Pennsylvania Lottery seeking volunteer witnesses on evening drawing show

Comment #24

KY Lottery — Wed, 07 Oct 2015 12:56:49 GMT

Hey folks! If any of you are in (or near) KY and would like to see a drawing, just give us a call. Our draw studio is open for both the midday and evening drawings if you'd like to see the process - just call us at (502) 560-1500 to let us know you'd like to be here. We welcome visitors. And you may be surprised if you call your state lottery and ask to attend a drawing - depending on their security restrictions, a number of states will welcome you in to take a look

Comment #23

jarasan — Mon, 05 Oct 2015 12:31:31 GMT

Do you know Tennessee is the volunteer state? They should have done this first.

Comment #22

Todd — Mon, 05 Oct 2015 02:23:00 GMT

Paying the witnesses does not solve any of the issues you stated. Also, you and I have no idea that the lottery does or doesn't vet witness to see if they have a criminal background. Maybe you can write to the lottery if that concerns you and let us all know what they say.

The sentence you mentioned in your reply was a quotation from the PA Lottery's Executive Director, not something opined by me. Journalism states facts and quotes from actual participants. That is what this article does. I a... [ More ]

Comment #21

CDanaT — Mon, 05 Oct 2015 01:36:29 GMT

Todd,

It's ok to have a different view on this. Getting volunteers to to participate in various social situations is always great. As I stated before and I will stand by,is that volunteers do cost something to have on hand. I personally don't want any volunteer as a witness representing the public interest by helping to ensure the integrity and security of our drawings as your main article suggests.

Congrats to them to having no issues for 30 + years. That is no guarantee for the future. A... [ More ]

Comment #20

noise-gate — Mon, 05 Oct 2015 00:35:59 GMT

Merriam- Webster dictionary defines a Volunteer as...

: a person who chooses to join the military.

: a person who does work without getting paid to do it .

Comment #19

Todd — Sun, 04 Oct 2015 22:49:54 GMT

Yeah, this biggest weakness of PA drawings: the DAY drawing. Because that's computerized. As good a PA is with the evening drawings, they're doing the wrong thing with the day draws.

As a lottery player, at least you can avoid computerized drawings by sticking with the evening drawings. Most computerized states you have no way to avoid them.

Comment #18

Todd — Sun, 04 Oct 2015 22:42:14 GMT

I'm surprised on your take on this issue, because normally you are the type of person who lets the market decide, and not so quick to tell a corporation (in this case the state lottery) what to do. After all, if the lottery can enlist the help of witnesses without paying them, wouldn't that make sense to do?

The lottery has not had a problem getting witnesses for 30+ years now. That's all money that is not wasted paying people for something they would gladly do for free. (I would find it fasc... [ More ]

Comment #17

CDanaT — Sun, 04 Oct 2015 20:57:19 GMT

dr65,

I did not bring up the subject of compensation given for agreeing to be a witness . In fact, upon commenting on Todd's words and I quote, Why on earth would you want to lottery to take money away from prizes for paying people to witness drawings. I was only commenting on costs that take money away from prizes.

As far as fraction of your money is concerned. NONE,I don't play the PA Lottery and have zero intent to.

if there are such costs that anyone cares about that you su... [ More ]

Comment #16

RL-RANDOMLOGIC — Sun, 04 Oct 2015 18:59:24 GMT

A few years back MO lottery made a video showing the process they use. The random number generator

is located in a glass room and the operator is shadowed by another person while under the eye of several

cameras. Impressive but did not help as we still have to trust that the RNG code has not been tampered

with. Sometimes I think that when they go to these lengths to show everything is above board it's because

they know it's not. Magicians make livings hiding things right in front of... [ More ]

Comment #15

dr65 — Sun, 04 Oct 2015 18:19:13 GMT

LMFAO!

You have got to be kidding me.

You bean counters are out of control. I'd like to see a survey of the individuals who have

given their time and participated as witnesses to a PA lottery drawing...the survey would be

titled:

Did you ever expect to be paid for the privilege of being behind the scenes and aiding

with one of the biggest and most exciting operations in Pennsylvania?

I say again: LMFAO

There has got to be a signature required on a form stressing with... [ More ]

Comment #14

JezzVim — Sun, 04 Oct 2015 17:25:03 GMT

The Officials get PAID that runs the PA Lottery, the Woman or Man that draws the numbers get PAID, everyone involved with the PA Lottery gets PAID.... Correct?

