This week, on the first anniversary of both the N.C. Education Lottery and the Problem Gambling Helpline, some handy advice for lottery players:
Helpline counselors can't answer questions about your scratch-off card. They've got zero experience with the Tic Tac Twos game. And no, they don't have the winning Powerball numbers.
There has been, you see, some confusion.
When North Carolina debuted its education lottery last March, it also launched a telephone referral service for people seeking help with problem gambling. The 24-hour phone number -- 877-718-5543 -- is printed on every lottery ticket and scratch card and repeated on TV and radio ads.
But most callers -- as many as 85 percent -- haven't sought help with problem gambling. Instead, they've called with questions about how to play -- for example, how many boxes to scratch off the BlackJack card.
In February, the helpline got about 300 calls. More than 250 were screened out as not having a gambling problem. This despite the fact that lottery tickets and scratch cards display both the phone number for player questions and the number to call "if you or anyone you know has a gambling problem."
But Smith Worth, director of the N.C. Problem Gambling Program, is at peace with the situation. Other state lotteries report the same problem, she says.
And she's pleased North Carolina's new resource is helping some people with gambling addictions, most of whom likely had problems that predated the lottery. Addicts usually don't get hooked initially on lottery tickets, but on other types of gambling, such as sports betting, video poker or Internet games, she says.
Worth is also sleeping better these days, ever since the state outsourced its 24-hour helpline to a Chicago-based company at an annual cost of $23,820. Until October, she had fielded most queries -- hundreds of them -- herself.
"I got awakened right much during the initial few months," she says.
And what was the urgent question that often disturbed her slumber: Where can I buy a lottery ticket?
Lottery Numbers
Problem Gambling Helpline: 877-718-5543. Call anytime if you or someone you know has a gambling problem.
For information about lottery games: 877-962-7529, 8 a.m.- 5:30 p.m. weekdays. Or www.nc-education lottery.org.
Helpline counselors can't answer questions about your scratch-off card. They've got zero experience with the Tic Tac Twos game. And no, they don't have the winning Powerball numbers.
There has been, you see, some confusion.
When North Carolina debuted its education lottery last March, it also launched a telephone referral service for people seeking help with problem gambling. The 24-hour phone number -- 877-718-5543 -- is printed on every lottery ticket and scratch card and repeated on TV and radio ads.
But most callers -- as many as 85 percent -- haven't sought help with problem gambling. Instead, they've called with questions about how to play -- for example, how many boxes to scratch off the BlackJack card.
In February, the helpline got about 300 calls. More than 250 were screened out as not having a gambling problem. This despite the fact that lottery tickets and scratch cards display both the phone number for player questions and the number to call "if you or anyone you know has a gambling problem."
But Smith Worth, director of the N.C. Problem Gambling Program, is at peace with the situation. Other state lotteries report the same problem, she says.
And she's pleased North Carolina's new resource is helping some people with gambling addictions, most of whom likely had problems that predated the lottery. Addicts usually don't get hooked initially on lottery tickets, but on other types of gambling, such as sports betting, video poker or Internet games, she says.
Worth is also sleeping better these days, ever since the state outsourced its 24-hour helpline to a Chicago-based company at an annual cost of $23,820. Until October, she had fielded most queries -- hundreds of them -- herself.
"I got awakened right much during the initial few months," she says.
And what was the urgent question that often disturbed her slumber: Where can I buy a lottery ticket?
Lottery Numbers
Problem Gambling Helpline: 877-718-5543. Call anytime if you or someone you know has a gambling problem.
For information about lottery games: 877-962-7529, 8 a.m.- 5:30 p.m. weekdays. Or www.nc-education lottery.org.
