News writer, Interviewer
A coding error quietly broke the District of Columbia Lottery's draw machines for three of its daily games. For nearly three weeks, players had no idea the system wasn't working as intended — not due to fraud, but by a technical failure nobody caught in time.
What went wrong
The District of Columbia Lottery's DC 3, DC 4, and DC 5 mid-day and evening drawings were compromised starting March 31, 2026. The culprit? A configuration error introduced by third-party vendor Smartplay International during a routine draw machine recertification.
The flaw blocked the machines from generating repeat digits. Numbers like 111, 222, 311, or 229 were simply impossible to draw. That's a significant chunk of possible outcomes eliminated without any public notice.
The drawings had been certified before launch by Gaming Laboratories International.
How long did it run?
Twenty-two days. March 31 through April 21, 2026. Every mid-day and evening drawing across DC 3, DC 4, and DC 5 during that window was affected.
The District of Columbia Lottery says it moved quickly once it discovered the issue. The organization immediately contacted Smartplay, initiating a fix and switching to a backup system for the April 22 drawings. But the question players are likely asking is simpler: why did it take so long to catch?
What happens to affected tickets?
The District of Columbia Lottery is telling players who bought tickets for any DC 3, DC 4, or DC 5 drawing between March 31 and April 21 to hold onto them. While no remediation plan has been announced yet, more information is coming.
That's a wide net. Three games. Two drawings per day. Twenty-two days. Thousands of tickets.
How the games work
DC 3, DC 4, and DC 5 are daily draw games sold through District of Columbia Lottery retailers. Players pick three, four, or five digits (0–9), choose a wager, and select a play type.
Play types:
- Straight: match numbers in exact order.
- Box: match numbers in any order.
- Combo/Pair: front pair or back pair options for DC 3 and DC 4.
Drawings happen daily at 1:50 p.m. and 7:50 p.m. Ticket sales cut off at 1:49 p.m. for the midday draw and 7:49 p.m. for the evening draw. Tickets cost $0.50 or $1.00. Prizes vary by match type.
Players must be 18 or older to play. Prizes must be claimed within 180 days.
Preventing a repeat
The integrity of a lottery depends on one thing above all else: that every number has an equal chance of being drawn. For three weeks, that wasn't the case, so the District of Columbia Lottery says it is reviewing its entire process to prevent this from happening again, making sure there's no repeat.
