Glitch in lottery gives false hope in South Carolina

A temporary glitch in the lottery system enabled people in South Carolina to continually obtain winning tickets.

The programming error in the game lasted for more than two hours on Christmas Day while it generated an overabundance of winning tickets.

Officials said they were investigating the matter Wednesday, after they discovered that in a two hour time period the same play symbol was repeated in all nine available play areas on tickets which would result in a top prize of $500, reported Fox Carolina. 

‘From 5:51 p.m. to 7:53 p.m., the same play symbol was repeated in all nine available play areas on tickets which would result in a top prize of $500. No more than five identical play symbols should appear for a single play,’ the lottery said. 

‘As soon as the issue was identified, the Add-A-Play game was suspended immediately to conduct a thorough investigation.’ 

Understandably people were very disappointed to learn that it was a glitch in the system and they weren’t going to be rewarded with their money.

Makeiya Cobb told Fox Carolina she had five winning tickets which added up to a total of $2,500.

Makeiya Cobb told Fox Carolina she had five winning tickets which added up to a total of $2,500 but she was unable to cash in her tickets the following day

She revealed her friend also played and she won $1000 from two tickets.

Cobb said her and her friend tried to cash the money the next day and they were unable to, she said ‘that hurt a lot of people.’

She said she hopes the lottery will honor their tickets. ‘I just want my money, it’s not much but I want it,’ she said.

The lottery have told all players who purchased a ticket on Christmas Day during that particular time period to hold on to their tickets until the investigation is complete.

Apparently an update will be made at the end of the week.

Pictured here is a QuikTrip in South Carolina where many residents can purchase their lottery tickets