North Carolina Pick 3 and Pick 4: Draw Times, Play Types and Prizes

North Carolina runs two daily digit games through the North Carolina Education Lottery (NCEL), Carolina Pick 3 and Carolina Pick 4. Both games share the same draw schedule, the same play types and the same optional Fireball add-on. This guide covers each one, using the official NCEL how-to-play pages. You must be 18 to play.

The basics

In Pick 3 you choose three numbers from 0 to 9. In Pick 4 you choose four. You can mark your own numbers or choose Quick Pick, which has the terminal randomly pick numbers for you.

Each play costs $0.50 or $1.00. The exceptions are 50/50 plays, which can only be played for $1.00, and Combo plays, which cost more depending on your numbers. Adding Fireball doubles the cost of the ticket. One play slip holds up to five sets of numbers.

The top prize in each game goes to matching all the winning numbers in the exact order drawn. Pick 3 has 1,000 possible numbers, so a straight (Exact) play has odds of 1 in 1,000. Pick 4 has 10,000 possible numbers, for odds of 1 in 10,000.

Draw times and sales cutoffs

North Carolina draws Pick 3 and Pick 4 twice a day:

• Daytime draw: approximately 3:00 p.m. Sales stop at 2:45 p.m. at retailers and 2:43 p.m. with Online Play.
• Evening draw: approximately 11:22 p.m. Sales stop at 11 p.m. at retailers and 10:58 p.m. with Online Play.

Online Play sales for the next draw resume immediately. Retail sales resume at approximately 3:01 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. You can choose day, evening or both. Picking both generates two separate tickets. For more on the two draws, see midday vs evening draws.

Live evening drawings air on WRAL Raleigh (ch. 5), WITN Greenville, New Bern & Washington (ch. 7), WAXN Charlotte (ch. 64), WGHP Winston-Salem, Greensboro & High Point (ch. 8) and WLOS Asheville (ch. 13).

Play types

North Carolina uses its own names for the standard plays. Here is how they line up:

• Exact: your numbers must match in the order drawn.
• Any Order: your numbers must match in any order. In Pick 3, a 3-Way has one repeated digit (like 112) and a 6-Way has three different digits (like 123). In Pick 4, there are 4-Way (4445), 6-Way (4455), 12-Way (4456) and 24-Way (4567).
• 50/50 (Exact/Any): combines Exact and Any Order. If your numbers match exactly, you win both prizes.
• Combo: an Exact play on every possible arrangement of your numbers, on one ticket.
• Pairs (Front or Back): pick two numbers that must match the first two or last two drawn, in exact order.

Our guide to ways to play Pick games explains these ideas in more depth.

Pick 3 prizes

Play	$0.50 play	$1 play	Odds 1 in
Exact	$250	$500	1,000
Any 3-Way	$80	$160	333.3
Any 6-Way	$40	$80	166.7
Front/Back Pair	$25	$50	100

A $1 50/50 play pays $330 (3-Way) or $290 (6-Way) for an exact match, or $80 / $40 for an any-order match. Combo costs $1.50 or $3 for a 3-Way and $3 or $6 for a 6-Way, and a winning combination pays $250 or $500.

Pick 4 prizes

Play	$0.50 play	$1 play	Odds 1 in
Exact	$2,500	$5,000	10,000
Any 4-Way	$600	$1,200	2,500
Any 6-Way	$400	$800	1,666.7
Any 12-Way	$200	$400	833.3
Any 24-Way	$100	$200	416.7
Front/Back Pair	$25	$50	100

A $1 50/50 play pays $3,100, $2,900, $2,700 or $2,600 for an exact match (4-Way, 6-Way, 12-Way, 24-Way), or the Any prize for an any-order match. Combo costs $2/$4, $3/$6, $6/$12 or $12/$24 depending on your numbers, and a winning combination pays $2,500 or $5,000.

How Fireball works

After each Pick 3 and Pick 4 draw, North Carolina draws a Fireball number. If you add Fireball, it replaces each drawn number in turn to create new combinations: three in Pick 3, four in Pick 4. Your own numbers never change. Fireball wins are separate from, and in addition to, any base game wins, and one play can win more than once.

Fireball prizes are lower than base prizes. For a $1 base play, a Fireball Exact win pays $180 in Pick 3 and $1,350 in Pick 4. A Pair win pays $18 in Pick 3 and $14 in Pick 4. Remember that Fireball doubles your ticket cost. Read more in Fireball explained.

Handy extras

• Multidraw: play up to 7 consecutive day draws, evening draws or both.
• Advance Play: choose specific future draw days. Retail only.
• Canceling: a retailer can cancel a ticket within 15 minutes of purchase or before the draw break, whichever comes first. Online Play tickets cannot be canceled.
• Repeat Play: a retailer can scan an existing ticket to replay it within 30 days.

A quick reminder

Every draw is random. No play type, add-on or set of numbers changes that. Treat Pick 3 and Pick 4 as entertainment, and if you win, check out how to claim a lottery prize. You can also compare games on our Pick 3 and Pick 4 pages.