People Reckon This Lottery Ball Had Two Different Numbers On It

Did you know you're 45 times more likely to die from flesh eating bacteria (the odds are a scary one in a million) than winning the jackpot on the lottery? Well, now you do.

Is it going to put you off doing it? Nah, me either. But maybe this will, a clip from last night's Irish National Lottery draw which appeared to show one ball with two different numbers on - 33 and 38.

Some viewers were less than impressed. Credit: RTE

In footage broadcast by RTE, number 38 is clearly the second number out, following 1, but as it rolls down into the bottom part of the machine it looks as though it has a number 33 on there as well. And people weren't happy after spotting it.

A picture of the offending ball was captured and put on Facebook, with many calling the draw a 'fix' - 'clear as day a total fix' wrote one, while another asked 'I wonder what other balls have extra numbers on them?'

via GIPHY

However, a couple of commenters were quick to point it was a simple case of very shiny balls.

The weird optical illusion happened after one of the studio lights reflected off the surface of the ball and appeared to show a number 33 on what was clearly a 38 ball. But it really does look like a 33, doesn't it?

It does really look like a 33. Credit: RTE

Commenting on the post, one man wrote: "It's clearly 38 if you all zoom in the distance between the top and bottom legs are different and also the so called second 3 has a fatter bottom leg too! This means the light that is reflected through the plastic run way is making the 8 look nearly like a 3." Well, yeah, that does make sense, actually.

A spokeswoman for the Irish National Lottery told the Sun: "The National Lottery would like to assure its players of the integrity of Saturday night's Lotto Plus 1 draw.

"A brief reflection of light during filming caused an illusion and some players to think there were two numbers on ball 38.

"This was not the case. The weight and size of all Lotto balls, and the numbers, are strictly checked in advance of each draw.

"This process, as well as the draw itself, is independently observed by our auditors KPMG. "

OK, so it's not a fix, that's good. But you're still more likely to win an Oscar (1 in 11,500) than scooping the top prize, sorry.

Featured Image Credit: RTE/Facebook

Topics: National Lottery, Lotto, Lottery

Claire Reid

Claire is a journalist at LADbible who, after dossing around for a few years, went to Liverpool John Moores University. She graduated with a degree in Journalism and a whole load of debt. When not writing words in exchange for money she is usually at home watching serial killer documentaries surrounded by cats. You can contact Claire at [email protected]

@ClaireReid19