Keep it fun, keep it safe

March 1, 2019 Posted by NC Lottery at 10:21 AM

If you’re superstitious, you might be wearing green during the month of March and trying your luck. We hope you find some, but we also want you to be careful, especially when you’re chasing your lottery dreams.

March isn’t just about celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, it’s also Problem Gambling Awareness Month. It’s dedicated to helping people understand problem gambling and making them aware of the help that is available. For the next four weeks, we’re going to help you understand how our games work, so you have the information to make smart decisions when you play.

We want you to have fun playing our games, but that only happens if you play responsibly. Before you buy your tickets, here are some things to keep in mind.

TIPS FOR RESPONSIBLE PLAY:

Know the risks before you play: Learn the odds of winning each game and how many prizes are left.
Pay your bills before playing: Don’t buy lottery tickets with money that should be going to take care of life’s necessities.
Set limits on how much you play: Stop playing when you reach that amount.
Play the lottery for fun: If playing starts to be stressful, it’s a good indicator that it’s time to take a break.

If you or someone you know is affected by problem gambling, there is help available. You can call or text the problem gambling helpline 24 hours a day.

Text morethanagamenc to 53342.
Call toll-free at (877) 718-5543.

Remember, it only takes one ticket to win.

17 COMMENTS

4/04/2019 12:30 - PETERSON N.

I have a problem with playing online I don’t why I can’t play if I’m not connected to WiFi If I’m not home and tried to play keep asking me to confirm my phone number it saying phone number invalid for every phone number I triedNC Lottery
Hey Peterson, Sorry to hear you're having trouble playing online. Please give our online support team a call at 855-767-1863 to see if they can't help you figure this out.

3/16/2019 09:37 - William A.

How about raising the limit on buying tickets off this site. When powerball and Mega millions are up I like to buy at least 30 dollars a draw and I’m at the limit by the middle of the week sometimes.

3/07/2019 11:06 - Brianna N.

When will we find out what four people won the romantic riches drawing NC Lottery
Hi Brianna, We typically notify winners within 48 hours of the draw day. Since the Romantic Riches drawing took place yesterday, winners can expect to receive an email by the end of the day on Friday.

3/06/2019 07:14 - William A.

Tatiana, I never complained about the money and if you play the odds you have a better chance by buying more tickets. I have won10k twice in other states. I travel a lot and scratch up and down the east coast.I also go to Vegas 4 or5 times a year. I know it’s gambling but when you scratch as much as I do you get a feel of the run on tickets. I never buy $1,$2,$5 tickets because the odds are so bad. I only buy $10,$20, and $30 tickets and buy them two at a time or not at all. I don’t buy many rolls but 2or3 times a year I’ll pick up a roll and spend another 1k a year on this site buying powerball and cash five. Thanks for your opinion.

3/05/2019 01:22 - Paul A.

Surprised the taxes paid game closed without paying out the last top prize. Can’t really have a chance when the prize aren’t even paid out. That game wasn’t so good. NC Lottery
Hey Paul, There are several reasons why a game might be ended. If all the top prizes have been claimed, we will end a game, but, if the game is no longer popular with our players or we have similar games planned, our team might also make the decision to end a game.

3/04/2019 08:22 - ERIC T.

Ricky S I completely agree with what you are saying cause I have done the same thing that you did and only won a few dollars like the rest and speaking of new tickets I had bought some of the new ones for this Tuesday and I can't believe that you can spend $100.00 on the new tickets and only won $7.00 back SMH where is the bigger payouts I have yet to win a big payout everyone says it's all luck but if it's luck then how every ticket I scratched had corresponding numbers on it I mean almost the entire ticket was like it was counting forwards from 1-40 I had 10,11,12,14,and 15 and guess what was the winning number 13 I mean that's ridiculous. I have the same luck as everyone but it seems like my luck has hit rock bottom.I bet if I left this state to go to another state I would win a big payout might be considering doing that

3/04/2019 03:30 - Tatiana D.

William, I am sorry for giving you unasked for advice. But just think-what if you would save the money that you spent on scratching tickets? That would amount to a lot more than a few thousand dollars that you won. The odds are definitely not in our favor. This is a game of chance. I don't think that buying rolls of tickets is the right way to play this game. Please, play responsibly, and you will not have to worry about the odds. And that is what NCEL encourages players to do-to play responsibly and to remember that this is just a game.

3/03/2019 09:02 - James J.

