North Carolina Lottery General Information

North Carolina Lotteries Drawing Days and Times

The following table lists the drawing schedule of all North Carolina lottery games. Drawing times are local and approximate.

North Carolina Lottery Games - Types, Top Prizes, Odds

The following is a compact summary of each North Carolina lottery game. It includes a brief description of how to play a game, the top prizes/jackpots, and the odds of winning the top prize. You can click on a game name for detailed information.

Top prizes listed with "rollover" are the starting amount. The Jackpot prizes will grow after every draw until someone wins. Pari-mutuel prize structure means players' winnings are determined by dividing the prize pool allocated for that winning category by the number of winners.

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North Carolina Lottery General Rules and Regulations

The following are the most prominent rules and regulations that the player should be aware of before playing the North Carolina lottery games.

• North Carolina Lottery players must be 18 years of age or older.
• You cannot use a credit card to purchase lottery tickets. Acceptable forms of payment include cash, check, debit card, and gift card at the retailer's discretion.
• North Carolina Education Lottery tickets must be purchased at a retailer under contract with the Lottery. In addition, federal law and postal regulations do not allow an unplayed lottery ticket to be mailed across state lines.
• If you lose your ticket, anyone can claim it. A ticket is a bearer instrument until signed. Unless you sign the ticket, anyone else who has the ticket can claim the prize.
• The North Carolina Lottery is not responsible for lost or stolen tickets. Tickets are void and will not be paid if determined stolen, unissued, illegible, mutilated, altered in whole or part, misregistered, defective, incomplete, printed or produced in error, multiply-printed.
• Please see also the following pages:
  North Carolina Online Ticket Game Rules
  North Carolina Lottery Player Tips
  General FAQ page
  

Claiming Prizes of the North Carolina Lottery

Here are the steps you have to follow if you are a lucky winner of any North Carolina lottery,

• Winning tickets must be claimed within 180 days of the winning draw date on the ticket.
• Prizes with a value of less than $600, including free tickets, can be collected at any NCEL retailer or Regional Office.
• Prizes with a value between $600 and $99,999.99 must be claimed at NCEL headquarters, any NCEL Regional Office or by mail using a NCEL prize claim form.
• Prizes of $100,000 or more must be claimed in person at NCEL headquarters.
• For all prizes of $600 and above photo I.D. and proof of Social Security number is required.
• Prize winnings are subject to mandatory Federal and State tax as well as other State withholdings.
• For further information, please see the North Carolina lottery How to Claim Prizes page.

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Where do the North Carolina Lottery profits go?

Under the current allocation, 58 percent of lottery revenues is paid out in prizes, 30 percent is transferred to the Education Lottery Fund to be distributed to the education programs that the lottery serves, 7 percent is paid in commissions to retailers for the lottery tickets they sell and 5 percent goes for gaming expenses, advertising and marketing, and other administrative costs.

The Lottery Act originally designated that 50 percent of net proceeds go to pay for teacher salaries in grades K-3 and the former More at Four program, 40 percent to counties for school construction projects and 10 percent for college scholarships based on financial need. The legislature, however, can adjust that allocation each year in the state budget.

More information can be found here

Information on Each North Carolina Lottery Game

Further information on each North Carolina lottery lottery game such as how to play, how to win, prizes, etc., is available on this site at the following pages.

• North Carolina Lottery Pick 3 Info
• North Carolina Lottery Pick 4 Info
• North Carolina Lottery Cash 5 Info
• Mega Millions Info
• Powerball Info

US-Lotteries.com is not in any way affiliated with the North Carolina Lottery. The information listed here is just a summary of important facts extracted from North Carolina Lottery web site. The main purpose of US-Lotteries.com is to present statistics and analysis of winning numbers, plus, online tools and calculators such as wheels and combinations generators. Click below to see the contents of the tools available for each game.

Pick 3     Pick 4     Cash 5     Mega Millions     Powerball

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