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Holiday Lottery Glitch Claims Could Be Up to $33.8 Million

The S.C. Education Lottery Commission now estimates it will need 33.8 million to cover claims from the Holiday Cash Add-A-Play 'glitch' in December.

The State Lottery met Tuesday morning to revisit a computer 'glitch' on Christmas Day that resulted in millions of unintended winnings.

Previous Coverage: Malfunction Causes Lottery Game Confusion

Lottery officials explained the computer system experienced a programming error on Christmas Day that affected “Holiday Cash Add-A-Play” tickets.

Retailers were not allowed to process the winning tickets. Dozens of people gathered at the lottery claims center in December demanding answers from the Commission.

Previous Coverage: South Carolina Education Lottery Players Upset After System Glitch

Previous Coverage: $19.6 Million Set Aside for Winners in SC Lottery Game Malfunction

The lottery commission met last month and decided to set aside $19.6 million.

Now, after further review, officials say review now say that amount of money would not be enough to cover the amount of claims from the two-hour period before the game was closed by the S.C. Education Lottery's vendor Intralot.

The amount needed to pay out the claims is now estimated to be $33.8 million.

Tim Madden, a lawyer representing as outside legal council for the state lottery says they're working to find the solution to this problem.

"It makes sense to me that any player who thought they won and has not been able to redeem their claim, would be upset. It would also make sense for anyone looking at this objectivity would say it doesn't make sense. That for two hours on Christmas day that this particular game printed out nine Christmas Trees when it was originally designed to only print out five," explained Madden.

Madden also says they're looking through all options before making a final decision.

"I think it's unfortunate and it's a very difficult situation for the commission to be in. The players are the lifeblood of this organization and it's important the players knows that this commission has their best interests at heart. That this commission is going to do everything they can to make sure they make the right decision and is not going to make any decision flippantly," said Madden.

A South Carolina Education Lottery spokesperson says they have secured emergency procurement approval to obtain the services of Gaming Laboratories International (GLI), who will conduct an investigation into the gaming error.

“It has been repeatedly relayed to Intralot that the South Carolina Education Lottery Board of Commissioners cannot make an informed decision without having a full understanding of what exactly happened to cause the repetitive winning holiday cash add-a-play tickets printed on December 25, 2017,” explains a spokesperson for the South Carolina Education Lottery.

The South Carolina Education Lottery says GLI will be helping conduct an audit with Intralot to review the situation.

Intralot has agreed to the audit, but are requesting additional information from the state lottery before going forward. The lottery commission has been in executive session for much of Tuesday to examine the issue.

Stick with News 19 on air, online and on social media for updates as they become available.

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