ALPHARETTA -- Three years after being elected on a promise to bring a lottery to South Carolina, Gov. Jim Hodges scratched off the state's first ticket Monday.

The tickets, produced by Scientific Games International in suburban Atlanta, will go on sale Jan. 7 at 3,700 retailers across the Palmetto state.

"It was a thrill to me to actually hold the tickets in my hand," Hodges said. "We've talked about it for so long, seeing that really makes it real."

The lottery, modeled closely after Georgia's, will raise money for the South Carolina HOPE scholarship, which will pay $2000 a year for four years at a state college.

In addition to helping college students, the ticket sales may financially help gas stations, family-owned businesses and chain stores, some of which took a hit after video poker was banned in 2000.

"The lottery is going to be fun," said John C.B. Smith, chairman of the South Carolina Education Lottery Commission. "People in South Carolina are going to be very proud of what this will do for education."

The state had planned to offer number-picking games beginning in March, but that could be delayed. State lottery experts estimate weekly jackpots of $1 million, or less frequent jackpots of about $10 million for in-state numbers games.

Whether South Carolina participates in multistate games such as Powerball and The Big Game, is also up in the air. With those games, jackpots could reach $300 million.

Hodges has encouraged lawmakers to create legislation allowing the state to join multistate games. He said economic forecasts for the lottery show less revenue for scholarships and free technical college tuition without them.

Opponents have expressed concern that the state would lose control of its lottery if it entered into a contract with other states.

Lottery officials aren't sure how the economic slowdown and Sept 11 attacks are going to affect ticket sales. Through the end of September, SGI, which prints lottery tickets for 60 countries and the majority of stae lotteries, hasn't seen any change in sales.

"We're selling a dream when you buy a ticket," said Cliff Bickell, president of SG Printed Products. "It's a cheap dream -- $1 or $2."