Lottery glitch: 'Losing way too much money here'
EUGENE, Ore. -- The owner of Porky's Palace said he had people banging on the doors hours before they were set to open trying to get their hands on some easy money.
"They were standing there saying, 'Can I play the lottery? Can I play the lottery?'" said Porky's owner Jim Trunnell. "I lost more money in one day then I make in one week."
"Players were able to increase their winnings on certain bets without increasing their actual wager," said Lottery Spokesman Chuck Baumann.
Word traveled fast: "DaVinci Diamonds" was almost a guaranteed win. It was good news for Oregon Lottery players -- but bad news for the bars.
Trunnell said he lost $650 in four days.
"It was devastating," said Trunnell.
Porky's isn't the only place that saw record winnings on the machines. KVAL News talked to someone at O'Donnell's Irish Pub in northwest Eugene. The person did not want to be identified, but they said they lost "a considerable amount".
Baumann said they started seeing a problem late last week.
"As soon as we found out that this was occurring, we started the process to disable the game," said Baumann.
Baumann said there are 2,400 terminals with "DaVinci Diamonds" all over the state, but the problem seems to be only in the Eugene-Springfield area. As for what caused the Divinci-Diamond debacle, Baumann insisted it was not lottery-error.
"Once those games are in the field there is absolutely nothing that anyone externally or even at the lottery could do to alter that game," said Baumann.
Regardless of whose fault it was, Trunnell said he just hopes the snafu is fixed.
"I've just been losing way too much money here," he said.
KVAL News asked the lottery if it's possible the retailers could be reimbursed for the excessive winnings. Baumann said it's too early to tell.
