Winning--Sike!! Lotto Glitch Outrages Players Who Won…But Didn’t! #WTF

Well, this sucks. Could you imagine playing the Lottery and thinking you had the winning numbers, only to be told “Whoops!” #SideEye

While this wasn’t the big Powerball some South Carolina residents thought they got the best Christmas present ever after winning the top prize on a $1 instant Lotto game.

But guess what? It was more like a worthless lump of coal. The South Carolina Education Lottery’s computer system experienced a so-called “programming error” that messed with the Holiday Cash Add-A-Play, according to a statement from Intralot, the computer system vendor.

On Christmas evening the game’s winning symbol, a Christmas tree, was shown in all nine available play areas on all tickets printed during that window of time, generating a lot more winners than intended. Big mistake!

“I spent a total of $30 and I won a total of $8,500,” Uber driver and Lottery hopeful David Doyle told ABC affiliate WCIV in Charleston, South Carolina. He was stunned to find out his “winning ticket” is actually a dud. It came up as an “invalid transaction” and he hasn’t been able to collect his prize.

Andy Pagoota, a man who buys $1 lotto tickets once or twice a week “just for kicks,” said he and his wife were planning to catch up on bills with what they thought were their winnings. “I just wish they would do the responsible thing,” Pagoota said. It really doesn’t seem fair…I mean, it’s not the player’s faults the game went haywire.

Maybe they’ll try playing for the Mega Millions jackpot. Womp, womp. Who knows…maybe the universe owes the folks in South Carolina a favor!