
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, July 24, 1990                   TAG: 9007240228
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B/3   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Short

LOTTERY WORKER DROPS THE BALL - TOO SOON

A button inadvertently bumped by a Virginia Lottery employee Monday night caused the first-ever off-camera drawing in the history of the department's Pick 3 game, an official said.

Since the Pick 3 game began on May 22, 1989, the nightly drawings normally are televised live, with 10 balls released into each of three canisters and one winning number subsequently chosen from each drum.

Lottery spokeswoman Paula Otto said that as Monday's drawing was starting, an off-camera employee accidentally bumped against the button that releases the balls into the three canisters. The premature bump caused just two of the required 10 balls to fall into each drum, she said.

"The security official who was there called a foul because all of the balls did not drop at one time," Otto said. "The broadcast then went into a prerecorded message that security officials had detected a problem and that the drawing would be held off-camera."

Once the entire process was checked by security officials and cleared for a second attempt, 6-4-6 was chosen as the winning combination.

It was not the first time a foul had been called during a broadcast. On March 22, the ball in the second machine popped up before the ball in the first machine. But a foul was not called until all three balls popped up, and Virginia Lottery officials let the results stand since only one ball had emerged from each canister.

by CNB