Last January, John Cheeks bought a Powerball lottery ticket. The next day, he saw his numbers listed as the winner on the Powerball site — but was told this was a mistake. He’s now suing.
Denied
It was a dream turned nightmare. When Cheeks went into the Office of Lottery and Gaming in Washington DC to redeem his ticket, a staff member told him it was no good.
Chuck it
“Hey, this ticket is no good,” Cheeks said he was told. “Just throw it in the trash can.”
No money
“Just throw it away,” Cheeks continued, recounting his conversation with the OLG staff member. “You’re not gonna get paid. There’s a trash can right there.”
Disobeying instructions
Cheeks did not, in fact, throw his ticket in the trash. Instead, he put it in a safe deposit box and acquired legal representation.
Lawsuit in progress
“Defendants made a false representation when they announced a different winning number, two or more days after the announcement of the winning Powerball number on January 7, 2023 thru January 9, 2023,” Cheeks’ lawsuit stated.
Simple mistake
According to Taoti Enterprises, a game contractor that is listed as one of the defendants, the mix-up stemmed from a test gone wrong. The quality assurance team was conducting tests related to time zones when they accidentally posted a test Powerball number on the live website instead of in a private development environment.
The truth?
Cheeks’ lawyer, Richard Evans, argued that the company has failed to provide evidence to back up this claim.
Even so
“Even if a mistake was made,” Evans argued, “the question becomes: What do you do about it?”
Precedent
According to Evans, in 2023 the Iowa Lottery allowed winners to keep their prizes after a “human reporting error” resulted in the wrong combination being published. That being said, the top prize in this case was just $200.
The right thing to do
“A mistake was admitted to by a contractor,” Evans paraphrased, “and they paid the winnings out.”
Big money
In comparison, Cheeks was under the impression that he had won a massive $340 million jackpot.
Taking it easy
“I got a little excited,” Cheeks told NBC, “but I didn’t shout, I didn’t scream. I just politely called a friend. I took a picture as he recommended, and that was it. I went to sleep.”
Tragic mix-up
Cheeks didn’t actually watch the live drawing of the real winning combination. If he had, he would have seen that the true winning number was different to his.
Good luck
Cheeks chose his lucky — or unlucky — combination based on a mix of numbers with personal importance to him.
Not quite as large
As a 2022 article in Fortune explained, the actual payout of lottery wins is less than advertised. Part of that difference is due to tax.
Spending money
In one study, lottery winners saved just 16 cents of every dollar they won. Studies show that people tend to spend unexpected sums of money.
Facing the inevitable
One study found that a third of lottery winners go bankrupt.
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