were the customer!

Sure, from the store clerk's perspective, the mistake ended up netting $200k . . . but from the customer's perspective, the mistake ended up costing $200k!

Of course, it's just 'one of those things' . . . but this is a zero sum thing . . . one person's gain is another person's loss.
I am not a lottery player, so someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that the payout for "some of the numbers" is a fixed amount ($200,000 for 5 numbers right, $nnnn for 4 numbers right, etc.). If that is the case, the clerks mistake did not reduce the customer's winnings.

[Butch]

Frankly, I could be wrong, as I'm not a lotto player either. But, the article notes that the tickets matched "all five numbers" . . . and I think that typically if you match all numbers, you're in a sharing position.

[chrissy]

It varies state to state and lottery to lottery as to what the rules are (worked too many gas stations when I was younger)

http://www.nc-educationlottery.org/powerball.aspx

In NC, 5 matching numbers is a fixed pay out of $200,000

No loss to the original purchaser. :)

[Butch]

Well then, I'd be irrationally pissed at myself for not buying the second ticket, as well . . . and having $400k ;) . . . OK, I wouldn't . . . guess I'd just be happy for the store clerk in that case!

[Markel]

It must be "lucky lottery" day! link (http://apnews.myway.com//article/20070420/D8OKIO684.html)

Pair Find Winning Lotto Ticket in Trash

FRANKFORT, Ind. (AP) - A couple picking up trash along a roadside found a winning scratch-off lottery ticket that led them to a $1,000 jackpot. Ronnie and Tina Abbott said they found a lottery ticket worth $15 Sunday while picking up garbage along a Clinton County road near Frankfort, about 55 miles northwest of Indianapolis.

The next day, they cashed in that ticket at a local store and bought one that turned out to be a $1,000 winner.

"It does pay to pick up trash," Tina Abbott said.

She and her husband haven't decided how they'll spend their winnings.

During their trash collection excursion, the couple also found three unopened cans of Billy Beer, a failed brand endorsed by former President Jimmy Carter's late brother, Billy Carter.

"That tells you how often it's cleaned out there," Tina Abbott said.

The couple collected 13 bags of trash and six tires over five hours Sunday. Tina Abbott said they decided to clean up the roadside because they grew tired of seeing the trash when they drove to and from their home.

I doubt that the Billy Beer is worth trying. ;)

[bachviet]

The beers are collectors' items now. :P

My mistake usually costs me some $$$. :(