California Lottery Discovers Software Glitch In Daily Derby Ticket Machines

The California Lottery has announced the discovery of a software error affecting Daily Derby ticket machines, which impacted the way some Quick Pick tickets were generated. This revelation came after internal investigations revealed that the error was limited to two specific types of lottery machines and occurred under specific conditions, influencing how players’ numbers were selected.

The error, traced to a programming mistake by International Game Technology (IGT), the California Lottery’s gaming partner, resulted in Quick Pick tickets generating numbers only in ascending order. Additionally, the error influenced the selection of race time numbers, which were printed in ascending order and without repeating digits.

Upon identifying the issue, the California Lottery took immediate action to rectify the software problem within 24 hours. The error did not affect the odds of winning, as every potential combination of numbers has the same probability of winning. However, the glitch did affect the prize amounts for a subset of players due to the limited combinations of numbers available on the impacted tickets.

Understanding the Impact

The California Lottery asserted that analysis of the situation revealed that around 20% of Daily Derby wagers were affected by the error. This amounts to about four million wagers each year. The agency pointed out that this is much lower than the more popular lottery games, such as Powerball and Mega Millions, which generate hundreds of millions of wagers annually. Despite the software glitch, players who bought tickets from the affected machines still received valid number combinations.

The system responsible for randomly selecting winning numbers in the Daily Derby draws was never compromised by the error, the Lottery said — this assurance came after a thorough review confirmed the integrity of the winning number selection process remained intact.

The primary impact was on the prize distribution. California uses a pari-mutuel system, where prize amounts are split among winners. Since the error caused a subset of players to have limited number combinations, more winners were likely produced from these limited combinations when they matched the winning numbers, potentially lowering individual prize amounts.

Immediate actions and future measures

In response to the discovered error, the California Lottery has implemented a plan to ensure affected players are fairly compensated. As part of this plan, from July 16 to July 27, the overall prize pool for Daily Derby has been increased by $100,000 each day, totaling an additional $1.2 million.

This promotion aims to enhance prize amounts across all prize levels, offering players a chance to win larger sums than usual. If the grand prize remains unclaimed during this period, the increased funds will carry over until the top prize is won.

Importantly, this additional prize money will be provided by IGT and will not divert funds intended for California public education, which benefits from lottery proceeds.

The California Lottery insists that only Daily Derby tickets were impacted by this software glitch, with no other games affected. Daily Derby is one of eight lottery games offered by the California Lottery, contributing a small portion to overall revenue. Players select two sets of three numbers: one set for horse placement and another for race time.

The California Lottery has expressed regret for any inconvenience caused by the software error and reaffirmed its commitment to maintaining fairness and transparency.