Bulgarian lottery in hot water after drawing a number that doesn't exist

Lottery draws are meant to be all about luck, but in Bulgaria, an unexpected number turned out to be pure misfortune. A recent live broadcast of the 5/35 game took a bizarre turn when a ball displaying the number 41 appeared despite the game's numbers only going up to 35.

The jaw-dropping blunder left viewers baffled, politicians outraged, and the entire management team of the Bulgarian national gambling operator out of a job.

Blunder during a live telecast

It was just supposed to be the normal live telecast of the 5/35 draw game for the Bulgarian lottery. However, it turned into a fiasco that got the public talking and speculating.

The Bulgarian Sports Totalisator (BST) broadcasts one of its live games, 5/35. During that broadcast, a set of numbers is randomly drawn to form a set of five numbers, and if a player matches those numbers, they win the jackpot.

For the 5/35 draw game, players get to choose five numbers between 1 and 35. The winning numbers are elected during the live broadcast.

During the live draw this past weekend, one of the balls drawn was the number 41. Since the numbers only go up to 35, it left everyone watching baffled. The blunder was heavily criticized by different political figures in Bulgaria. It also got the public talking about potential manipulation involved in the game.

The entire management team was laid off

After the error was caught live on television, the entire management team for BST was laid off, officials announced. BST, or SportToto, is a Bulgarian national gambling operator.

They are also a member of both the World Lottery Association (WLA) and the European Lotteries (EL). BST adheres to the European Responsible Gaming Standards.

Money from the operator and the different games they offer, which include lottery and sports betting, help fund a number of initiatives across Bulgaria, including social, education, sports, and cultural. The Ministry of Youth and Sports has direct control of BST.

In a statement, Bulgarian Minister of Youth Ivan Peshev strongly condemned the blunder and ordered a thorough internal review involving multiple government agencies, including Bulgaria's gambling regulator, the NRA.

Peshev said:

The situation where thousands of players were misled by the incorrectly drawn number is strongly disappointing and puts under question the work of the BST leadership. The failure, which led to the last drawn number of the winning combination being 41, is unacceptable and causes a disruption in the trust citizens place with the system of sports games.

Because of this mishap, the Minstry's Facebook post said there would be some changes coming to the top staff at BST. Peshev continued:

Measures are also being taken for a comprehensive investigation into the work of the Bulgarian Sports Totalisator. The entire management and responsible persons who allowed this situation to occur will be relieved of their positions.

BST releases a statement

After the blunder took place, BST came out with a statement of their own. They stated:

Due to the loading of a different set of balls into the gaming equipment during the 5/35 draw, a second draw was conducted within the live broadcast.

They added:

The team behind BST offers its apologies towards players with the fact in mind that the conducting and broadcasting of such live programming is in no way protected from these situations.

Enjoy playing the lottery, and please remember to play responsibly.