Statewide Computer Glitch Halts Lottery Ticket Sales

A three-hour glitch in the California State Lottery’s computer system halted sales for Saturday night’s Super Lotto drawing and left many bettors statewide unable to participate in the $3-million drawing.

The glitch appeared at 4:48 p.m. and lasted until 7:45 p.m., a period during which ticket sales normally peak in anticipation of the 7:58 p.m. drawing. Lottery spokeswoman Jeanne Winick said human error was to blame for the problem in which tickets bearing Wednesday’s date--instead of Saturday’s--began popping out of lottery machines statewide.

Winick said an employee at GTech, the Sacramento company that runs the lottery computer system, entered a wrong command, effectively closing off further betting. Winick said bettors who purchased tickets after the malfunction will be eligible for Wednesday night’s drawing. “There was no loss in sales, the pool just closed early,” Winick said.

At lottery outlets statewide, ticket sellers said they were faced with angry customers and slow ticket sales after the snafu.

“I really lost money,” said Frank Kumanoto, owner of Bluebird liquor store in Hawthorne. “I told my customers the entire California lottery system was down. They are upset and I don’t blame them.”