If you’re one who buys Toto, you probably would have known about the whole Singapore Pools glitch that affected their Quick Pick system online.
It was revealed only a while ago by Singapore Pools that the glitch would randomly generate numbers from 1 to 48, but not 49, which affected many online customers who totally could have become millionaires if not for that one number.
And what did they get in return? A refund. Can you imagine getting a refund instead of a million dollars? The utter frustration of not getting what you deserve.
However, according to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), it seems that online buyers were not the only ones who were affected by the glitch as what was mentioned before. It has been found that this glitch also affected those who bought some 4D bets and iToto tickets be it from retail stores or over the telephone.
Apparently, some of the tickets that were affected by the glitch date back more than three years to October 2016, which is two years longer than the initially disclosed time period.
Glitch Affected Generation Of Lottery Numbers
MHA confirmed in a statement that the glitch also affected buyers of 4D Quick Pick and Quick Pick Roll bets placed by telephone during the period of 2 October 2018 to 20 December 2019. The glitch caused the omission of numbers “0” and “9” in their selections.
Apart from that, instead of generating random digits that can be repeated, the Quick Pick system for the 4D Quick Pick Roll bets placed via the telephone generated only unique digits during the period of 25 October 2016 to 22 January 2020, as well as for the 4D Quick Pick bets placed via the telephone during the period of 2 October 2018 and 22 January 2020.
After making all these discoveries, the MHA said that it has instructed the Singapore Pools to make the necessary amendments and also carry out proper procedures to ensure the integrity of its betting system. It is investigating them and has hopes that they will comply because it “takes a serious view of the errors”.
Should any breach be confirmed, there will be an imposition of regulatory sanctions under the Remote Gambling Act, like a censure, a variation of the conditions giving it permission to provide gambling services, and a financial penalty.
Rectifying Those Glitches
According to a media release on Friday, the Tote Board, a statutory board that oversees Singapore Pools, confirmed that Singapore Pools have made the necessary amendments to their system to rectify the glitches, and that they are going to continue monitoring their systems to ensure that there is no reoccurrence of such.
A review panel helmed by Mr Moses Lee, chairman of the Tote Board, has also been set up to analyse how the glitches came about, how they were rectified and how they can ensure such a grievous mistake wouldn’t happen again. The panel also includes Tote Board board members Mrs Fang Ai Lian and Mrs Mildred Tan, as well as Mr Bruce Liang who is the chief executive officer of Integrated Health Information Systems and chief information officer at the Ministry of Health.
So hopefully, those who were affected will no longer face these kinds of situations again.
Or you could always not buy anything and save all that money used to buy lotteries instead. Your choice.
