€500,000 error

ITALIAN gaming operator SNAI has reportedly suspended the operation of its Barcrest video lottery terminal (VLT) platform following an “unusual” peak in payment requests last week.

According to local press, the suspension is temporary and was in response to demands for a payment, for an alleged winning ticket. It was alleged that around €500,000 totaled up in this prize money. Many players last Monday may have felt incredibly blessed with this good fortune…only to find out this was all a huge mistake…

The local press also reported: “There is no doubt that what happened represents a fault, because the jackpot is awarded approximately every 30-40 days, while last Monday at 5 minutes were awarded dozens of prizes equal to the maximum score possible of 500,000 €.”

In response to this incident the company immediately blocked the Barcrest system to perform the necessary checks and inspections by consulting the database containing records of all transactions carried out on the gaming platform and its some 1,450 terminals, including its system log.

From the evidence collated:
1. no jackpot has been won throughout the day Monday;
2. the causes of events that led to the printing of tickets indicated abnormally associated jackpot amounts, are limited and will be shared with supervisors and promptly informed. Barcrest the system, as mentioned by suspended operations, remains locked even with full protection of the integrity of the database computer.