A lottery ticket misprint fooled 252 players. Now they're getting paid

Hundreds of Indiana Lottery players thought they had won prizes on a Space Invaders-themed scratch-off. However, a printing error crushed all their dreams. Some players even thought they won $100,000, and are getting some money after all. Now, the Hoosier Lottery has announced a compensation plan for 252 players affected by that printer error.

The Lottery pulled the game from stores in early June after learning about the problem. Then, they launched a review to determine how many tickets had been affected. That review is complete, and officials say eligible players will be offered payments between $25 and $10,000, depending on the prize amount that was incorrectly displayed on their scratch-off tickets.

The compensation scale

While it would be nice if the players were given the prize amount the ticket showed, it is nice that they will be getting some kind of money. They could be told it was a printing error, sorry for your luck, and move on.

So, lottery officials created four payment tiers based on the amount incorrectly shown on the Space Invaders tickets:

• For misprinted tickets showing wins between $10 and $499, those players will be offered $25.
• For misprinted tickets showing wins between $500 and $2,499, those players will be offered $100.
• For misprinted tickets showing wins between $2,500 and $5,999, those players will be offered $500.
• For misprinted tickets showing wins of $100,000 or more, those players will be offered $10,000.

That means the guy who initially believed he had won the game’s $100,000 top prize can still walk away with a five-figure payment, even if it is only a fraction of what he thought he won.

The Hoosier Lottery states that this compensation plan exceeds what they are required to provide under Indiana law. They also stressed that these payments will not be coming from taxpayer money.

The tickets were pulled from stores

This unusual situation began earlier this summer with the $5 Space Invaders Cash Invasion scratch-off.

The ticket is inspired by the classic arcade game. It offered players a chance to win cash prizes, with the top prize for the game being $100K.

However, there was a technical issue that took place when printing some of the tickets. This left these erroneous tickets displaying information that made players believe they had won when they actually didn’t.

One particular player gained a lot of media attention after he thought he had won the game’s top prize, or at least his ticket made him think he did. When he went to collect the money, he learned that he actually won $0.

This resulted in the Hoosier Lottery removing all of the Space Invaders tickets from sale while officials investigated. That investigation determined that 252 tickets were impacted by this printing error.

What happens next for the 252 players?

With this compensation plan in place, it does bring some resolution to an unusual lottery mistake that turned the excitement of a potential win into disappointment for hundreds of players.

While this payout doesn’t match the amount of money they thought they initially won, it’s still some kind of payout. Even though the ticket holder thought he won $100K, he’s still getting $10K, and that’s a very nice payout.

By offering compensation that is beyond what is required by state law, it might help soften the disappointment. However, this will probably be a lottery experience these ticket holders will never forget.

Enjoy playing the Hoosier Lottery, and please remember to play responsibly.