Hey, I Bought Tickets At Different Stores And They Have The Same Numbers

This is another take on Pick 3/Pick 4 questions, after the blog entry we posted about the games last month.

This time around, the question comes from a man who bought Pick 4 tickets at two different stores and noticed that his plays both had the same numbers. He thought that meant there was something wrong.

In reality, Pick 3, Pick 4, and our other lotto games are specifically designed to allow for repeat numbers. It’s a built-in security feature of the games. And in Pick 3 and Pick 4, where only the numbers 0-9 are available to play, repeats can happen more often.          

I’ve included an image here that the man sent to us of his Pick 4 tickets. They were purchased on the same day at two different locations. The man thought that meant all other possible combinations in the Pick 4 game had been purchased between the tickets he bought, and that was why he got two tickets with the same numbers. But that’s not the case. 

You can see in the image that the plays on his tickets are marked as “EP.” That means they’re easy-pick plays where the lottery terminal at the location involved randomly selected the numbers. So, the same numbers could end up being printed simultaneously on tickets at different locations or within a short period of time as occurred for this player. Or, it could be a considerable length of time between that exact combination being printed. That’s the very nature of random plays.

Duplicate combinations in the games demonstrate that they’re working correctly. There would be something wrong if no repeat combinations were issued.

The only way to ensure that you as a player do not receive duplicate plays is to pick your own numbers.

There are hard-copy pla slips available in many retail locations where lottery tickets are sold, and another really handy way to choose your own numbers is to create an ePlayslip using the Iowa Lottery’s mobile app.

Comments

[Mary Neubauer]

We'll have to agree to disagree on that point, Andrew.

[Mary Neubauer]

Hi, Stanley. We recently added a new section to our website that goes through the details about how a lottery works, what the odds of winning mean, and some common myths vs. the facts about lotteries. We also include an interactive quiz you can take to see how you're doing in understanding the lottery. Please feel free to check it out, as I believe it will answer a lot of your questions about the lottery. Here is a direct link to the website section: https://www.ialottery.com/Pages/PlaySmartBeInformed/PlaySmartBeInformed_main.aspx

[Andrew Rooster]

It’s not a security feature it’s a security scam!!!

[Stanley Shawler]

I know the Iowa lotto is Great for everyone but would like to see more advertisements on strategies and how it works.