Georgia Lottery retailers are going dark for six hours this weekend

Georgia Lottery retailers will lose access to their point-of-sale systems for six hours this weekend, part of a broader platform update that also impacts the lottery's website, app, and online games. The retail network will go down for maintenance starting Sunday, September 20th, at 3 a.m. ET, with regular operations expected back by 9 a.m. ET the same day.

Limitations during the outage

During the maintenance window, players won't be able to buy lottery tickets for draw games, KENO!, or Quick Win games at retail locations. Retailers also won't be able to cash winning tickets. Scratchers remain unaffected, and once the 9 a.m. window closes, the rest of the retail system should return to normal.

Draws go on as scheduled

The maintenance doesn't affect the draws themselves. All scheduled drawings will happen on time this weekend. Players can check winning numbers through the Player Hotline at 1-800-GA-LUCKY (1-800-425-8259).

Online games and the website face a longer outage

The digital side of the lottery goes down on a separate, longer timeline. Online KENO! purchases and the online KENO! show goes dark starting at 9 p.m. ET on Saturday, September 19th, and stays down through Monday morning, September 21st.

The galottery.com website, the mobile app, and the second-chance games site all follow close behind, going offline at 11:59 p.m. ET Saturday and staying down through Monday morning as well.

A bigger relaunch than usual

This isn't routine upkeep. The Georgia Lottery has leaned on platform updates before to expand its game lineup. Its instant win games supplier relaunched its integration with the lottery's provider back in February 2024, a move that added new eInstant games to the mix and built on a partnership already in place in other states. This weekend's update follows that same pattern: use a maintenance window to introduce features players have been asking for, rather than just patch what already exists.

New features roll out on Monday

Once the update wraps up on Monday, September 21st, three new features will go live. Millionaire for Life becomes playable online, players can buy combo packs of their favorite draw games online, and promo codes can be redeemed for bonuses or free games.

Questions or issues

Players with questions can reach the Player Hotline at 1-800-GA-LUCKY (1-800-425-8259).

The stakes behind these upgrades go beyond convenience. Lottery revenue funds Georgia's Pre-K program and the HOPE Scholarship, which together support more than 2.3 million beneficiaries across the state.

Enjoy the Georgia Lottery, and please play responsibly.