1,000,000 shekels down the drain: Unusual malfunction at Mifal HaPayis
The results of the 'Chance' draw held last Friday were invalidated due to a technical error and negligence in loading the lottery machines. Gamblers are furious, as many discarded their tickets after the incorrect results were published.
The grand prize of Mifal HaPayis continues to grow, as no lucky winner was found in the latest Lotto draw to claim the massive sum of 80 million shekels.
However, on Tuesday it was revealed that due to an embarrassing but significant malfunction, the results of the 'Chance' draw held last Friday were invalidated, according to a report by Reshet 13. The invalidation occurred after negligence was discovered in the process of loading the balls into the lottery machines, as they were not inserted in the established order.
Mifal HaPayis admitted that the balls were loaded incorrectly and that there was no real-time supervision by the oversight committee. Now, gamblers are furious. Customers claim they have no way to verify their potential winnings:
"When we saw the results, we threw the ticket in the trash."
Mifal HaPayis stated in response: "Upon discovering the error, we acted immediately to publish a clarification for the general public. So far, most of the winnings in this draw have been redeemed as usual. Mifal HaPayis is examining, on an individual basis, a small number of inquiries from customers who claim they won but no longer possess their lottery ticket."
In a standard 'Chance' draw, prizes range from a few dozen shekels to 1,000,000 shekels (the maximum prize cap per ticket), which are distributed among all winners across various prize levels.
As a reminder, in draw number 3952, the numbers 1, 9, 13, 20, 23, and 35 were drawn, with 4 selected as the 'strong number'. Despite the combination, no participant managed to guess all six numbers plus the 'strong number', meaning the first prize was not distributed and will continue to accumulate for the next draw.
