Iowa Lottery posts wrong Powerball numbers — but mistaken winners can keep winnings
A 'human reporting error' resulted in the wrong numbers being published online after the draw
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Lucky losers!
The Iowa Lottery accidentally published the wrong winning numbers earlier this week and some Powerball losers fortuitously ended up as winners.
The blunder occurred after Monday night’s Powerball draw when an unspecified "human reporting error" resulted in the incorrect numbers being published on the Iowa Lottery’s website.
The wrong numbers were posted at 12:30 a.m. Tuesday morning and stayed live on the site until about 7:15 a.m., officials said via a press release.
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A Powerball lottery tickets. A blunder by the Iowa Lottery resulted in the wrong winning numbers being published after Monday's draw with the accidental losers getting to keep their winnings. (iStock / iStock)
The lottery said the initial, incorrect numbers affected prizes ranging from $4 to $200 and anyone who cashed in a winning ticket during the near seven-hour window was able to keep the money, although officials did not specify how many of the losing tickets won.
Having spotted the delay, lottery officials suspended the results for the Powerball drawing on lottery terminals.
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The lottery was able to go live with the corrected official results at around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday and resumed cashing Powerball tickets.
"We at the Iowa Lottery sincerely apologizes for the interruption," the statement reads.
A selection of numbers for a ticket in a Powerball drawing. The Iowa Lottery accidentally published the wrong winning numbers earlier this week and some Powerball losers fortuitously ended up as winners. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic / AP Newsroom)
"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."
Monday night’s Powerball jackpot was for an estimated $355 million.
Powerball logo displayed on a phone screen. A blunder by the Iowa Lottery resulted in the wrong winning numbers being published after Monday's draw with the accidental losers getting to keep their winnings. (Photo illustration by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Nearly 4,000 Powerball plays purchased in Iowa won prizes ranging from $4 to $200 for a total of $24,382 in winnings from Monday’s drawing, lottery records show. It is unclear how many of them included the lucky losers.
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The real winning numbers from Monday night’s Powerball drawing were 2-21-38-61-66 and Powerball 12.