Grey Cup 50-50 ticket mixup sees man win, lose, and win, Bombers investigated
The CFL sometimes sees worst-to-first turnarounds, as we saw with the Ottawa Redblacks this season, but it's more unusual to see them in the 50-50 draw. That's what happened with this year's Grey Cup 50-50 ticket draw, though. Charles Ritchot of La Salle, Manitoba thought he'd won the $178,748 pot when his #551531 ticket was announced at the game and shown on the video board, but decided to keep the ticket until the next day, and found that the Bombers had posted #551351 as the winner on their site. Richot even called to check and was told that his ticket wasn't the winner, so he threw it out, but decided to retrieve it a few minutes later and keep it on his wall as a memento of being close. It's a good thing he did; media reported that the prize was unclaimed for a week, Richot called again and was told again his ticket was wrong, but the Bombers' website fixed the error this Tuesday and he was able to claim his prize. As Scott Billeck writes in The Winnipeg Free Press, though, Manitoba's Liquor and Gaming Authority is now investigating what went wrong:
The Liquor and Gaming Authority of Manitoba said Wednesday it will meet with the CFL franchise Friday to try to sort out the typo that nearly cost Charles Ritchot of La Salle $178,748.
"I want to emphasize that we take this very, very seriously," said Liz Stephenson, chief administrative officer at the LGA. "This is something we are absolutely following up on."
Stephenson said the main responsibility behind the investigation is to ensure the honesty and integrity of the raffle.
"We will take a look at any documentation, procedures, posting and relaying of information, which is very important so the LGA knows the prize has been claimed and handed out."
Stephenson said she can’t put a time frame on how long the investigation will take.
"It depends on where the process leads us. We expect the Bombers to co-operate fully. We have a good relationship with them," she said.
For their part, the Bombers have also issued an apology to Richot and said they'll correct their procedures going forward:
Kim Babij-Gesell, communications manager for the Blue Bombers, issued an apology to Ritchot on Wednesday night, saying two of the digits had been transposed on the team's website.
"An error was made because the Winnipeg Football Club did not inform the public that the incorrect number was posted overnight on the website," she said in a statement. "Our processes will be reviewed with training for staff to ensure this doesn't happen again."
This worked out okay for everyone in the end, with Richot claiming his $178,748 (which he says he'll use for retirement, home renovations and supporting his three grandchildren) and an equal amount going to support amateur football and community programming in Manitoba, but it's certainly not great to think of how easily this could have gone wrong if Richot had left his ticket in the trash. At least he's got a heck of a story to go along with his prize now, though...
