South Carolina may owe double in Christmas lottery glitch

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina lottery officials say they may have to pay out nearly twice in prizes as much as they expected because of a Christmas Day glitch.

The South Carolina Education Lottery Commission announced at Tuesday’s meeting that it may owe more than $35 million after everyone who bought Holiday Cash Add-A-Play was a winner for two hours on Dec. 25. They earlier announced about $19 million in prizes.

The lottery wants a full investigation before deciding whether to pay the winners. Board members were told the company that ran the game, Intralot, only agreed Tuesday to an independent investigation.

The $1-a-play game generated trees on a tic-tac-toe grid paying up to $500 when someone gets three in a line. Lottery officials say trees were being printed in all nine slots.