California IN BRIEF : SACRAMENTO : Computer Aces Out Some Decco Tickets

A computer programming error has cut off sales of certain Decco tickets containing popular card combinations six times since the California Lottery unveiled the game last month, officials said. The problem was discovered when lottery computers rejected attempts by some gamblers to buy Decco tickets containing four aces--the game’s hottest selling card combination, lottery Director Chon Gutierrez said. Technicians discovered that computer programmers had built an unauthorized limit allowing only 8,000 tickets to be sold on any one card combination, Gutierrez said. The limit has been reached in six of the 28 draws since the game began March 5, preventing about 48,000 tickets from being sold--or 1% of total Decco plays in the half-dozen draws, officials said. Since schools get at least 34 cents of every $1 spent on the lottery, education has lost more than $16,300 in potential funds. Officials are studying ticket sale patterns to determine how high they will raise the limit.