California Quick Pick Inquiry of Sci Games

[NoCal Boy]

http://news.bloodhorse.com//viewstory.asp?id=45344

This sounds very serious if Sci Games actually knew of the software glitch and did or said nothing about it. Outside of the Derby there are very few, if any, 20 horse fields. In fact, other than the Derby, are there any races in the US or Canada that have more than 16? If 20 is a problem, one wonders if 17, 18 and 19 were a problem as well? I have seen tracks where more than 12 horses creates a mutuel field.

Anyone with a better sense or more knowledge of how tote systems work than me? Sci Games (Autotote) was involved in the Pick 6 fiasco years ago. geesh

[Pace Cap'n]

Saw an article that stated the last number had been left off of every ticket sold for who knows how long. No matter the number of entries.

The incident came to the attention of the California Horse Racing Board on May 7. It contacted the betting machine vendor, Scientific Games, which reported it had a "software glitch'' that was dropping the last horse in the field from quick pick tickets on all 7,000 of its BetJet machines nationwide.

On May 9, the racing board indefinitely suspended quick pick betting at all racetracks in the state.

Scientific Games, one of three leading gaming vendors nationwide, couldn't say how long the problem had been going on or how many bettors had been affected. It told the board it had no way of tracking quick pick tickets independently of the other tickets it sold.

Yee was not pleased to hear that. Beyond calling for an audit of the horse wagering system, he suggested an examination of the State Lottery, which relies heavily on computerized quick pick selections.

"We have no idea who knew what and when; how much this has cost Californians; how long this has been happening; and whether or not there may be any potential problems with the State Lottery, where millions of quick pick tickets are purchased each year," Yee said.

Source:

By Will Oremus
Bay Area News Group
Article Created: 05/20/2008 10:44:58 PM PDT

Link not available.

[highnote]

Maybe the software glitch is due to the fact that the programmer used arrays that begin with zero and end with the number of horses minus 1? So the last horse is always left off.

[rrbauer]

Maybe the software glitch is due to the fact that the programmer used arrays that begin with zero and end with the number of horses minus 1? So the last horse is always left off.


Now there's an error that is ready for a time capsule. I would say that it's time-tested, but clearly there wasn't much testing done in this instance!

[highnote]

Now there's an error that is ready for a time capsule. I would say that it's time-tested, but clearly there wasn't much testing done in this instance!


:D I couldn't think of any other reason this could happen.

[richrosa]

Maybe the software glitch is due to the fact that the programmer used arrays that begin with zero and end with the number of horses minus 1? So the last horse is always left off.

This sounds VERY likely.

[Pace Cap'n]

More from the article...

The California Lottery contracts with Scientific Games for its scratch-off Instant Lottery tickets, but uses a different vendor, GTECH, for its main gaming system, including quick picks.

Spokesman Al Lundeen said the lottery has review measures that would quickly catch any quick pick malfunctions, but he couldn't reveal them, for security reasons.

The quick pick problems aren't the first to afflict horse race wagering in recent years.

In 2002, three men used Scientific Games' equipment to rig bets on Breeders' Cup races worth $3.2 million. The men, one of whom was a Scientific Games employee, were caught partly because a 40-to-1 long shot won the Cup, making their winning Pick Six ticket the only one in the country.

In the quick pick case, it's not yet clear whether anyone profited illegally. Racing board investigators declined to say whether they suspect fraud.

As for how much was lost, no one knows, but industry sources agree quick picks are a tiny percentage of all horse bets. Most gamblers prefer to make their own selections.

Moreover, some quick pick bettors may actually have benefited from the glitch — it would work in their favor in any race where the last horse didn't finish among the winners.

Regardless, the fact that 7,000 machines across the country had been malfunctioning indefinitely without anyone noticing is cause for concern, said Ed Martin, chairman of the Association of Racing Commissioners International.

"We spend a lot of time and focus policing the medication issue, but there is a collective need to focus on parimutuel wagering,'' Martin said. "It's the only form of legal gambling in the U.S. that has been allowed to operate absent a requirement for real-time monitoring.''

