The Night the Massachusetts Lottery Lost Its Balls

When you are running a state-sanctioned gaming operation, the last thing you want is people questioning its integrity. Right?

Massachusetts Lottery officials were red-faced and perhaps even panic-stricken for a moment when on Thursday, June 5, 2025 disaster struck during the live drawing of the winning Mass Cash numbers.

Mash Cash drawings occur daily at 9 p.m.

According to Massachusetts Lottery rules, players "Select five numbers between 1-35. You can select the numbers manually or choose Quic Pic for the lottery computer to randomly select your numbers."

Each Mass Cash play costs $1.

The Mass Cash numbers are printed on ping-pong-type white balls that are air-blown in a round, clear plastic chamber. When activated, five balls emerge one at a time until the winning numbers are revealed.

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At least that's the way it is supposed to – and usually does – work. Not on Thursday, June 5, 2025, however.

When it came time to activate the Mass Cash chamber, "numerous balls" escaped, forcing Lottery officials to pull the plug on the drawing.

MassLottery.com says, "The door on the Mass Cash drawing machine's mixing chamber was inadvertently left open, resulting in numerous balls escaping the chamber prior to the first number being drawn, thus rendering the draw invalid."

"In accordance with the official Mass Cash drawing procedures, a new drawing was conducted starting at 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, June 5."

In a statement, Mark William Bracken, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Lottery said, "The Lottery is committed to ensuring the integrity of our games."

"While we strive for perfection, we're all human and mistakes can happen," said Bracken, who also apologized for the inconvenience.

Damn! I bet my five numbers were the ones that slipped out of that faulty door.