Nebraska Lottery Tickets Make Great Gifts, If You’re At Least 19
November 30, 2009 – During the holiday season, and throughout the year, the Nebraska Lottery is suggesting tickets as a gift option for those hard-to-buy-for individuals on your list.
Lottery Director, Jim Haynes, has something to add to that: “We always encourage players to play responsibly, and we ask them to give responsibly as well. Nebraska Lottery tickets are a great gift idea, but they should only be given to recipients who are at least 19 years of age.”
By law, Nebraska Lottery tickets may only be purchased and redeemed by persons who are 19 years or older.
Three different Nebraska Lottery Scratch games feature a holiday theme: $1 Season’s Greetings, which can be used as a gift tag; $3 The Dog, which features dogs with a holiday look; and $5 Peppermint Twist Big Bingo, which is a bingo game with a candy cane look.
Haynes noted that each ticket, whether Scratch or Lotto, carries the minimum age (19) reminder, and the same message appears on all in-store signage as well as in broadcast and print advertising. He added that the signage for the holiday games features The Dog game and in addition to the message that the minimum age is 19 includes the notation that 19 equates to “133 in dog years.”
“Pets are often a popular look for games, and The Dog is a unique look for a holiday game,” Haynes said. “No matter how clever or attractive a game may be, it should only be given to individuals who are of legal age to play (19), and adding the “dog years” reference is one way to make that point.”
A total of $357,072,925 has been distributed among Nebraska Lottery beneficiary programs in quarterly transfers since operations began on September 11, 1993.
Amendment 4 passed by Nebraska voters in November of 2004 established the following distribution formula:
- Education as directed by the Legislature (44.5 percent) - currently divided between the Education Innovation Fund and Nebraska Scholarship Fund;
- Nebraska Environmental Trust Fund (44.5 percent);
- Nebraska State Fair (10 percent);
- Compulsive Gamblers Assistance Fund (1 percent, plus the first $500,000 in fund proceeds each fiscal year).
The funds' respective totals to date are:
Education Innovation Fund, $125,377,718;
Nebraska Scholarship Fund, $39,718,498;
Nebraska Environmental Trust Fund, $146,635,217;
Nebraska State Fair Support and Improvement Fund, $13,409,766; and
Compulsive Gamblers Assistance Fund, $8,470,730.
Every county in Nebraska has benefited from projects funded by Nebraska Lottery proceeds.
Published on 11/30/2009