In Karafa v. New Jersey State Lottery, 129 N.J. Super. 499, 324 A.2d 97 (Ch.Div.1974), the Lottery Commission refused to pay a claim to a person who alleged that he had purchased a winning lottery ticket. There, six or seven people observed plaintiff with the winning ticket, which was worth $ 50,000. The plaintiff gave the ticket to his mother for safekeeping. The plaintiff's mother inadvertently discarded the winning ticket with a batch of old, worthless tickets. The director of New Jersey's lottery rejected plaintiff's claim because he could not produce the ticket. In upholding the Lottery Commission's refusal to pay on the ticket, the court relied upon N.J.S.A. 5:9-7(a)(5), a statute containing language nearly identical to N.J.A.C. 13:70-29.13(c). The statute authorized the Lottery Commission to promulgate regulations dictating the conditions for the payment of prizes "to the holders of winning tickets." The court found that this statutory language indicated a legislative intent to restrict payment to persons who physically possessed the ticket and that the Lottery Commission's promulgation of a regulation mandating possession was consistent with this intent. Karafa, supra, 129 N.J. Super. at 502-03, 324 A.2d 97. The court explained that the clear legislative purpose was to keep the administrative machinery geared for the payment of winnings as simple and as efficient as possible. That machinery was not to become bogged down in the resolution of claims, conflicting or otherwise, in the event of misplaced, lost or destroyed tickets. The procedure simply calls for the production of the winning ticket. Unless that is done, payment cannot be made. Ibid. at 504, 324 A.2d 97