An embarrassing glitch at the Montana Lottery Sunday (Nov. 1) handed out instant-win prizes at more than 11 times the expected rate, leaving the lottery’s technology supplier, Bally’s Intralot, on the hook for more than $600,000.
Lottery officials suspended sales for the Montana Millionaire game at approximately 11 a.m. Mountain Time on Sunday, but not before 12,919 tickets had been purchased. Of those, 2,010 were instant winners, according to lottery director Bob Brown.
That meant approximately one ticket was a winner for every six sold, compared with the intended odds of one in 74.
Despite the malfunction, the lottery has promised to honor each ticket. That’s 991 each worth $100 and 1,019 worth $500, representing combined payouts of $608,600.
Millionaire Fever
The Montana Millionaire is evidently a big deal in the Big Sky State. MTN News reported that players were lining up outside gas stations before sunrise to get their hands on tickets, which officially went on sale at 5:30 a.m.
The appeal is that Millionaire is effectively two lottery games rolled into one, with two chances to win.
When you buy your ticket, you might instantly win $100 or $500, but every ticket also enters you into the main draw on December 28, which offers six $1 million prizes.
Winning an instant prize doesn’t remove your ticket from the million-dollar draw. You can win $500 immediately and still potentially win $1 million in December.
Within 30 minutes of going on sale, terminals across the state began displaying error messages, including “Transaction not allowed,” according to local reports.
The lottery blamed a new central gaming system supplied by Bally’s Intralot, introduced in September. The system had undergone extensive testing at twice last year’s peak sales demand, but was unable to cope with the high volume of simultaneous transactions, according to Brown.
The Millionaire offers 720,000 tickets priced at $20 each, an increase of 100,000 tickets over last year, when the entire allocation sold out in just over six hours.
Bally’s Intralot Makes Good
As well as paying out the winners, the lottery plans to replenish the instant-win prize pool so customers who buy tickets after sales resume retain their chances of winning. Bally’s Intralot will absorb the additional costs.
“I am encouraged by them stepping up and taking the steps to do the right thing by the people,” Brown told MTN News.
All tickets already purchased remain valid for the scheduled drawings, including the six $1 million grand prizes on December 28.
As of Tuesday (Nov. 3), officials had not announced when sales would resume. Brown said the system would undergo further testing before reopening.
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