# What Happens When Enter Publishers Clearing House Twice? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 20, 2018, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-enter-publishers-clearing-house-twice/809217 "2018-02-20T18:49:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2018, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-enter-publishers-clearing-house-twice/809217/1 "2018-02-20T18:49:16Z")
This may sound strange to some of you. But I have this premonition that I am going to win the lottery some day. All I can tell you is, it hasn’t happened yet. But that is what I love about the Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes. It is totally free. The only catch is, you can only enter it once a day. Anyway, they are headquartered in Chicago, which is Central Time. I live in Detroit, on Eastern Time. So I figure it is midnight in Chicago, when it is 1 am in Detroit. So I **try** (notice my emphasis on try) to wait until 1 am until I play again. The only thing is, I sometimes forget if I played the night before (can \*you \* remember what you did at 1 am)? So I play again. What would happen if I played twice in one day? Would they just count it as one? Or would the second one completely nullify the first one? I really need to know. BTW, today is the last day to play for the February 23rd prize. And please don’t play if you have a gambling problem. Your chances of winning are miniscule, so it’s just not worth it. 🙂 🙂 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2018, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-enter-publishers-clearing-house-twice/809217/2 "2018-02-20T19:42:51Z")
> [@Jim\_B](#): > > Anyway, they are headquartered in Chicago, which is Central Time. According to Wikipedia, they are based in Jericho, NY, not Chicago. > **[Publishers Clearing House](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Publishers_Clearing_House)** > > Publishers Clearing House (PCH) is an American company founded in 1953 by Harold Mertz. It was originally founded as an alternative to door-to-door magazine subscription sales by offering bulk mail direct marketing of merchandise and periodicals. They are most widely known for their sweepstakes and prize-based games which were introduced in 1967. From August 2020 to March 2024, they owned the Wide Open Media publications Wide Open Spaces (about outdoors lifestyle), Wide Open Country (about co... ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2018, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-enter-publishers-clearing-house-twice/809217/3 "2018-02-20T20:26:14Z")
If you’re playing online the system should have something in place to keep you from entering more than once in a 24-hour period. Even freebie online voting systems that, say, local radio stations use for polling, keep you from voting too much. Whether it’s based on your IP address (in cases where you don’t have to sign up to play) or just a timestamp on your account, the system should handle it for you. I can’t imagine anything untoward would happen. At the very LEAST, the system would let you play twice and then internal algorithms would wipe out one of your entries. ---
**Author:** ![Fleetwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fleetwood/32/271_2.png) [@Fleetwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fleetwood)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2018, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-enter-publishers-clearing-house-twice/809217/4 "2018-02-20T23:36:00Z")
I used to know a girl who worked for them. She was from Long Island, not Chicago. Not a rich jewish heiress, however. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-enter-publishers-clearing-house-twice/809217/5 "2018-02-21T02:03:40Z")
My guess is you try to enter a second time within either a local calendar day or a 24-hour period, their software will identify your IP number as a repeat, and send you a polite invitation to try again tomorrows. I have experienced these kinds of rejections.