So the lil guy that witness the drawing has to PAY for lodging, travel and his time is not valued?? Doesn't make sense to me.

No, it is called taking advantage of people.

Comment #13

CDanaT — Sun, 04 Oct 2015 17:12:59 GMT

You sir, are being ridiculous in my humble opinion. Here's why. Somehow,someone is going to have to pay SOMETHING to be a volunteer(s) to perform those functions. Whether it's out of the volunteers/lottery pockets - travel, vehicle wear and tear, cab ride, bus fee, something is going to have to come out of someone's pocket. Asking someone to commit to volunteering at specified times without fail ?? Sorry Todd, I am not feeling that will happen without glitches. While it's nice in theory, the onl... [ More ]

Comment #12

Ron5995 — Sun, 04 Oct 2015 16:13:10 GMT

How does one become a Day drawing witness?

Recently, televised evening drawings moved from Philadelphia ABC WPVI 6 to Fox WTXF 29. I get the sense PA Lottery wanted more time allotted than what 6 ABC was willing to provide. It seems the PA Lottery is increasingly using the evening draw to mainly advertise lottery products with the numbers selection being secondary. It seems only a matter of time before PA evening draws switch over to computer RND too.

On a related topic, numbers games are... [ More ]

Comment #11

Tony Numbers — Sun, 04 Oct 2015 16:03:10 GMT

Maybe they volunteer thinking it might help their number selections. It would be great if state lotteries would make the test drawing results available.

Comment #10

dr65 — Sun, 04 Oct 2015 14:30:26 GMT

Todd, I'm glad that video was worked in! It is entertaining and informative.

Comment #9

dr65 — Sun, 04 Oct 2015 14:25:52 GMT

I like the idea of 55 and older. Since some of the profits benefit seniors it seems

fitting to let that age group...aof a few years prior to it...participate in the workings.

I wouldn't like seeing some 20 something standing there. Even though they might play

it seems best to keep it at a more aged, seasoned group. It works.

Comment #8

sully16 — Sun, 04 Oct 2015 14:21:20 GMT

I think it would be fun to watch the process.

Comment #7

haymaker — Sun, 04 Oct 2015 14:13:52 GMT

B/C in PA. lottery proceeds benefit Seniors, not minors.

They used to have them actively participate in the draw, then one time a ball was mishandled,

don't recall the details, it was long ago.

After that they decided to make them witnesses.

Comment #6

Erzulieredeyes — Sun, 04 Oct 2015 13:48:32 GMT

Wish we had something like this here in Ohio. I would volunteer in a heart beat! I don't understand though why 55+? That age group doesn't have more integrity than other age groups. Sounds discriminatory.

My guess is it's a security issue and that their security team can take down senior citizens easier than they could someone in a younger age group since were dealing with machines that produce billions for the lotto people...lol

Comment #5

maximumfun — Sun, 04 Oct 2015 13:23:44 GMT

Why over 55? at first I thought it might be because the 55+ crowd could play the lottery when PA started televising 38 years ago - then I did the math and unless they allowed 17 year olds to purchase tickets then...

So I'm still with my question. Why over 55?

... although I would volunteer if I were a PA resident (which I amn't). It could be kind of fun.

Comment #4

Todd — Sun, 04 Oct 2015 12:55:39 GMT

That is ridiculous. Why on earth would you want to lottery to take money away from prizes for paying people to witness drawings? You seriously need to think before writing.

Comment #3

hearsetrax — Sun, 04 Oct 2015 09:29:43 GMT

Comment #2

itpmguru — Sun, 04 Oct 2015 05:15:19 GMT

Because if they were paid, someone could call it a bribe to get them to say all is above board and honest . Wish we could get school staff to supervise drawings here in NC. Things are getting out of hand and very corrupt within the North Carolina (So-called) Education Lottery.

Comment #1

JezzVim — Sun, 04 Oct 2015 03:59:30 GMT

They SHOULD be PAID!! Why do it for free? Give me a break

Pennsylvania Lottery seeking volunteer witnesses on evening drawing show

Lottery Post — Sun, 04 Oct 2015 01:49:35 GMT

Includes video report

The Pennsylvania Lottery is looking for volunteers who are Pennsylvania residents over the age of 55 to appear as witnesses on the evening drawing show in Harrisburg.

Witnesses perform different functions on two consecutive evenings, and will appear on-camera one of those days. The process lasts approximately 2.5 hours and starts at 5 p.m. each night.

All witness are directly involved in the selection of the drawing machines and ball sets used for drawings. They a... [ More ]