64 Trillion to 1 Double Jackpot Win Shakes Faith in South Korea Lottery

Posted on: March 4, 2025, 10:39h. 

Last updated on: March 4, 2025, 12:51h.

Philip Conneller @casinoorgphilc Read More
Expertise: Gaming Business, Regulation, Tribal Gaming.
  • South Korea’s March 1 lottery drawing is causing controversy after one machine produced two winning tickets
  • The odds of that happening are approximately 64 trillion to 1
  • Lottery officials deny there was any inappropriate manipulation of the system

The appearance of two jackpot-winning lottery tickets from the same lottery outlet has set tongues wagging in South Korea.

South Korea Lottery, Donghaeng Lottery, Siheung
On a rainy day in Seoul, South Koreans buy Donghaeng Lottery tickets from a small outlet like the one that printed two winning tickets for the March 1 draw. (Image: Munhwa)

The March 1 draw of the country’s Donghaeng Lottery produced 16 jackpot-winning tickets, two of which had been generated by the same machine. The numbers on the tickets were chosen supposedly at random by the machine in a small, unassuming lottery store in Siheung, Gyeonggi Province.

The odds of correctly picking all six numbers in the South Korean Lottery are 8 million to 1. The odds of it happening twice from the same machine for the same draw are more like 64 trillion to 1.

Glitch in the Matrix?

That makes it far more likely that the double jackpot was the result of a glitch in the machine’s random number generator – or something more sinister – rather than the official line from the lottery, which is that it was simply an extreme coincidence.

South Korea’s Ministry of Economy and Finance, which oversees the national lottery, dismissed the idea of manipulation.

The ministry noted that sales terminals in retail stores are automatically disconnected from the server 35 minutes before the draw, which makes post-draw ticket issuance “impossible.”

Moreover, if someone had found a way to manipulate the system, why produce two tickets when one would win the same share of the same prize pool without maximizing suspicion?

While 1 in 64 trillion sounds impossible, lotteries are held regularly all across the world, and millions of tickets are sold each time. Over many years and many draws, rare events will eventually happen somewhere.

Conspiracy Theories

Nevertheless, conspiracy theories are whirling on social media, fueled by the fact that South Korean winners aren’t publicly identified, as they’re often in other countries, including the US.

The government must investigate and explain whether there was any computer manipulation to add first-prize winners after the numbers were drawn,” read one viral post.

Social media users are calling for greater transparency, asking the lottery to disclose the precise times and locations of winning ticket purchases.

63 Winners

It’s not the first time South Koreans have had cause to question the integrity of their lottery. In July 2024, an unprecedented 63 people shared the first prize, prompting the ministry to hold a “lottery day,” demonstrating the system’s fairness to the public.

Donghang Lottery Executive Director Im Cho-soon suggested the seemingly unfeasible number of winners actually reflected patterns in preferred number combinations among players. For instance, many South Koreans favor straight-line sequences on their tickets, he explained.