Glitch in lottery could mean $27.6 million in winnings
<p><span>A computer error could see a lottery company forced to pay out $27.6 million in prize money after duplicate winning tickets were generated for two hours.</span></p>
<p><span>The programming glitch in South Carolina, US, created winning “Add-A-Play” tickets on Christmas Day, with each having a prize of $703.</span></p>
<p><span>Nicole Coggins and her mother-in-law Shawanna Lad noticed the error and bought $140 worth of tickets, which resulted in them winning $25,000.</span></p>
<p><span>“I played $10 first, and I won on every ticket,” she told <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="http://www.wyff4.com/article/sc-lottery-officials-explain-error-that-dashed-winners-christmas-dreams/14500982" target="_blank">WYFF News 4</a></strong></span>. “So I thought, ‘Well, maybe there is something wrong with their machine. This can’t be real.’”</span></p>
<p><span>It turned out she was correct but as she went to collect their winnings, the machine said their tickets were invalid.</span></p>
<p><span>The South Carolina Education Lottery addressed the issue with a statement.</span></p>
<p><span> “From 5:51 pm to 7:53pm, the same play symbol was repeated in all nine available play areas on tickets which would result in a top prize of $500,” <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="http://www.sceducationlottery.com/winners/NewsDisplayArticle.asp?ID=2776" target="_blank" title="www.sceducationlottery.com">it wrote</a></strong></span>.</span></p>
<p><span>“No more than five identical play symbols should appear for a single play. As soon as the issue was identified, the Add-A-Play game was suspended immediately to conduct a thorough investigation.</span></p>
<p><span>“All players who purchased a Holiday Cash Add-A-Play ticket on Christmas Day during the time period affected are advised to hold on to their ticket(s) until the review is completed.”</span></p>
<p><span>Later on, the company said there would be a meeting held before the end of January to discus the outcome, but would set aside the millions needed to distribute the winnings if they are required to validate the tickets.</span></p>
<p><span>Have you ever won money in the lottery? Tell us in the comments below. </span></p>
