Montana Lottery glitch creates 2,010 instant winners in Montana Millionaire; all prizes to be honored

The Montana Lottery has suspended its new Montana Millionaire game after a technical problem caused instant-win prizes to be awarded far more often than planned. The game launched on Sunday, November 1, and officials say they will honor every winning ticket.

According to the report, around 30 minutes passed before lottery staff spotted the problem and put sales on hold. By then, 12,919 tickets had been sold. Local news outlets described people queuing outside gas stations early in the morning to get tickets. The malfunction produced 2,010 instant winners, which works out to about one in six tickets, compared with the intended rate of one winner in every 74 tickets. That is roughly 11 times the usual number of winners.

The instant prizes consist of 991 wins of $100 and 1,019 wins of $500. Together they amount to $608,600, which the lottery will pay in full. It also intends to replenish the pool of instant-win prizes so that future buyers have the higher chance of winning originally planned. Tickets already sold will remain eligible for the main prize draw.

The Montana Lottery attributed the fault to the new central gaming system supplied by Bally's Intralot, the company that powers the lottery. The system was introduced in September and, despite extensive testing, appears to have been unable to cope with the very high demand for the game. Bally's Intralot has agreed to cover the costs resulting from the glitch, and lottery officials praised the company for doing the right thing.

Montana Millionaire gives players two chances to win with a single ticket: an instant prize of $100 or $500, and entry into a main draw with prizes of up to $1 million. The first drawing is scheduled for December 28 and will feature six prizes of $1 million. The lottery has not yet said when sales of the game will resume.