The New Hampshire Lottery is introducing new scratch tickets that capitalize on our collective obsession with zombies, and local excitement over the New England Patriots.
Available as of Aug. 25:
$2 Walking Dead AMC scratch ticket – Top Prize $20,000. Find the letters “RIP” and win the prize shown. Find the word “DEAD” and win 10-times the prize shown.
$2 for a Lucky 13 scratch ticket – Win up to $20,000 by matching any of your numbers to either Lucky Number and win the prize shown for that number. Reveal a #13 and win double the prize shown.
$5 for a Patriots 2014 scratch ticket – $100,000 top prize. Match any of your numbers to any of the winning numbers and win the prize shown for that number. Get a “GOAL” symbol and win that prize automatically. Get a “TOUCH DOWN” symbol and win all 15 prizes automatically.
Click here for official rules.
While not everyone supports state lottery activities, according to the NH Lottery website, a portion of the money spent by consumers on lottery tickets still supports education. Since 1964, that equals more than $1.5 billion in education dollars, according to this NH Lottery yearly revenue chart, most recently updated in 2013.
Total adjusted revenue over the lottery’s 50-year history here: $5.1 billion.
Interesting to note that, historically, there was one year (1965) when more than half the annual lottery earnings went toward education funding (54 percent) and since then, the amount that supports education has gradually and consistently gone down to about 26 percent.
Here’s the current breakdown of where the money goes:
62 percent: Prize payouts
26 percent: To New Hampshire schools
6 percent: Retailer commissions
3 percent: Other cost of sales
3 percent: Administrative expenses
Fun fact: NH Lottery was the first in the nation; now 43 states, plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, all offer state-run lottery games.