Montana Lottery Sold 12,919 Tickets Before System Crash
A technical failure halted sales of the annual Montana Millionaire game, resulting in a disproportionate number of instant winners and a $600,000 cost increase.
By Lucas Sheridan ·
Only 12,919 of the 720,000 available Montana Millionaire tickets were sold during Sunday’s brief sales window before technical failures forced a state-wide shutdown. The incident disrupted the lottery’s most popular annual game, leaving thousands of customers waiting at terminals that displayed error messages reading "Transaction not allowed."
Lottery Director Bob Brown stated that the state and its vendor, Bally’s Intralot, had conducted extensive testing of the new central gaming system installed earlier this year. Brown said the team tested the system for volume at a rate approximately double the highest historical sales for the game. Despite this preparation, terminals stopped issuing tickets shortly after sales began at 5:30 a.m. on Sunday.
The Lottery announced later that Sunday that the system experienced performance issues due to the high transaction volume. Brown declined to provide specific technical details on Monday regarding the cause of the shutdown. He confirmed that the state and Intralot have identified a fix and are currently testing it to ensure the system is ready before the game returns online.
Retail locations initially attempted to resume sales, believing minor adjustments would resolve the issue. Sales were officially postponed around 11 a.m., after many customers had waited for hours. Brown acknowledged the delay in stopping sales, stating that in hindsight, they might have stopped sooner, but they acted based on what they felt was correct at the time.
The early sales generated a statistically abnormal number of instant winners. Of the 12,919 tickets sold, more than 2,000 were instant wins, including 991 tickets paying $100 and 1,019 tickets paying $500. This represented roughly one winning ticket in six, compared to the expected odds of one in 74. Brown confirmed that all instant wins will be honored and that the tickets sold Sunday remain valid for the final drawing in December.
To maintain fair odds for customers who purchase tickets after the game reopens, the Lottery will add additional instant wins to the pool. This adjustment requires the state to pay out up to $600,000 more than initially projected in prizes. Brown stated that Intralot will cover this extra cost. He expressed encouragement that the vendor is stepping up to manage the financial impact of the error.
Brown said he is confident customers can trust the system once it resumes operations. He emphasized that the system will undergo multiple successful test cycles before going live again. The Lottery has not set a specific timeline for resuming sales, noting that leaders want to provide retail partners and the public with sufficient time to prepare. The game has seen growing popularity in recent years, with 620,000 tickets selling out in just over six hours during the 2025 event.
