A $1 million raffle ticket was sold in Smithfield, and a $100,000 winner was purchased in Holly Springs, state lottery officials announced Thursday night.

The unidentified winners were among four $1 million winners and five $100,000 winners in the state's Merry Millionaire contest, the N.C. Education Lottery's second raffle. More than 368,000 players began checking their tickets at 6 p.m. Thursday to see whether they had won.

According to lottery officials, the $1 million tickets were sold at:

* Zodiac Pawn Shop in Smithfield, No. 276,495

* Wilco Station 1824 in Williamston, No. 138,405

* Scotchman Stores No. 99 in Sanford, No. 206,355

* Topsail Exxon in Hampstead, No. 214,953.

The $100,000 winners were sold at:

* Lowes Foods No. 215, Wilmington, No. 015119

* Liberty Street Newsstand, Winston-Salem, No. 021,665

* Food Lion No. 938, Holly Springs, No. 026,748

* D & J Food Mart, Reidsville, No. 178,297

* Rose Mart No. 14, Wilson, 223,999

Lottery officials are wondering why the raffle didn't sell out and what they can do to goose sales for any future raffle games.

The holiday-themed game was the second raffle offered by the state lottery. Players bought $20 tickets from a limited pool. The first raffle sold out before the drawing. This time, the "Merry Millionaire Raffle" featured more prizes, weekly bonus drawings and the dream of a $1 million prize at some of the best odds the state lottery will ever offer.

But when ticket sales closed early Thursday morning, only 368,462 of the half-million tickets had sold. For players, that meant better odds, though still quite a long shot. For the lottery, it meant the game will raise about $1 million, less than a third of what a sold-out game would have raised.

And it meant continuing sluggish sales, just when lottery officials had hoped to celebrate a pickup in ticket purchases.

"Of course, we would have liked it to sell out," said lottery director Tom Shaheen. "Anything that can generate some sales and help us raise money for education, we're going to offer to the public."

The odds of winning a $1 million prize were about one in 92,115. Of the tickets sold, 365,945 will not win anything.

To win, ticket numbers must match exactly and in sequence. In addition to the big payouts, ticket holders also can win $5,000, $1,000 or $100. Winning numbers in those categories had not been announced late Thursday.

A complete list of winning numbers, claim instructions and other information can be found at the lottery's Web site, www.nc-educationlottery.org.