The association recently developed and endorsed a system that Martin said he believes could have detected the quick pick irregularities. In April, New York became the first state to require the independent, real-time monitoring, and Martin is urging California and others to follow.

Mike Maloney, a big-time Kentucky horseplayer and bettors'-rights advocate, said that would be a step in the right direction.

"What disturbs me is that there's a continual, industry-wide lack of concern about protecting bettors' interests,'' he said. "When I trade stocks, I have the (U.S.) Securities and Exchange Commission to look out for my interests. In racing, there's no organization like that.''

For that reason, Maloney said, incidents like the quick-pick malfunction often get swept under the rug.

The California Horse Racing Board's executive vice president, Richard "Bon'' Smith, said his organization is interested in the independent monitoring system but needs to learn more about it and find funding before it is implemented.

Quick pick aside, Smith said, "I have full confidence in the integrity of the system, in terms of the total amount of money that is bet'' being accounted for. If California ever reinstates quick pick betting, he added, it will certainly require tighter tracking of those bets.

[ryesteve]

Maybe the software glitch is due to the fact that the programmer used arrays that begin with zero and end with the number of horses minus 1? So the last horse is always left off.
I'll toss another possibility out there. Since this is a quick-pick, it requires the generation of random numbers, and many random number functions will give you a real number between 0 and 1. There are a lot of ways you can screw up the transformation of the generated random number to an integer between 1 and n, and improperly covering the range of integers would be one of the most common.

[trigger]

"A recently publicized software glitch in horse race betting machines used at Bay Meadows and other tracks around the country was first caught by its vendor in October 2007, according to documents obtained by the Daily News.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The "quick pick problem," as it's called in the E-mail, was first noticed within the company last Oct. 30. Over the following months, Scientific Games rolled out several new software packages in an attempt to resolve it, apparently meeting with success in some states but not in California
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Jack Liebau, president of Bay Meadows Race Track, said he takes seriously the integrity of pari-mutuel wagering systems. But, he said, he trusts Scientific Games to investigate and fix the problem promptly.

"I think we all have to realize that when you have huge companies, sometimes things fall through the cracks that shouldn't fall through the cracks," Liebau said. "I think we just all need to wait to see what this independent investigation discloses, and then make sure we take care of the problem." "

http://www.timesheraldonline.com/news/ci_9369625

[kenwoodallpromos]

Not to worry- horses closest to the rail NEVER get passed in the stretch by an outside horse!LOL!!
Did races with 5 or 6 entries get the outside post left off?

[blh]

Girard Gibbs is conducting a legal investigation into the quick pick scandal, if you are interested in helping us in our investigation give us a call at 866 981 4800 or drop us an email at blh@girardgibbs.com (blh@girardgibbs.com).

[PaceAdvantage]

Girard Gibbs is conducting a legal investigation into the quick pick scandal, if you are interested in helping us in our investigation give us a call at 866 981 4800 or drop us an email at blh@girardgibbs.com (blh@girardgibbs.com). If this weren't so funny, I would delete it, being it's pretty much an unauthorized ad. Hell, TVG gets paid for running those mesothelioma ads...why shouldn't I?

[ddog]

what's funny to me is that anyone expects sympathy for using a quick-pick machine anyway.

Bring your money to me, i will quick - pick 'em for you and I will get all the nbrs on a ticket somewhere!

[JustRalph]

Girard Gibbs is conducting a legal investigation into the quick pick scandal, if you are interested in helping us in our investigation give us a call at 866 981 4800 or drop us an email at blh@girardgibbs.com (blh@girardgibbs.com).

wow! I can't believe you even did this............??? No wait a minute, you're a lawyer..........nothing surprises me................. :bang: :bang:

[ddog]

i told you a couple of days ago, this econ sucks , even lawyers can't make their nut anymore!

TIMES ARE TUFF.........

maybe this is the lawyer for your horseplayer league or whatever it's named!

you got to give props , it's the thought that counts.


:lol: