South Carolina Lottery Pick 3 General Information and Links

How to Play South Carolina Pick 3 Lottery

From a South Carolina Lottery retailer (a gas station, a convenience store, a food store, etc. which plays SC Lottery) get a Pick 3 playslip. A playslip contains five different play areas, marked Play A through Play E. Each play area represents a different Pick 3 play. If you want to play only one number, fill out only the Play A; if you want to play 15 numbers, then get three playslips and fill all the Plays, A to E of all of them.

Each Pick 3 play panel (Play) contains three colums of the digits 0 to 9. Mark the first digit of your number on the first column, the second digit on the second column, and the third digit on the third column. So, if you want to play the number 409, then 4 will be marked in the first column, 0 in the second column, and 9 in the third column. Next select and mark the amount (50¢ or $1), then select the type of play - Straight, Box, Straight/Box, or Combo.

If you are playing Front Pair, mark only the first two coluns of the digits and leave the last one blank, then mark "Front Pair". If you are playing Back Pair, mark only the last two coluns of the digits and leave the first one blank, then mark "Back Pair".

The numbers you are playing are valid only for the next draw. If you want to specify either the day or evining draw, or both, you can do so by marking the 'Day', 'Evening' or 'Both' boxes. In fact, playing for both draws doubles the price.

Next, present the completed playslip to the lottery retailer to receive your printed ticket. Check your ticket immediately to ensure that the numbers, dates, and play type match your request. If there is an error, have the retailer CANCEL the ticket and print another.

You may also look at a Pick 3 playslip here.

TOP

Play Types and How You Win the South Carolina Pick 3 Lottery

There are six ways you can play and win the South Carolina Pick 3 game - four basic types and two shortcuts of the basic types. These types together with how much is paid for a winning South Carolina Pick 3 game type are listed below. We have to mention here that South Carolina Pick 3 has one of the highest prizes in the US.

The basic Pick 3 play types are:

1. Straight: You win by matching the winning Pick 3 number in the exact order drawn. For example, if you play the Pick 3 number 409 as Straight, you'll win only if the winning number is exactly 409; you don't win anything if the winning number is 049 or 408.

   The prize of South Carolina Pick 3 Straight game is $500 for a $1 game and $250 for a 50¢ game.

2. Box: You win by matching the winning Pick 3 number in any order. For example, if you play 409 as Box, you'll win if the Pick 3 winning number contains the three digits 0, 4, and 9 in any order, such as 049 or 940; but not if any one is missing like 408.

   The prize of South Carolina Pick 3 Box play depends on whether one of the digits is repeated or not.

   • A number such as 409, where none of the digits repeats is called a 6-way box and pays $80 for a $1 game and $40 for a 50¢ game.
   • If one of the digits is double, like 007, then it is called a 3-way box and pays $160 for a $1 game and $80 for a 50¢ game.
   • There is no Box play for numbers with all three identical digits such as 777. These Pick 3 numbers can only be played straight.

3. Front Pair: Just select the first two digits to win $50 for a $1 game and $25 for a 50¢ game. For example, if you play the front pair 40 (i.e., 40X), you'll win as long as the first two digits of the winning number are 40 in exact order. So, you'll win with 400, 401, etc., but not with 940 or 049.

4. Back Pair: Just select the last two digits to win $50 for a $1 game and $25 for a 50¢ game. For example, if you play the back pair 09 (i.e., X09), you'll win as long as the last two digits of the winning number are 09 in exact order. So, you'll win with 009, 109, etc., but not with 490 or 094.

And the shortcut play types are:

5. Straight/Box: is simply a combination of a 50-cent Straight play and a 50-cent Box play. This play type is designed simply to save you time; it is a shortcut of playing one game of straight and another game of box of the same number. That is, instead of filling one panel for 50¢ Straight and another panel for 50¢ box, of the same number, you might as well fill out just one panel and mark it as Straight/Box. Note that the minimum amount for a Straight/Box game is $1.

The prize of a Straight/Box play is the sum of a 50¢ Straight game and a 50¢ Box game. For example, if you play 409 as Straight/Box, and if the winning number is 409, then you'll win $290 ($250 for the Straight part + $40 for the Box part). If the winning number is 490, you'll win only $40 for the box part since you did not match it Straight. How much do you win with Straight/Box of the number 007? (Answer)

6. Combo: This is the same as playing Straight all possible combination of the selected number. For example, if you want to win $500 on the number 409 in any way it is drawn, then you have to play all the possible combinations, namely, 049, 940, 094, 409, 490, and 904, at a price of $6 ($1 for each). The shortcut is simply to fill out 409 and mark Combo for $1; you'll still pay $6. A $1 combo play of double numbers such as 007 costs $3 since there are only 3 possible combinations(007, 070, 700).

TOP

Prizes and Odds of South Carolina Lottery Pick 3

How much does South Carolina Pick 3 pay for Straight or Box? The following is a summary of winner prize payouts and the odds of winning.

Note that a 6-way Box is a number with three non-identical digits, a 3-way Box has one of the digits doubled. Pairs are printed on your ticket with X representing "any", e.g. front pair 40X and back pair X09, which means that X can be any digit.

For South Carolina Lottery general rules and how to claim prizes, please see South Carolina Lottery general info page.

TOP

Links to some Pick 3 pages of the South Carolina Lottery Official Web Site

Although we have tried to cover all the pertinent information of the South Carolina Pick 3, we recommend that you also look at the following pages at the South Carolina Lottery official web site.

• South Carolina Lottery Pick 3 game information
• South Carolina Lottery Official Pick 3 Game Rules

South Carolina Pick 3 at US-Lotteries.com

The main purpose of this web site (US-Lotteries.com) is to present a well formatted latest and past results; analysis and statistics of past winning numbers, digits, pairs, triads; search to see if your favorite numbers have ever won or have come close to winning the jackpot; mathematical tools such as combinations generators and wheels. The complete list of all South Carolina Pick 3 pages of this web site are listed below.

• South Carolina lottery Pick 3 summary of page contents with latest and recent results
• All past winning numbers of the South Carolina lottery Pick 3 displayed on a monthly calendar
• Search for the past performace of any South Carolina lottery Pick 3 with full or partial match
• Yearly South Carolina lottery Pick 3 winning numbers on a calendar for printing
• Classification and history of South Carolina lottery Pick 3 Boxes(Combos)
• Data on South Carolina lottery Pick 3 triple-digit numbers
• Frequency and last appearance of South Carolina lottery Pick 3 individual digits
• South Carolina Pick 3 exact order statistics with least and most frequently drawn, never drawn numbers
• South Carolina Pick 3 any order (box) statistics for the different groups
• Frequency and last appearance of South Carolina lottery Pick 3 front, back and split pairs
• Statistics of South Carolina lottery Pick 3 sum of digits
• Generate South Carolina Pick 3 combinations from a number with 2 or more digits

TOP