RALEIGH, N.C. – The most expensive scratch game in North Carolina now costs customers $5 a ticket, but come this November, players will be able to play “the kind of pricey scratch-off game that has helped boost game revenues nationwide,” reports the Charlotte Observer.

North Carolina Lottery Executive Director Tom Shaheen told the newspaper that $10 games will kick off in November, noting that neighboring states already sell $10 scratch-off tickets.

“We have an unusual situation where we have a lottery on every border,” said Shaheen, adding, “People are very familiar with lotteries, and we have people asking every day, ‘When are you going to have this type of stuff?’”

The newspaper notes that in South Carolina, $10 games have been top sellers since their 2004 debut with top prices reaching $1 million, “a more lucrative purse than the usual sub-$5,000 prize on a $1 scratch-off.” This year South Carolina’s lottery revenues have increased 20 percent, which is mostly attributed to the $10 games.

While North Carolina has “no definitive plans for its $10 game,” Shaheen noted that the top prize will exceed the $100,000 currently offered to $5 ticket winners.

“Many people see it as an investment,” Philip Cook, lottery expert and public policy professor at Duke University, told the newspaper, adding, “They believe you have to spend money to make money. But to get people to spend that much, the prize needs to be something more life changing--especially to get more affluent players.”