Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – As the Mega Millions jackpot soars to $810 million, employees in Pennsylvania may find it difficult to purchase tickets due to a system upgrade by the Pennsylvania Lottery. This upgrade has impacted ticket sales for popular draw games like Mega Millions and Powerball, leaving many hopeful players out of luck on Tuesday.
The system upgrade, which includes new data centers, test environments, communication centers, and back office systems, is part of a complete computer system transition by the Pennsylvania Lottery. According to a spokesperson for the lottery, the process is complex and cannot be simply activated with a flip of a switch. The decision to proceed with the upgrade was made to avoid delaying the transition for several months.
With ticket sales temporarily halted for Mega Millions and Powerball, players who purchased tickets prior to the upgrade will still be eligible to participate in the upcoming draws. The Pennsylvania Lottery intends to have the system up and running in time for Wednesday’s Powerball draw, which is estimated to reach $687 million after the jackpot was not won on Monday night.
In light of the upgrade, the Pennsylvania Lottery plans to keep the public informed about the progress through updates on their website and social media platforms. Additionally, the processing of claims during March may experience delays, and retail coupons will not be redeemable from March 15 through 20.
Meanwhile, in California, a winning ticket holder has come forward to claim the massive $1.765 billion Powerball jackpot from October. The winner, Theodorus Struyck, was identified as the representative of a group of winners who purchased the winning ticket in Frazier Park, Kern County. This jackpot prize stands as the second-largest in history, marking a significant win for the lucky players.