COLUMBIA, S.C. — For the third time in 2024, South Carolina lottery players who bet on the number four won big.
The midday lottery drawing held by the South Carolina Education Lottery on Saturday not only came up 4-4-4-4 on the "Pick 4" game, but the Fireball number was also four. Stranger still, the "Pick 3" game was almost all fours as well—the numbers for that game were 4-4-8.
While not a common occurrence, this isn't the first time in 2024 that the drawing has brought straight fours. The same thing happened in January and June.
This time, the number of winners wasn't a record-breaker - but it was still very high. The buyers of more than 3,200 winning tickets will get to take their share of the payout of more than $6.5 million. For those who picked fours in the game, that means $2,500 or $5,000 per ticket, depending on the amount they paid. But those who picked four as their Fireball number will get extra money, with jackpots increasing by $2,700 or $5,400, respectively.
Winners have 180 days from the time of the drawing to claim their prizes. But lottery officials warned winners to expect a long wait when the claims center opens on Monday, given how many people will be trying to pick up their prize on the first day.
Officials said the odds of winning Pick 4 on a straight play are one in 10,000.
