Hundreds of thousands added to prize pool after software error, California Lottery says

A software glitch may have shrunk some Daily Derby jackpots, but now lucky players will get a boost to their winnings for a limited time, California Lottery officials announced.

The software error involved only some lottery ticket machines and only affected players who had the system choose numbers for them, officials said in a Monday, July 15, news release.

The glitch did not change the odds of winning but may have reduced prizes won on tickets from those machines, lottery officials said. The error affected about 20% of Daily Derby tickets.

The problem, traced back to a programming error by the lottery’s partner, was fixed within 24 hours of being discovered, lottery officials said.

As a result, the Daily Derby prize pool will be boosted by $100,000 a day through July 27, giving some winners more money, the lottery said.

“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,” officials said in the release.

In Daily Derby, players pick three fictional horses — each accompanied with a number — to finish in first, second and third places and a race time for the first horse to finish. They win prizes if the drawing matches their choices.