Or: You’re a Mean One, Mr. Glitch.
There was promise of a very Merry Christmas for several residents of South Carolina this year. There was a glitch in the lotto system for their Holiday Cash Add-A-Play game. As per the game’s rules, getting three trees horizontally, vertically, or diagonally wins you $500 on the spot.
People quickly figured out, simply by pressing their luck, that they would (almost) always get this result. Nicole Coggins told a local NBC affiliate her story:
“I don’t play the lottery that much. Every once in a while, I’ll buy a Powerball ticket, but something told me to buy a lottery ticket,” she said.
Coggins knew she was on to something when she bought a Holiday Cash ticket, and paid an extra dollar to add a play.
Players have to get three Christmas trees in any vertical, horizontal or diagonal line in order to win a prize.
Coggins won.
“I was happy,” she said. “I was excited. I was calling everyone I knew, ‘I won $500.'”
To test her luck, Coggins bought another ticket.
“And it was another winner and another winner. So I thought, ‘Well, maybe there is something wrong with their machine. This can’t be real.'”
She drove to two other gas stations with the same result, so she called her mother-in-law, Shawanna Ladd and suggested she try playing the game.
“I played $10 first, and I won on every ticket,” Ladd said.
This held true for most other players as well, though some were not fortunate enough to actually be subject to the glitch – which may have been a blessing in disguise. Because, in most states, wins over a certain amount cannot be paid out by cashiers. And in the case of the South Carolina winners, the Lotto refused to pay out to anyone that won during the time the glitch was in effect.
Holiday Cash Add-A-Play game sales and validations have been suspended until further notice. Players with tickets affected are advised to hold on to their tickets(s) until a review is completed. Updates will be provided.
— SC Education Lottery (@sclottery) December 27, 2017
Several of the players won their way into five digits of winnings. Naturally, they’re not terribly happy about the situation. But as to how most feel about those that won? Well, they seem to all feel the same:
Pay them their money!!! That's it. No question ask. It's their problem when they lose, now it's your problem because they won.
— Tim (@srtim1971) December 27, 2017
Source: NPR
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