Phil Howard

“Here's my commitment. I will fight to make life more affordable. I will fight to make our community safer and I will fight to protect our Montana way of life.”- Alme said at his watch party in Billings.

JUST IN: statement from #Montana Lottery: Back in September, the Montana Lottery transitioned to a new central gaming system provided by Bally's Intralot. This is the first year that Montana Millionaire has been offered on the new system. Since sales began at 5:30 a.m. today, we have identified three issues that impacted game operations. System Capacity and Transaction Volume The system experienced performance issues due to the high volume of transactions occurring simultaneously. We continue to investigate the cause and are working with Bally's Intralot to implement solutions that will prevent similar issues in the future. Instant Win Prize Distribution We have identified that Instant Win prizes were being awarded more frequently than intended while sales were allowed briefly this morning. We are working closely with Bally's Intralot to ensure Instant Win prizes are distributed at the correct rate. To maintain the game's integrity, the appropriate number of Instant Win prizes, estimated at approximately $500,000, will be added back into the remainder of the tickets in the game. Website and Mobile Information Feed We also identified an issue affecting the Montana Millionaire information feed on the website and mobile platforms. As a result, game information was not displaying as expected for users. At this time, Montana Lottery staff and Bally's Intralot teams are working diligently to determine the scope of the necessary fixes and establish a timeline for implementation. Once those issues have been fully resolved and all game and sales data have been validated, we will announce a new start date for Montana Millionaire. We sincerely apologize to our players and sales agents for the frustration and inconvenience caused by these issues. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we work to ensure Montana Millionaire operates as intended and maintains the highest standards of fairness and integrity.