News writer, Interviewer
The wait is almost over. The Montana Lottery will restart Montana Millionaire sales on Thursday, November 12, 2026, at 6:30 a.m. MT. The game was pulled on launch day after technical problems. Now the raffle is back with fixes in place.
Is anything different?
Not for players. The odds and drawings are unchanged. The lottery did add instant-win prizes to the game. Why? Too many were awarded on day one, so the lottery restocked the pool to bring the payout back to the advertised odds.
Are my tickets still good?
Yes. Every ticket printed on November 1 stays valid for all drawings. Instant wins from those tickets are valid too.
- Instant wins: Redeem them. Retailers must scan the coupon barcode to validate and record the prize.
- Raffle tickets: Store them somewhere safe. They remain in every drawing.
Which drawings can you enter?
All 2026 tickets qualify for three drawings:
- November 30: Quarter Million Dollar Drawing.
- December 28: Grand Prize Drawing with six $1 million prizes.
- December 28: Players Club 20th Anniversary Drawing for $20,000.
The last one has an important caveat. You must enter your ticket in the Players Club to be eligible.
Have winners already been picked?
No. None of the drawings have happened. A certified random number generator picks winners at the time of each drawing. Tickets are not tagged as winners when sold. Nobody is holding a winning ticket yet.
What went wrong with the raffle numbers?
The lottery reviewed the November 1 sales and found numbering errors. It reports that 12,947 tickets sold, and the highest raffle number issued was 13,170.
That gap points to two problems:
- Skipped numbers: 196 raffle numbers were never assigned to a ticket.
- Duplicate numbers: 27 numbers were assigned to two tickets each.
Here is the fix. The 196 skipped numbers will be released first when sales resume. After that, numbers continue in order as planned.
Players with a duplicate number need to do nothing. If a duplicated number wins, both tickets receive the full prize. The lottery will not split it.
What caused the other problems?
The lottery names a few more fixes.
The system buckled under heavy simultaneous traffic. The lottery says it has now investigated the cause and is working with its vendor, Bally’s Intralot, on safeguards. The website and mobile information feed also failed to show game details properly. The lottery and Bally’s Intralot determined what needed fixing so the digital platforms run correctly.
One issue remains open. Terminal reports show wrong numbers for November 1 sales. Bally’s Intralot is correcting that data.
What should players watch for?
Launch day exposed several flaws at once. Prize distribution, ticket numbering, reporting, and web display all had trouble. Will Thursday go smoothly? That is the real test. A limited-ticket game like this might draw a rush on restart day, just as it did the first time.
Check your ticket numbers once sales resume and keep every ticket and coupon.
