Imagine, for a moment, that you’ve bought a lotto scratch-off ticket. You don’t seriously think you’re going to win, but hey, it’s $5 — and they’ve got a video game one, too. You rub off the silver-colored spaces one by one and — oh snap! This thing says you’ve won $100,000?!
You start imagining all the things you can do with that money. Pay off your debts? Put a down payment on a house? Travel the world? Buy more video games? Giddy, you go to collect your winnings. That’s when you’re told that, actually, you didn’t win jack. The card had a printing error. You’re not lucky: you’re one of the many schmucks who got duped by a silly little game. This is more or less what’s happened to several people who live in Indiana this week, according to multiple news reports.
A Space Invaders lotto game launched earlier this month with a card full of the series’ signature pixelated aliens. The estimated odds of winning anything, according to the Hoosier Lottery, were 1 in 3. Sure enough, just a few days later, a handful of people had already reported winning anywhere between $1,500 and $5,000.
The grand prize, which was supposed to be limited to three tickets, promised a sweet payout of $100,000. By midweek, more than three people were trying to cash in $100,000 scratchies. The tickets were legit. When these hopeful players tried redeeming their prizes, however, they were informed that it was a printing error and that the game was being pulled altogether.
According to USA Today, one player named Mike Fields was offered $20 rather than the promised $100,000. In a Reddit thread sharing his story, Fields was encouraged by commenters to seek the counsel of a lawyer.
ABC 57 says that another lotto player, Tyson Enochs, had purchased multiple lotto tickets — one of which appeared to win $100,000. Overjoyed, he went back into the shop and bought 20 more.
“This would’ve been the biggest blessing for me and my family, and when I saw that I was thinking oh my god, this is a dream, and my hopes just started shooting and then everything started feeling like wow everything just went right back to where it came from,” Enochs told ABC 57. Enochs is also considering legal action against the Hoosier Lottery.
The Hoosier Lottery’s website says that the game launched with a technical issue. “We halted the sales of the ticket to ensure the game experience upholds the integrity we strive to provide,” the Space Invaders page reads. Hoosier told news outlet WSB 22 that the printing error displayed winnings that were “different from what was recorded on the lottery commission’s official validation record,” and that it was in the middle of an investigation on the matter. Players who believe they have won a prize are encouraged to call a special hotline, fill out a ‘protest’ form, and mail their tickets to Hoosier for evaluation.
This isn’t the first time Hoosier has riled people up with a lotto error. In 2022, a different lottery game had every single one of its tickets promising a payout of $5,000. That time, Hoosier kept its word and paid out $5,000 to the winners in a move that cost the company $1.7 million. It remains to be seen if Hoosier will do the same this time, when the tickets are worth significantly more.
