title: Php lottery issues multi winner problems
body: <p>I have created a lottery script in php. My problem is now selecting more then one winner. Because it is possible for players to have the same number on their tickets. Here I am supplying the two table structures and the source code.</p>
  
  <pre><code>lotto_game {
      id(int)
      jackpot(int)
      status(varchar10)
      pick_1(int)
      pick_2(int)
      pick_3(int)
      pick_4(int)
      pick_5(int)
      tickets_sold(int)
      winner(text)
  }
  
   lotto_picks {
      lotto_id(int)
      user_id(int)
      choice_1(int)
      choice_2(int)
      choice_3(int)
      choice_4(int)
      choice_5(int)
      ticket_status(int)
  }
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>These are my two tables with in my database. For examples sake we will create 2 users with the id's 1, and 2. So what happens is when the script runs it is suppose to change the lotto_game status from 'active' to 'finished' then add the random lottery numbers into each pick_* column.</p>
  
  <pre><code>$one = rand(1,30);
  $two = rand(1,30); 
  $three = rand(1,30);
  $four = rand(1,30);
  $five = rand(1,30);
  
  mysql_query("UPDATE `lotto_game` SET 
   pick_1 = '$one',
   pick_2 = '$two',
   pick_3 = '$three',
   pick_4 = '$four',
   pick_5 = '$five',
   status = 'finished' 
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>WHERE status = 'active'");</p>
  
  <p>That wasn't too hard I will admit. But this is just the beginning of the end. </p>
  
  <pre><code>$lotto['tickets'] = mysql_query("SELECT ticket_id FROM `lotto_picks` WHERE ticket_status='valid'");
  
  @$lotto[winners] = mysql_query("SELECT ticket_id,user_id FROM `lotto_picks` WHERE choice_1 = '$one' AND choice_2 = '$two' AND choice_3 = '$three' AND choice_4 = '$four' AND choice_5 = '$five'");
  
  $lotto['num_tickets'] = mysql_num_rows($lotto['tickets']);
  @$lotto[winner_id] = mysql_fetch_array(@$lotto[winners]);
  $lotto['jackpot'] = mysql_query("SELECT jackpot FROM `lotto_game` WHERE status='active'");
  
  $lotto['winner_jackpot'] = mysql_fetch_array($lotto['jackpot']);
  $lotto['num_winners'] = mysql_num_rows($lotto['winners']);
  //echo @$lotto['num_tickets'];
  //echo @$lotto['num_winners'];
  $winner = $lotto['num_winners'];
  //echo @$lotto['winner_id']['user_id'];
  $jackpot = $lotto['winner_jackpot']['jackpot'];
  $id = @$lotto[winner_id][user_id];
  if ($winner == 1) {
      mysql_query("UPDATE `character` SET
      decivers = decivers +'$jackpot'
  WHERE user_id='$id'");
  }
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>This is what I have come up with and it really seems to work with one winner. But I just cant figure out where to go from here. I have tried using some arrays but nothing works. I know what needs to be done but can't figure out how to do it.</p>
  
  <p>When I search for winners I need to put into an array all their user id's. </p>
  
  <p>so extra decivers is money, if anyone is confused on that. The status on the tickets doesn't really matter here but if you must know it just determines if the ticket_status is 'valid' or 'invalid'</p>