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A new ad from the state lottery urges problem gamblers to get help.

The spot features animations depicting lottery, card and slot games. Lottery Executive Director Tom Shaheen provides the voice over.

"It can be a lot of fun, but when you play too often the fun can quickly fade," Shaheen says.  The ad concludes by encouraging anyone who is playing too much to call the problem gambling help line at 877-718-5543.

The ad is the only one the lottery is running this week, which is National Problem Gambling Awareness Week, said Pam Walker, a spokeswoman for the lottery. The spot costs $21,465 to produce. It replaces last year's spot in which Shaheen used hot sauce as a metaphor for problem gambling.

In 2009, the help line received more than 7,132 calls in 2009, according to a report released to Dome by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. Of those, 576 were reporting problem gambling. 

Of those, 45 percent (260) called after seeing the number on the back of a lottery ticket and 186 or 43 percent said their primary problem activity was the lottery. Video poker and slot machines were the second and third, respectively, most cited problem activities.

A bill to allow bigger raffle jackpots is headed to Gov. Beverly Perdue.

Sponsored by first-term Republican Rep. Justin Burr of Stanly County, the bill would allow charitable causes in North Carolina to give out bigger jackpots.

The maximum prize for cash or merchandise in a calendar year would increase from $50,000 to $125,000.

It also allows tax-exempt organizations to offer houses and real estate worth up to $500,000.

Burr said the bill would help charities generate more funds when their services are needed most in the current economy. (AP) 

* A fire broke out at CaptiveAire in Youngsville, a commercial ventilation company owned by Republican charter school proponent Bob Luddy.

* Gov. Beverly Perdue's first "State of the State" address on Monday will be broadcast on UNC-TV's digital channel and online on the governor's Web site.

* An ad featuring Tom Shaheen of the N.C. Education Lottery will begin airing soon as part of a week devoted to problem gambling. 

* Democratic pollster Tom Jensen notes that one percent of registered voters are Hispanic, though they are seven percent of the population.

After former House Speaker Jim Black revealed he once accepted a half-million dollar loan from a video poker lobbyist in 2000, a sardonic joke made its way around the capital:

Jim Black asked Don Beason for a $500,000 loan. No problem, Beason replied, but it'll have to be in quarters.

The loan was no joke, however. The revelation effectively ended Beason's lobbying career, and state investigators are still looking into the circumstances of the loan and Beason's ties to video poker.

As a contract lobbyist, Beason had a wide variety of clients, but few as long-term as video poker. From 1993 to 2000, he represented the N.C. Amusement Machine Association, a video poker operators group. His son, Mark, also lobbied on its behalf from 1999 to 2002.

Beason lobbied for a wide variety of gambling interests, advocating for riverboat gambling in Wilmington, the creation of a state lottery as well as video poker. In 2001 and 2002, he also represented the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe, a Indian nation in Oklahoma that runs casinos.

After the jump, a look into state newspaper archives.

Video poker machines across North Carolina went dark Sunday.

Thousands of the devices became illegal thanks to a ban on the devices passed by state legislators a year ago, but that doesn't mean that gambling is dying out.

Instead, as operators point out, casinos, sweepstakes phone cards and the state lottery are expanding.

"What's done is done, and there is no talk about sour grapes," said Fred Ayers, a Greensboro operator who owns hundreds of the machines and is president of the state Amusement Machine Association. "But we would like the state to look at us in a different light, especially given all the gambling ... going on." (N&O)

There will still be video poker machines at Harrah's Cherokee Casino. (AC-T) Law enforcement officials say that it's inevitable that a few other machines will still be used surreptiously. (AP)

Most will end up in Virginia or Tennessee, where video poker is legal. (W-SJ)