The Iowa Lottery’s “Big Beepin’ Deal” promotion was shut down on Sunday, Monday and almost half of Tuesday because of an operator error on the lottery’s computer system.Any Iowa Lottery player who made a qualifying purchase in the promotion on those days can receive a $20 bonus by mailing their tickets to the lottery, said Iowa Lottery Chief Executive Terry Rich
Because it would be impossible to identify
everyone affected, the Iowa Lottery is extending the offer to all players who made a qualifying purchase during the affected time, Rich said.The Big Beepin Deal promotion began May 3. For every 20th purchase statewide of a $10 Powerball with a Power Play ticket option, the lottery terminal makes a beeping sound like a car horn. The customer wins $20 cash on the spot.Scientific Games, an Iowa Lottery computer vendor, has agreed to compensate the Iowa Lottery for the additional expense, which is estimated at $100,000, said Iowa Lottery Vice President Mary Neubauer. After the error was discovered, corrections were made to permit the promotion to resume at 11:28 a.m. Tuesday, Rich said. More than 5,000 qualifying purchases were made while the promotion was prevented from running.
