CA Lottery Increases Prize Payouts All Week Due To Software Glitch

CALIFORNIA – As if winning the lottery isn't lucky enough, a software glitch recently discovered means that some California Lottery players will win bigger prizes over the next 12 days.

In response to the glitch, which may have affected millions of quick-pick Daily Derby wagers for an unspecified amount of time, the California Lottery announced a special 12-day promotion to boost the prize pool for Daily Derby players.

Starting this week, the overall prize pool for Daily Derby will be boosted by $100,000 each day for 12 days. Winners at any prize level during the promotion would win bigger prizes than they would without the promotion. If the grand prize is not won during the promotional period, the money added to the grand prize will remain in the pot until someone wins the top prize.

In all, the California Lottery will add $1.2 million to the Daily Derby prize fund for the 12-day
timeframe, ending Saturday, July 27.

So what was the glitch?

According to the California Lottery, a software error affected machines selling Daily Derby tickets. It didn't alter the odds of winning, but it may have impacted some winners' payouts, according to the California Lottery.

"The error impacted only those who used the Quick Pick option," the state lottery announced. "That feature is for players who don’t want to choose their own numbers and instead prefer the gaming system selects for them. The machines affected by the error produced Quick Pick tickets with numbers only in ascending order. The software issue also affected the race time number selections in some cases, with numbers only being printed on tickets in ascending order and with no repeating digits."

California Lottery business analysts estimate that approximately 20 percent of Daily Derby wagers were affected by the error, translating into about 4 million wagers each year, according to the state lottery.

While the software error didn't affect the odds of winning, quick-pick Daily Derby winners affected by the error may have had more fellow quick-pick winners to share the prize with.

"Though the Lottery’s research indicates the issue never impacted a player’s odds of winning, prize amounts for winning tickets may have been affected for a subset of players," the California Lottery acknowledged.

That's because in California, prize amounts are split among the number of players who won in the same way. Since the error caused some players to have access to only limited combinations of numbers, more winners were likely produced when these limited combinations turned out to be selected, according to the California Lottery.

The error was traced back to a programming mistake on the part of International Game Technology, the California Lottery’s gaming partner. The California Lottery reportedly corrected the software problem within 24 hours of discovering it.

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