LotteryTuesday, November 3
Montana Millionaire sales are on hold after Sunday's system failure, and a fix is being tested
The Good Day Billings team
If you lined up for Montana Millionaire on Sunday, here's where it stands. Terminals statewide stopped feeding out tickets shortly after sales opened at 5:30 a.m., and the lottery postponed the game around 11 a.m. Director Bob Brown told MTN the state and its vendor have found a fix. "We do apologize that this went the way it did," he said.
In 2024, all 500,000 tickets sold in under three hours. This year, 12,919 of a record 720,000 sold before sales stopped. A new sales date will come once the problems are fully resolved.
- Prizes: $100 up to $1 million; tickets cost $20
- Instant winners Sunday: 991 at $100, 1,019 at $500
- Purchased tickets and instant wins remain valid
- Drawings were set for Nov. 30 and Dec. 28
The lottery blamed its move to a new central gaming system from Bally's Intralot. It named three issues, including heavy transaction volume and instant-win prizes awarded more often than intended. A lottery official said Monday the agency is testing the fix. At Billings' High Tide casino, Rachel Dehler said the error showed up right away.
Sunday's sales stalled within 30 minutes and ended in a postponement
- Nov. 1Sales were set to begin at 5:30 a.m.; the system soon appeared to fail.
- Nov. 1At 5:59 a.m., the lottery first posts on social media about the issues.
- Nov. 1At 9:25 a.m., the lottery says sales remain paused, initially without postponing the game.
- Nov. 1At 11 a.m., the lottery postpones the game, citing continued technical issues.
- Nov. 2Director Bob Brown says the state and Intralot found a fix and are working to test it.
Sources: KPAX News, KTVH, Billings Gazette
Sources: KPAX News, KTVH, KTVQ, KECI, Billings Gazette