Officials at the North Carolina and South Carolina state lotteries say they immediately begin pulling back scratch-and-win tickets when the top prize has been claimed. North Carolina lottery officials, however, have at least twice made an exception, deciding in two games to continue to sell after the biggest prize was gone, and South Carolina is fighting a lawsuit over how it has handled the instant games.

"It's a controversy that's been going on around the country for five or six years," said Tom Shaheen, director of North Carolina's lottery.

Lottery executives said it's difficult to avoid at least some time when a game continues to be sold after the biggest prize is gone. Here's how the two states handle it.

South Carolina lottery officials announce on their Web site that a game is ending when one top prize remains. (The games typically provide more than one of the biggest prizes.) Since it takes two to three weeks to collect all the tickets for a particular game from retailers across the state, a player often wins the top prize during that time. Some tickets may still be sold after that.

North Carolina's lottery team decides whether to end a game when the last top prize is claimed. Typically they start calling back those tickets, but they kept selling in two past games because the second-tier prizes were hefty amounts.

The two states, along with the rest of the nation's lotteries, are juggling the controversy. Lottery states haven't come to a consensus on when to yank back tickets, but legal action may force them to. A professor at Washington & Lee University filed suit against the Virginia lottery last month over the sale of tickets with no top prize.

Steve Copulsky of Charlotte occasionally buys a scratch ticket but says he's less inclined if somebody might have already won the largest award.

"If they say you can win $10,000 [on the ticket] or whatever amount, you should be able to win it," said Copulsky, co-owner of two Arby's restaurants. "It seems only fair. The odds are against you anyway."

Both North Carolina's and South Carolina's lottery Web pages include links to a list of remaining top prizes. Store clerks also can print out a list if a customer asks for one.

Even though the South Carolina lottery recalls tickets based on the availability of a top prize, director Ernie Passailaigue emphasized that other smaller prizes are sprinkled throughout the tickets, and players are happy to win them.

South Carolina's Legislative Audit Council scolded the lottery in a December 2005 report, saying the lottery sold nearly $20 million worth of scratch tickets for games in which the top prize had been won.

The lottery is still battling a lawsuit that began shortly after the report. Passailaigue said technology allows the staff to monitor tickets and prizes more closely now and recall tickets more quickly.

Shaheen, of the North Carolina lottery, said just as many players complain if a game ends before the secondary level of prizes have been won. That makes pulling tickets back a "difficult decision," he said.

Shaheen and his staff have opted to keep at least two games out for sale with no top prize because the games awarded large second-tier prizes.

The solution, Shaheen said, is to be up-front with players, providing information about top prizes through Web sites and retailers. Then buyers can make an informed choice.

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