RALEIGH – Starting Tuesday, Oct. 9, four new holiday-themed games will appear in stores offering big instant prizes and one $3 million second-chance prize. The instant tickets – called Holiday Millions, Greetings of Gold, Bah Humbucks and Merry Money! – carry colorful designs that add to the NCEL’s collection of games.

Holiday Millions is a $20 game with three top prizes of $1 million and more than $29 million in total prizes. To win a prize, players match one of their 20 numbers to any of eight potential winning numbers. Revealing an “ornament” symbol in the bonus area wins $100 instantly. Odds of winning a break-even prize are 1 in 2.94.

Players can enter their non-winning Holiday Millions tickets into a drawing for a chance to win $3 million, the largest second-chance prize the NCEL has ever offered. The date of the drawing has not been scheduled.

“Whoever wins a $1 million prize is sure to have a wonderful holiday,” said Alice Garland. “We hope people will enjoy playing and giving these tickets as gifts. We also remind players this season, as we do year-round, that you must be 18 years of age to play the lottery in North Carolina and lottery tickets should only be given to people who are old enough to play.”

The Greetings of Gold game offers players four chances to win the top prize of $100,000. Players who reveal a "gold bar" symbol win five times the prize shown, while a "candy cane" symbol wins the prize shown instantly. At $5 per ticket, Greetings of Gold game has more than $11.1 million in total prizes. Odds of winning a break-even prize are 1 in 3.97.

Bah Humbucks is a $2 game that features six top prizes of $25,000 and more than $5.4 million in total prizes. The game also has more than 76,000 prizes between $20 and $200. Players who reveal a red "$$" symbol win double the prize shown. Odds of winning a break-even prize are 1 in 4.58.

Merry Money! launches with more than $3 million in total prizes and eight top prizes of $2,000. Players win a cash prize by scratching off three like amounts. The $1 game features more than 56,000 prizes between $10 and $100. Odds of winning a breakeven prize are 1 in 4.67.

For more information about these new games, visit the NCEL’s website at www.nc-educationlottery.org.