FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Sunday, January 4, 2009

 

CONTACT: David Workman         

208-334-2600                                 

 

Powerball Tickets Printed in Error

 

Boise – A small number of Idaho Lottery tickets printed for Powerball, beginning with this coming Wednesday night’s $105 million jackpot, were printed in error.  This coming Wednesday night marks the first draw using a new game matrix for Powerball with different eligible numbers than were available for past games.  Tickets eligible for Wednesday night’s draw went on sale at 8 PM Mountain Time Saturday, January 3, 2009.

 

“During the upgrade of Idaho´s Powerball game, operator error resulted in a small number of Powerball tickets being printed in error during a short period of time,” said Zeke Chemodurow, Idaho General Manager for INTRALOT, Inc., the Idaho Lottery’s lotto-systems provider. “The ticket information and the locations where they were printed at have been identified and that information has been provided to the Lottery.”

 

Players who purchased an Idaho Lottery Powerball ticket between 8:00 PM and 8:52 PM Mountain Time on January 3, 2009 should contact Idaho Lottery Offices.   Each Powerball ticket has a unique time stamp located on the front of the ticket above the serial numbers and the bar code at the bottom of the ticket.  Players holding a ticket purchased during this time frame should contact the Idaho Lottery’s Customer Service Department beginning Monday, January 5, 2009 during regular business hours from 8 AM to 5 PM Mountain Time to determine if ticket replacement is necessary.  Idaho Lottery Customer Service can be reached by calling 208-334-2600 or 800-432-5688.

 

“Our adherence to preserving the integrity of our games has maintained public confidence in the Idaho Lottery over the years,” said Jeff Anderson, Idaho Lottery Director. “We have identified and isolated last night’s concerns and are taking the necessary steps to ensure each player who may have purchased a ticket printed in error receive fair compensation for their ticket. We regret any inconvenience this may have created.”

 

The scheduled changes to Powerball included updates to support the new game format.  Previously, winning the Powerball jackpot required a player to match all five white numbers from a pool of 1 to 55, and one Powerball from 1 to 42.  The upgrades to the game now include the addition of four white numbers (1 to 59) and reducing the eligible Powerball numbers by three (1 to 39).  One other update now allows players to purchase multi-draw ticket for up to 10 draws at one time.

 

 

 

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ABOUT THE IDAHO LOTTERY

The Idaho Lottery responsibly provides a variety of entertaining games featuring Powerball, Scratch™ tickets, and PullTabs with a high degree of integrity to maximize the dividend for Idaho public schools and buildings. Since it’s inception in 1989, the Idaho Lottery has sold more than $1.7 billion in sales, awarded over $1 billion in prizes to players, returned more than $100 million in retail commissions, and distributed more than $402 million in Lottery dividends to state public schools and buildings. To learn more, please visit www.idaholottery.com.