The signs say it all: Play Here.

After years of watching players take their millionaire dreams — and spending money — across state borders, North Carolinians will start playing their own lottery today.

At 6 a.m. in Raleigh, State Board of Education Chairman Howard Lee will buy the ceremonial first ticket of the N.C. Education Lottery. Lottery retailers throughout the state will start selling tickets to four scratch-off games at that time.

The state has sent more than 50 million tickets to about 5,000 stores. Another 50 million or so are waiting in a Raleigh warehouse.

If things go smoothly, lottery officials want to launch other instant winner games within weeks. Powerball, the country's largest gambling prize, will be available at N.C. stores by late May.

But lottery fans and critics will wait months to get answers to questions that made the lottery a hot-button issue for more than 20 years.

No one knows whether the state can meet its goal of selling $1.2 billion worth of tickets in a year's time. That would mean about $400 million for N.C. schools. And it's not certain that schools will end up with more money than they would have gotten from the state anyway.

Tom Shaheen, who moved from New Mexico to North Carolina to run the lottery, said long lines at convenience stores today would be an early sign of success. But answers to long-term questions will be more important.

"There's no real gauge about what makes a successful lottery, other than public opinion," Shaheen said.

N.C. Senate Minority Leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, who voted against it, said, "Time will tell whether the lottery will live up to the expectations which have been created."

North Carolina is the 42nd state to launch a lottery, the last on the East Coast. The state has spent more than $6 million to help Shaheen set up a 163-employee agency in three months. Shaheen will get his own reward — a $50,000 bonus with the launch of the lottery.

The state will hold celebrations in several major N.C. cities today and throughout the weekend. But part of the game's success will be measured in small towns that dot the state's borders with South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

Lottery supporters finally got lawmakers to back the game by arguing N.C. ticket buyers were spending up to $400 million on tickets in other states. That was tantamount to giving $100 million to fund other states' schools, they argued.

Now that the decision is past and the tickets printed, it's in everyone's interest that the lottery succeed, said Rep. Tim Moore, R-Cleveland. He voted against the lottery but now plans to sell tickets in his Black Mountain store.

"We should always want what we do in the legislature to be in the best interest of the state — and to work," he said.

How They'll Work

Here's a look at the first four N.C. lottery games:

Carolina Cash

The ticket buyer gets 15 numbers. If they match any of the four "winning numbers" on the ticket, the buyer wins the prize shown.

• Ticket cost: $5
• Odds of winning any prize: 1 in 3.75
• Top prize: $100,000

Blackjack

The game simulates blackjack at a casino. If any of the ticket buyer's 10 "hands" outranks the dealer's two cards, the buyer wins the prize marked.

• Ticket cost: $2
• Odds of winning any prize: 1 in 4.8
• Top prize: $21,000

N.C. Education Lottery Tickets

The tickets contain images of the Cape Hatteras lighthouse, a dogwood tree, a cardinal or Fairfield Lake in Jackson County. Players rub off the ticket to reveal six prize amounts. If three of the amounts are the same, the player wins.

• Ticket cost: $1
• Odds of winning a prize: 1 in 4.6
• Top prize: $5,000

Tic Tac Toe

If three prizes line up horizontally, vertically or diagonally, the player wins the amount marked in the "prize" box.

• Ticket cost: $1
• Odds of winning a prize: 1 in 4.9
• Top prize: $5,000

Where's the Party?