These four identical quick pick lottery numbers were all made within seconds of each other (circled) from the same lottery machine. Photo: The Lotto Report

Don’t buy quick pick tickets. Here's a lesson for anyone who thinks that the numbers some lottery computers choose may give them a good chance of winning.

In a Louisiana lottery store a player assumed they were buying four computer quick pick chances to win at a cost of $2 each. It turned out that the tickets were all duplicate numbers, so in reality they had only a single chance for a total of $8, even though if the ticket had won they might have received 4 times the amount.

The ticket owner was understandably annoyed and wrote the Louisiana Lottery for an explanation. 

In another example back in 2012, a glitch affecting Illinois Lottery machines led to thousands of duplicate quick-pick tickets being printed.

The Chicago Tribune reported that 3,000 tickets were affected out of more than 6 million sold between last Saturday and Tuesday.

One player, Mary Ellen Reiter, said she felt like she got one losing ticket for the price of two after discovering that eight sets of numbers on one Illinois Lottery QuickPick ticket that she bought matched eight sets of numbers on another.

"I think that they should make it right," said Reiter, 52, of Evanston, who bought the duplicate tickets at a convenience store in the northern suburb. "The way I figure, I should at least receive back $5 of free quick-picks."

Illinois Lottery spokesman Mike Lang at his office.

Lottery spokesman Mike Lang says the glitch occurred while new software was being uploaded to the machines.

Lang says some machines weren't clearing numbers out of their memories from the previous ticket issued.

That meant old numbers were being printed on the next ticket.

The lottery learned of the problem several days later and it was fixed, but not in time for a number of players to share their prizes.

Customers were reimbursed with new quick-pick tickets, but leaving some players thinking they had got one losing ticket for the price of two.

For Silverites it's just another reason to be in control of your numbers at all times!

SOURCE: The Lotto Report.