Lotto Buyers Short-Circuited

Thousands of last-minute Lotto 6/49 players in Southern California saw their luck run out earlier than usual Saturday night when game terminals from San Diego north to the Tehachapi Mountains abruptly stopped spewing out tickets almost two hours before the twice-weekly drawing.

Lottery officials said the breakdown was due to two separate problems--a malfunction in the Lotto computer in Whittier, which controls ticket sales in the southern half of the state, and a snarl in the telecommunications system linking the computer to some of the outlets. As many as 4,000 terminals were affected, lottery director Chon Guiterrez said late Saturday.

Lines began forming in Lotto sales outlets beginning about 6 p.m. as would-be ticket buyers waited--and for the most part patiently--for sales to resume. But they didn’t--at least in time for the 7:58 p.m. drawing. By 10 p.m., hundreds of computers were still out of order.

At a 7-Eleven convenience store in Pacoima as many as 500 ticket-buyers were turned away. “We gave a free cup of coffee to everyone,” said cashier Dilbag Khera. “We don’t want to lose our customers.”

At a 7-Eleven in Santa Barbara, dozens of people queued up, waiting for the machine to come back to life. By the time the winning Lotto numbers were picked, a line of 60 disappointed players stretched through the store.

“They waited and waited and waited,” said clerk-cashier Shawn Thomas. “A lot stayed an hour and a half. Only a couple of people walked out. Most were really understanding.”

Officials with GTECH Corp., which manufactures the computerized system, reported receiving 300 phone calls from retailers. Although they told lottery officials the computer outage lasted only ten minutes, ending at 6:05 p.m., numerous retailers said their machines were still not functioning hours later. Guiterrez said lottery officials were continuing to look into the problem.

LOTTERY RESULTS

NOV. 26

Saturday’s Winning Numbers:

2-13-31-33-43-49

Lotto Jackpot

$6 million

Bonus Number 23

Recorded Information

976-4275 (English)

976-5275 (Spanish)