It may be quite contrary to the intuition but it happens quite often – people tearing up their tickets because they thought they lost. In most cases, the amount of money is quite trivial, sometimes it is even the consolation prize. In rare cases, people actually give up their tickets because they won the big prize. These mistakes are quite easy – it is the gap in the understanding of the result chart among beginners. I have experienced three such situations myself during the last six months and that is why I believe the list of possible mistakes should be provided. Once you finish this article, you will never tear up the tickets accidentally again.

Mistake 1: Checking Only the First Prize List

This is by far the most common mistake. Most of the beginners just open the result chart, find the first prize list, do not see their number there and close the tab believing they are the losers. Man, the first prize is EXACTLY ONE ticket for the whole country. Your chances to get this are quite slim. The money for beginners are the second, third, fourth, fifth and consolation prize lists where there are lots of winners in each of them. Scroll through the whole list before you come to any conclusion. The thing is that the consolation prize list is full of hundreds of winners on each occasion.

Mistake 2: Checking Only the Last Four or Five Digits

Surprisingly enough, lots of beginners check only the last four digits and then assume that they either won or lost. The problem is that in some lists you should match the full five digits and series letter while in others only the last four digits. So you can skip the stage of checking the five digits and simply throw your ticket away. The right way is scrolling through the whole list from top to bottom and comparing your full series and number with the first prize and only the last four digits with the consolation list. This is the way how the winning tickets end up in the dustbin every day.

Mistake 3: Mixing Up Three Different Draws

This one I have actually witnessed myself. My friend has bought the ticket for the 1 PM Nagaland draw, opened the 6 PM Sikkim result list, did not see his number there and disposed of the ticket the same evening. After two days he realized that his 1 PM ticket was the winner of the fifth prize – a hundred and twenty rupees, sure, but still the winner which he has disposed of. The three draws (1 PM Nagaland, 6 PM Sikkim, 8 PM Nagaland) have their own tickets, series and different result lists. Always make sure what draw you have the ticket for and check the corresponding list. The best way to avoid this is using lotterysambad.tv – it separates the results of the three draws into different tabs.

Mistake 4: Missing the Series Letter Matching in Lower Prize Lists

Most beginners believe that the series letter is important only when it comes to the first prize. This statement is only partially true. While the prizes like second and third tiers require matching the full ticket number and series, the consolation prize requires the winner to match the same number but the different series. So, technically, if your number matches the first prize number but your series is different, you have won the consolation prize of one thousand rupees, not lost. Lots of beginners see "the wrong series" and believe they have lost everything while they actually won the consolation prize. Check the list carefully before making any assumption.

Mistake 5: Throwing the Ticket Away within 30 Days

Even if you are absolutely sure you have lost, please don't throw your ticket away immediately. According to the Indian lottery law, you have thirty days after the draw date to make the claim. There are the documented cases when the ticket holder checked his ticket after a week and found out that his ticket matches some small prize which he has missed. The ticket is the bearer instrument, so once it is destroyed, there is no way to reclaim it even if the result match will be discovered later. My personal advice is keeping my tickets in the small envelope for at least two weeks before throwing them away. It doesn't cost you anything to be careful.

Mistake 5:Trusting the Forwards from the WhatsApp Over the Official Results

This one is more about the misreading than the missing. Some WhatsApp groups and random Telegram channels send the fake result lists, sometimes with intentionally wrong numbers, to confuse people. You can check your ticket against such list, not find a match and believe you have lost while the actual official result has the completely different set of winning numbers. Always check through the trusted sources which are the official websites – lotterysambad.tv and sikkimlotteries.com or lotterysambad.tv which shows the official PDF in real time. Never trust forwards no matter who has sent them.

Final Words

To summarize, the difference between "lost" and "won" for the beginners is usually made by the difference of one minute of careful reading. Most of the people who think they have lost actually just missed something – the prize tier they have not scrolled to, the series letter they have not matched, the draw they confused with another or the forward they have believed blindly. Scroll through the whole list, match the full number, confirm the right draw, keep the ticket for at least two weeks and check only through the trusted sources like lotterysambad.tv or the official websites nagalandlotteries.com and sikkimlotteries.com. Follow these rules and you will never throw a winning ticket away accidentally. Treat the participation in the lottery as the light entertainment with the fixed budget.