Doris Yaremko may not be able to count how many lottery tickets she's bought in her lifetime, but she knows one thing for sure: that six and two add up to eight.

But a lottery ticket the Beresford, N.B., woman bought in February says six and two make nine, and that means she's out nearly $9,000.

Yaremko bought a provincial scratch-and-win ticket in February for a Special Eight game where players need a total score on two dice to add up to the number eight.

She scratched her ticket and found a die with a six, and another with a two.

Thinking she was a winner, Yaremko headed back to the store with what she thought was a ticket worth $8,888.

She cheered. The cashier cheered. Then he ran it under a scanner, and no dice!

Yaremko was sure her ticket was a winner. But Atlantic Lottery Corp. spokesman Robert Bourgeois turned thumbs down. The ticket is a loser because the validation number is what really counts. And that number added up to nine.

"In fact, it says right on the back of the ticket that all winning tickets must be confirmed through the control/validation number," Bourgeois said.

Yaremko's ticket was put under a microscope in Moncton, then sent to Winnipeg to the printing company. They found two tiny dots next to the word "three."

The lotto corporation says Yaremko must have rubbed off the third dot. She doesn't buy that.

"I think it's an error really from the printing company and they just don't want to say that it's a mistake that they made when they print the ticket," she said.

She has referred the final decision to a higher body. Yaremko is taking the lottery corporation to court.