SC Education Lottery needs More Info

The South Carolina Education Lottery’s (SCEL) Board of Commissioners Tuesday directed staff to take all appropriate measures under SCEL’s contract with the vendor, Intralot, to learn what happened on Dec. 25, 2017, with the Holiday Cash Add –A- Play game. Lottery staff previously engaged Gaming Laboratories International (GLI) to investigate any and all aspects of the Holiday Cash Add-A-Play game and specifically what caused the game to function as it did on Dec. 25, 2017. As of the Board’s meeting GLI had not been provided access to the information it needs. The Board’s action and need for the independent review arises out of the Dec. 25, 2017 sale of an estimated 42,000 tickets which included nearly 71,000 plays. The Board also received updated information on the amount of money involved. Previously the estimate of the potential prize payout was $19.6 million. If all of the nearly 71,000 plays are deemed to be winners, the potential prize payout is approximately $35.5 million. Before Intralot suspended play on Dec. 25, 2017, over $1.7 million was claimed by and paid to players at retail outlets. The Board’s outside legal counsel, Tim Madden, was designated by the Board as the contact person for future communications regarding the Dec. 25, 2017 Holiday Cash Add-A-Play game. Madden said the Board is committed to gaining a full understanding of what occurred on Dec. 25, 2017, to maintaining the integrity of the Lottery, and the respect of the players, all while following the law as established by the General Assembly. “The Lottery’s players are its lifeblood,” Madden said. “This situation is unfortunate, but we are going to fully investigate what happened because we owe that to our players and to the State.”