Christmas bonus: Thousands win lottery prizes after 7-7-7 picked in South Carolina

Thousands of players scored prizes in the South Carolina Education Lottery as they were rewarded for picking the same number multiple times in a Christmas Day game.

More than $3 million was awarded to the 12,125 players who selected all 7s in the evening Pick 3 drawing on Dec. 25, lottery officials said in a news release.

Depending on the price paid for the ticket, after 7-7-7 was drawn the winners took home either $250 or $500 per play, according to the release.

It’s not the first time those numbers turned out to be lucky. In fact it was the 14th time 7-7-7 was drawn, according to the release.

“Triple number combinations are by far the Lottery’s most popular played sequences,” officials said.

A similar drawing happened around Christmas in 2020 when more than 11,000 people in the South Carolina won a combined $2.8 million in prizes after picking the numbers 3-3-3, McClatchy News reported.

The thousands who won prizes this Christmas won’t have their names made public because South Carolina is one of eight states — along with Delaware, Georgia, Kansas, Maryland, North Dakota, Ohio and Texas — that allow lottery winners to remain anonymous.

Each winner has 180 days to claim the prize, according to lottery officials.

“Sign the back of your ticket and put it in a safe location until you’re ready to come forward to claim the prize,” lottery officials said.

For complete information on claiming prizes, go to sceducationlottery.com.