Ricky S that's put into words better then the first reply for sure. I agree with your statement as well. Something else I don't understand is alot of times when a new scratcher comes out with let's say 4 top prize wins someone always wins in like the first few days. Kinda takes the fun out of it. NCEL should not put a top prize winning ticket in the mix so soon.

3/03/2019 07:12 - Bonnie H.

I love to play but just guess i'm one of the unlucky ones been playing for years , never won anything over a few dollars and don't guess i ever will

3/03/2019 03:27 - greg s.

the odds on the scratch tickets are correct when tickets first come out.when lottery ends game that is when odds become miscalculated. extreme millions got pulled with 3 1 mill. prizes left and many other $ amounts and the 2nd chance drawing was going on and you could not buy an extreme ticket since they were pulled. lottery needs to change way games end so odds are correct. also some core games are reprinted and these are shuffled in and old ones not picked up so odds on these cannot be correct! I am a statistics and numbers geek so I know odds cannot be correct the way lottery is operating scratch tickets

3/03/2019 11:15 - Ricky S.

3/01/2019 06:49 - JAMES J. Ricky S. I'm not sure about that. Every five dollar ticket I have purchased I have won at least five dollars on. That makes absolutely no sense to just have one dollar win? Sure you didnt win $10 or more? JamesJ, you didn't understand what I wrote. The $1.00 amount was under the 20X symbol meaning I won $20.00. The point is to just winning $20 on a 20X symbol is a slap in the face twice for me and kills the motivation.

3/03/2019 06:58 - William A.

That’s a good one! Learn the odds. The first thing you should know about the Lottery is the odds are not right. And they will even tell you that. It’s the over all run! Yea Right! I have scratched over 50k in tickets since the lottery started and can tell you for a fact the odds on the back of those tickets are not right! Now they will tell you it’s the overall run but I travel and it’s the same all over this state.I think a state official should have to do the same ride around by thousands of tickets and see if the odds are close. They are not! Now I have won a thousand dollars 5 times but have bought several rolls and never once made more than half my money back on a roll not the stated 61% return promised. I still try to get lucky but know the truth the chances of getting half your money back is real slim.

3/02/2019 12:50 - Michael M.

What are the total entries for both the extreme millions second chance and 10,000 Lucke rewards drawings on the 8th? And Ricky. That’s still a $15 profit. I never see those 20X or even 2X symbols when I play. If you don’t like the new games just pick another one that you do like. You can always look up the actual prizes on the specific game page. They show the prizes that haven’t been claimed yet, so you can decide if it is worth playing beforehand. Plus they have to make a lot of losing tickets to be able to afford to make the big winners. If it’s still not fun, at least decrease the amount you play by a substantial amount. I do better when I play spontaneously rather than being scheduled weekly. I spend less too.NC Lottery
Here are the entry totals, Michael: Extreme Millions has 456,229 entries and the Romantic Riches drawing has 2,247,450 entries.

3/02/2019 06:09 - nc s.

Where was the winning Cash 5 quick pick for 3/01/19 sold? NC Lottery
Lucky ticket purchased at the Speedway on West Franklin Street in Gastonia.

3/01/2019 07:54 - Tatiana D.

Ricky, I completely agree with what you say. Just yesterday got $5 multiply the cash scratch off. Got a X10 symbol and got excited. Well, there was $2.00 under this symbol. It is nice to win, but it seems like they print soooo many non-winning tickets.

3/01/2019 06:49 - James J.

Ricky S. I'm not sure about that. Every five dollar ticket I have purchased I have won at least five dollars on. That makes absolutely no sense to just have one dollar win? Sure you didnt win $10 or more?

3/01/2019 10:48 - Ricky S.

Buying N.C. used to be fun but not anymore. A gazilloin of each now have been printed up to increase sales and lower payout. And what's the trill of buying a five dollar 20X scratch off just to find out once you are lucky enough to get that symbol that the prize amount under the symbol is only $1.00. That has happened to me twice now. If you were to poll the people who buy scratch offs, 99% of them would tell you that prize amount under symbol should START at the cost of that ticket. In other words the prize amount under the 20X symbol should start at $5.00 and not $1.00 being that that was a five dollar scratch off. Same should go for all of them. You would be amazed how much sales increases would jump if logic would be put in place.

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Keep it fun, keep it safe

March 1, 2019 Posted by NC Lottery at 10:21 AM