Lottery players in North Carolina will soon be able to buy their tickets at their favorite Harris Teeter store.

Tickets go on sale at five Harris Teeter stores this week and plans are to roll out ticket sales at all 126 Harris Teeter stores across the state after successful implementations at the first locations.

Customers will buy their lottery tickets at lottery vending machines known as Lottery To Go, or LTG machines, in the stores.

Tickets for all games offered by the Education Lottery will be available through the self-service machines, including instant scratch-off games, Powerball, Mega Millions, Carolina Cash 5, Carolina Pick 4 and Carolina Pick 3, and the Cash Splash Raffle.

The machines do not accept money or dispense tickets until the buyers scan their driver's licenses to verify that they are 18 years old or older. A bar code scanner on the machines scans driver's licenses and tickets.

"We're glad to add Harris Teeter stores to our base of retailers across the state," said Alice Garland, acting executive director of the N.C. Education Lottery. "Having LTG machines in Harris Teeter stores will provide convenient ways for customers to buy lottery tickets and should boost our return for education in North Carolina."

Harris Teeter stores in Virginia and Maryland already sell lottery tickets.

Lottery players can use the LTG machines to buy "Quick Pick" tickets for Powerball, Mega Millions and Carolina Cash 5. They must use play slips to play their own numbers on Powerball, Mega Millions or Cash 5, or to purchase a Pick 4 or Pick 3 ticket. The machines do not sell 50-cent tickets for Pick 4 or Pick 3 games.

As at other lottery retail locations, players can claim prizes of up to $599 at the stores.

Players can return to the store to use the bar code scanner to determine if they won prizes with their Powerball, Mega Millions, Carolina Cash 5, Carolina Pick 4 or Carolina Pick 3 tickets, but they must validate their winning tickets at a lottery terminal at the customer service desk or at NCEL headquarters in Raleigh.

Net proceeds from the lottery are used for pre-kindergarten programs for at-risk 4-year-olds, reduction of class size in early grades, school construction and need-based college scholarships.