The Ice Classic is a gigantic betting pool cash prizes to the lucky winners who guess the time, to the nearest minute, of the ice breakup of the Tanana River at the town of Nenana. In 2005, The Tanana River officially went out on April 28, 2005 at 12:01 pm Alaska Standard Time. There were 46 winning tickets. Each had the exact month, day, hour and minute that the ice moved out. The total purse was $285,000.00.

Official breakup time each spring is established when the surging ice dislodges a tripod and breaks an attached line, which stops a clock. This lottery began in 1917 when a group of surveyors working for the Alaska Railroad whiled the time they spent waiting for the river to open and boats with supplies to reach them by forming a betting pool. Interest in the pool continued, and spread through Alaska. This lottery has paid out nearly $10 million in prize money with the winning pool in recent years being near $300,000.

The Ice Classic is a statewide lottery, which was officially sanctioned by the first state legislature in one of its first actions in 1959. Fifty percent of the gross proceeds go to the winners. Nenana residents are paid salaries for ticket counting and compilation, and about 15% is ear marked for upkeep of the Nenana Civic Center and as donations to local groups such as the Dog Mushers and the Visitors Center.

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