Yukoners were unable to purchase or check lottery tickets nor play other online gambling games Wednesday because of a problem with telecommunications.

That was the word this morning from a spokeswoman for the Western Lottery Corp.

Andrea Marantz said retailers noticed the malfunction Wednesday morning when they opened up and were unable to link their ticket terminals with the central gaming system.

The system was fully restored by 8 a.m. today, she said from her office in Winnipeg, adding the corporation estimates $8,000 was lost in retail sales across the territory.

"It's a rough guess,” she said of the lost sales. "It's a really rough guess because things can change daily.

"We were very unhappy it had to happen on a Wednesday because a lot of people like to buy their tickets on the day of the draw. If had been a Sunday or a Monday, it would not have created as much angst.

"Not that you want anything ever to go wrong ever, but when it happens on a draw day, it is particularly bad.”

When issues like this arise, Marantz said, the companies which provide the telecommunications service send a detailed report of what happened to the lottery corporation, though the report had not yet been received this morning.

There are 16 ticket terminals in Whitehorse, and another 16 spread across the other Yukon communities, she said.

Terminals were out across the Yukon, the Northwest Territories and the one terminal in Nunavut, she said.

Marantz noted a simultaneous and shorter failure of ticket terminals in Manitoba until 2:30 p.m. Wednesday was related to a different problem, as coincidental as it may seem.

The malfunction affected Lottery 649, Lotto Max, Western 649, Pick 3, Keno, Payday and Sports Select – anybody betting the New York Rangers saved money!

Marantz said she understands that while the problem did not affect ticket terminals in Calgary, the issue did involve the telecommunications hub in Cowtown.

Northwestel Inc. spokeswoman Emily Younker said this morning there was no issue with that company's network; the problem originated with the lottery corporation's server.

The reason behind the failure will be clear when the report is received, Marantz said.