The 'MacGyver Room' Where Old Lottery Terminals Are Repaired Will Soon Be History

These 1990's Massachusetts Lottery store machines are soon due for replacement. Photo: Bill Polo, Boston Globe

After nearly twenty years of faithful service, the aging lottery terminals used by 8,500 lottery stores in Massachusetts will be replaced.

In their place will be sophisticated technology and newer terminals that will help the lottery organisation keep loyal customers who might be tempted by glitzy slot machines and table games from competing casinos.

Lottery employee Mike Kelly works on a terminal at Massachusetts Lottery headquarters. Photo: David L Ryan, Boston Globe

Outside of Massachusetts, only the South American nation of Colombia still uses the 1990s-era lottery terminals.

Beth Bresnahan"Nobody is still using their personal computer from 18 years ago, or even five years ago — except us," said Beth Bresnahan, the lottery’s executive director, speaking to Dan Adams of the Globe.

"The fact that we've been able to stretch the life of these machines for so long [to 2015] is, frankly, amazing," she said.

To keep its machines in service, the lottery cannibalizes broken ones for parts.

There's even a place at Massachusetts State Lottery headquarters in Braintree that repair technicians refer to as "the MacGyver room."

Popular 1980's tv series "MacGyver" and the hero who could fix anything.

ABOUT: The terminals have not hampered sales at one of the nation’s most successful lotteries. Massachusetts residents spent $736 per capita on lottery games last year, far more than residents in any other state, according to La Fleur’s Magazine, a trade journal. In 2014 the lottery distributed $974 million in local aid to towns and cities.

READ MORE: Boston Globe