30 November 2023 , 13:12
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The moment someone finds out they've won big on the lottery is life-changing, but for one group of players the feeling as shortlived as it turns out they weren't winners at all.
Powerball players in Iowa believed they were winners for around seven hours, despite being losers, after the state's lottery accidentally posted the wrong winning numbers for the draw. Officials blamed an unspecified "human reporting error" for the mistake made in Monday night's Powerball drawing.
The wrong numbers were posted on the Iowa Lottery website at around 12.30am on Tuesday, but it took until after 7am before the mistake was noticed. At around 7.15am, the numbers were taken down and the lottery halted any payouts.
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According to officials, the initial incorrect numbers would have resulted in prizes being paid out ranging from $4 to $200. While officials didn't say how many people had won, anyone who got up early and cashed in a winning ticket will likely be able to keep the money.
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Officials said it was due to a human error (Getty Images)The jackpot from Monday night's Powerball draw was estimated to stand at a huge $355 million (£280 million). It took officials until 3.30pm on Tuesday, another eight hours, to correct its system and resume paying out winning Powerball tickets.
With the correct numbers, 3,998 people who bought Powerball tickets in Iowa won prizes, also from $4 to $200. The actual winning numbers from Monday night's Powerball drawing were 2, 21, 38, 61, 66, with the Powerball 12. The Powerball Double Play winning numbers were: 9, 29, 51, 53, 61, and Double Play Powerball 20.
The incorrect reporting led to a delay in the drawing results in the state for several hours, according to the Iowa Lottery blog. In a post on Wednesday, they wrote: "The Powerball drawing was conducted correctly as scheduled Monday night and official results were produced.
It took seven hours for the mistake to be noticed and another eight for it to be fixed (AFP via Getty Images)"But the Iowa Lottery's redundant reporting procedures failed after the drawing. It takes time to correct an error like that on the lottery's statewide gaming system, which links all the lottery terminals and self-service kiosks in the state.
"Lottery staff were able to complete the corrections by yesterday afternoon. We at the Iowa Lottery sincerely apologises for the interruption. The mistake impacted only the Iowa Lottery's reporting of the official results for Monday's Powerball drawing. All other lottery tickets could be purchased, checked and cashed as usual at lottery terminals across the state and the results for all other lottery drawings were recorded correctly."
Prizes ranged up to $200 according to officials (Getty Images)As part of the procedures for announcing lottery winning numbers, two different people in two different locations both enter the results from lotto drawings before they are officially recorded on the lottery's statewide gaming system. But, the lottery blog went on to explain: "When the winning numbers from Monday's Powerball drawing were being inputted, some of the numbers were mistakenly entered incorrectly.
"The mistake initially caused the lottery to report incorrect results from Monday’s Powerball drawing on its statewide gaming system and the lottery website. The incorrect results went live about 12.30 am yesterday and remained available until about 7.15 am that day.
"Lottery staffers noticed the error shortly after 7 am yesterday and suspended the results for the Powerball drawing on lottery terminals, knowing that correcting the information on the statewide gaming system would take longer. The lottery was able to go live with corrected official results about 3.30 pm yesterday and resumed cashing Powerball tickets."