Missouri Lottery working to resolve glitches with mobile app

Following a recent update, the Lottery’s mobile app displayed out-of-order numbers for Powerball, Mega Millions and the Cash4Life game on Oct. 3.

Lottery spokeswoman Wendy Baker acknowledged the glitch and said the agency is working with its politically connected vendor to fix the problems.

“The listing, which was remedied the following morning, did not affect players’ ability to use the app’s scanning feature to determine if a ticket was a winner, nor did it impact Check-A-Ticket machines or terminals at retail,” Baker said.

The updated app is a product offered by Scientific Games International, a major supplier to lotteries throughout the world.

In Missouri, the Las Vegas-based company has a contract with the Lottery worth an estimated $11 million per year. They are represented in state government by lobbyist Andy Blunt, son of U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt.

“We have actively been working with them to address app and Rewards concerns that followed our migration to an updated platform,” Baker said.

Sandra Lewis, a Lottery player from Rolla, said she began noticing the problems last month. On Monday, when wrong lottery numbers were shown on the app, she notified Lottery officials, whom she said worked to fix the problem.

But, she said her experience with the app is making her think twice about continuing to play.

“It’s just not right. They’ve got to get it fixed,” said Lewis, a retired software developer.

Others users have expressed anger over the switch in reviews on the Google App store.

“I’ll probably quit buying as much as I do if I can’t even navigate the app,” one user said.

Missouri isn’t alone in grappling with online glitches.

In July, the Pennsylvania Lottery’s website crashed during a $1.2 billion drawing of the Mega Millions game.

In the United Kingdom, Camelot, a private company that operates the national lottery, was fined for three errors on its mobile app, which affected tens of thousands of players.

The Lottery itself is undergoing changes in its top management. Former Director May Scheve Reardon left in July after 13 years at the helm. The commission overseeing the agency is currently interviewing prospective replacements, potentially including Rep. Shamed Dogan, R-Ballwin.

Baker downplayed the software problems Wednesday.

“While there are growing pains associated with the new look and navigation, there have been no changes to the way the program itself is being administered,” she said.