Topeka ? The Kansas Lottery Commission awarded GTECH Corp. a contract Wednesday to run the central computer system that will control slot machines at state-owned casinos.

GTECH, which also operates the Lottery’s online games and terminals, was involved in a computer blunder earlier this year in the Lottery’s Pick 3 game when the system reported the wrong winning numbers on June 29, June 30 and July 1.

Ed Van Petten, Lottery executive director, said Wednesday that the problem was resolved and GTECH continues as the operator of the traditional games, as it has been since the Lottery’s inception in 1987.

“We converted to a new gaming system and the software they used in the conversion was defective,” Van Petten said. “It was totally unrelated to the new contract.”

Van Petten halted negotiations with GTECH on the casino contract until the Pick 3 problem was resolved. He said the Lottery still is deciding how much to charge GTECH for the errors during the summer.

A spokeswoman for GTECH did not immediately return a call seeking comment Wednesday.

The casino deal is expected to generate some $20 million for GTECH over its 10-year life, based on a sliding scale of percentage of slot revenue. The central system will monitor all slot activities and can cut off any or all the machines at a casino.

Under the expanded gambling law enacted last year, operators chosen by the state will build and operate the casinos and pay for the central system, which is expected to be ready by mid-2009. The Lottery owns the gambling and the slot machines.

Three casino operators picked by the Lottery Gaming Facility Review Board are awaiting final approval by the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission next month.

The review board picked Harrah’s Entertainment Inc. for Sumner County; a partnership of Kansas Speedway and the Baltimore-based Cordish Co. for Wyandotte County, and Butler National Service Corp. for Ford County.