In 2002, US gaming technology giant Scientific Games (SG) secured a lucrative contract with the South Carolina Lottery (SC Lottery) – one of many similar contracts throughout the country – that has endured until today. It now appears that the company is safe for a while in the state, as the Lottery has agreed to extend (in pdf) the longtime partnership for another six years. SG will also soon be introducing a mobile app to consumers as part of the renewed agreement.

As is the case with virtually all lotteries across the country, the SC Lottery uses the bulk of its revenue to fund education programs. In many cases, state education programs are funded primarily by the lotteries, with only minimal amounts being provided by other sources. This is why any attempt to force states to call off their lotteries is an extremely bad and misguided idea. Last year, $487.6 million was given by the SC Lottery to education programs, a huge chunk that, if removed, would have a seriously negative impact on the proficiency level of tomorrow’s leaders.

With the renewal of the SG arrangement, the SC Lottery appears to be ready to ignore the nonsensical suggestion that lotteries need to be put on hold, and will introduce even more products to state residents. SG will introduce new warehousing and distribution services through a state-of-the-art facility, as well as a next-generation lottery mobile application. The entities executive director, Hogan Brown, says of the partnership extension, “We have accomplished great results over the past 18 years, working with Scientific Games as our primary instant games provider. Continuing the Scientific Games Enhanced Partnership program, a partnership proven highly successful, will strengthen our ability to responsibly optimize revenue for education in South Carolina.”

SG has had a successful run in South Carolina so far, helping the SC Lottery increase its sales 10.6% since 2014. The company references a report in La Fleur’s Almanac, which indicates that this is the highest percentage of annual growth for any top-10 instant game lotteries in the world. SG Senior VP, Lottery Instant Products John Schulz adds, “We are honored by the trust the South Carolina Education Lottery has placed in Scientific Games to fully manage their diverse instant game portfolio. Beginning and ending with analytics and insights, our SGEP [Scientific Games Enhanced Partnership] program encompasses every aspect of the Lottery’s instant products – from game design through retail execution.”

A new United Arab Emirates lottery is offering a record prize while dancing on the edge of religious propriety.

This weekend, Emirates Loto broadcast the UAE’s first official lottery drawing, which featured Lebanese television host Wissam Breidy and Indian actress/model Aishwarya Ajit. The grand prize for matching all six numbers was AED35m (US$9.5m) but the closest anyone got was one player who matched five numbers for an AED350k prize.

The jackpot for next week’s draw now increases to AED40m and, should no one match all six numbers, will continue to increase until its maximum cap of AED50m. There are other lotteries in the UAE but they offer much smaller prizes and tickets can only be purchased via the Duty Free areas of international airports, with the result that the winners are all foreigners.

The Qur’an makes it clear that gambling is strictly forbidden (haram) but the lottery organizers managed to obtain a religious order (fatwa) issued by the General Authority of Islamic Affairs & Endowments in Abu Dhabi exempting their product from this prohibition. The fatwa was secured by ensuring that there is an exchange of value in the transaction.

An Aussie man out of Sydney has tried for 23 years to lay claim to a lottery jackpot worth AU$3.3 million ($2 million), but his legal fight has now run its course. In 1997, David Owen Renshaw purchased a lottery ticket that, according to his subsequent lawsuit, was the big winner. However, his attempts to verify the ticket were thwarted by a store clerk, and the retiree was never able to claim his prize. He finally launched a lawsuit against the New South Wales (NSW) Lotteries eight years later, and, after a lot of legal wrangling, a Supreme Court judge in NSW, Des Fagan, has now closed the book on what he dubbed an “irresponsible pursuit of this hopeless claim.”

Renshaw had argued that the store clerk told him the ticket wasn’t a winner, despite the fact that he saw “provisional winner” pop up on the screen when the ticket was scanned. The unidentified clerk had thrown the ticket into the garbage and, when Renshaw tried to question the clerk about the ticket, he allegedly ran away and locked himself in his office. That would be the end of Renshaw’s interaction with the clerk and the multimillion-dollar ticket, until 2016.

It was then that Renshaw was discussing the lost millions with a friend and the two began digging into the jackpot’s status. They learned that the prize had still gone unclaimed, reinvigorating Renshaw’s belief that he had, in fact, been holding the winning ticket. Proving ownership, though, would be an insurmountable task.

Over the years, more than 50 people had tried to claim the prize, but Renshaw was determined. Explaining the time gap between winning and causing a legal ruckus a result of “memory loss” after having suffered an accident while on the job, he dug in and was ready to succeed where everyone else had failed.