TOPEKA ? What are the odds?

Apparently, too great.

A computer glitch caused the Kansas Lottery’s Pick 3 to draw the identical numbers in the same order three days straight, from Friday, Dec. 16 through Sunday, Dec. 18.

It seems some players caught on. By Day 3 of picking 5-0-9, sales of tickets were $12,223, and the payout was $23,480, which is 192 percent of sales. The usual payout is in the 50 percent to 60 percent range, Lottery executive director Ed Van Petten said.

The 5-0-9 picked on Dec. 16 was legitimate, but the next two days, the number was caused by a computer hardware failure in the drawing system that has since been fixed, officials said.

A special promotion will be conducted on Saturday, giving anyone who makes a Pick 3 ticket purchase of $1 or more a free $1Quick Pick, Pick 3 ticket. In addition, players who have non-winning Pick 3 tickets from Dec. 17 or 18, and want to return them for a refund, may bring or mail the tickets, along with their return address, to Lottery headquarters at this address:

Pick 3 Refund

Kansas Lottery

128 N. Kansas Ave.

Topeka, KS 66603

The Lottery will issue coupons to players for the purchase price of their non-winning Pick 3 tickets from the Dec. 17 and 18 drawings. The coupons may be used for Quick Pick tickets in future Pick 3 drawings. The deadline for players to return these Pick 3 tickets is the morning mail pickup on Jan. 27, 2006.