Grinchy Law Denies $35 Million In Total Prizes To Christmas Glitch Lottery Winners
Grinchy law denies prize to Christmas glitch lottery winners
Associated Press ยท May 30, 2018COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) – South Carolina lottery officials say they will not pay $35 million in prizes won by players when a Christmas Day glitch in a game briefly made everyone a winner.
The South Carolina Education Lottery Commission voted Wednesday to reimburse players only the $1 paid for Holiday Cash Add-A-Play tickets.
Officials say a coding glitch made each of the 71,000 tickets bought for about two hours last Dec. 25 a winner.
The game generated trees on a tic-tac-toe grid, paying up to $500 when someone got three in a line. Lottery officials say trees were printed in all nine slots.
A statement from the lottery cited a South Carolina law that prizes resulting from a ticket printed in error must not be paid.
Two lawsuits have already been filed by players.
