Thousands of lottery players in South Carolina thought Christmas was their lucky day.

Starting at 5:51 p.m. last Dec. 25, gas stations and convenience stores across the state dispensed a steady stream of what appeared to be winning tickets.

Some customers caught on to the anomaly and bought as many as they could. Nicole Coggins, 36, of Liberty, S.C., was one of them.

“We figured we’d buy a reliable vehicle and take the kids to Disneyland,” she said, adding that she and a few other family members kept playing the game until they amassed what they thought were thousands of dollars in winnings.

But Ms. Coggins was not able to cash in. The state suspended the game after two hours, at 7:53 p.m., and in a statement two days later, the South Carolina Education Lottery said its computer system vendor, Intralot, had experienced a programming error.