Do You Scratch Off Everything On A Lottery Ticket

Just about everyone is familiar with the concept of the lottery, especially the big drawings that are held daily or every few days anyway. You select some numbers and hope to match them up to the ones that are drawn at random.

The odds of winning are included on the back of every scratch off ticket, and you can also do some advance research online. The state lottery websites will provide you with all of the pertinent details about every game they offer. You can pull up any game and take a look at the odds of winning. Scratch off lottery tickets are like candy that melts your bank account. If you're not careful with your scratch off lottery tickets budget, you'll develop a habit you cannot afford. And I've seen people standing beside scratch off machines, putting in all their money and scratching frantically, looking for a jackpot prize. Scratch tickets are produced and distributed using a completely random, double-blind system. First, the ticket vendor (printer) randomly scatters prizes throughout the game's entire print run using a random number generation system. No one, not the Lottery or even the ticket vendor, knows where the winning tickets are placed or when wins will.

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• You get to enter the losing scratch-off lottery ticket or any losing lottery ticket in the drawing of the second chance lottery to win different prizes and different amount of cash even though you lost the first time.

We've heard about the record-breaking jackpots and how office pools made an entire group of co-workers instant millionaires. Powerball and Mega Millions are the two biggies in the US and EuroMillions is Europe's big millionaire making game.

Scratch-off tickets, though, have also created their share of nouveau riche. You don't typically consider these instant win versions to be real contenders for providing big money, but you'd be surprised.

The Origin of Scratch-Off Tickets

Lottery draws have been a mainstay in the US since the 17th century and in other areas around the globe, well before that. In fact, lotteries were responsible for much of the original infrastructure in the new colonies and also helped to build the District of Columbia.

Scratch tickets don't have nearly as rich of a history as they've only been around since the 1970s. Maryland was the first state to introduce them, but the concept didn't kick into high gear until the 1980s, and now you can find them everywhere draw tickets are sold which, in the United States, is in 44 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands.

How Do They Work?

Scratch-offs or 'scratchers' have some game play attached to them. Originally, you would have to do something basic like match up your number with the winning number or reveal three like prize amounts to be successful.

However, these days, the games are getting to be more and more intricate and involved, and it's for a good reason. Lottery sales started to decline, but officials began to recognize that the longer the players were involved in the game, the more likely they were to buy more.

So, these days there are all kinds of extended play versions. For example, you could get a bingo scratcher and play through a full game of bingo scratching off each called number and then trying to match it to your number. Or there are crossword puzzles where you scratch off one letter at a time attempting to fill in actual words as each word equates to a prize payout.

It's still a basic instant win premise as you're not waiting for numbers to be drawn on a particular day, but it takes longer to get to the ticket result as you're actively engaged in playing the game.

What Kind of Money Can You Win From Scratch-Offs?

You hear about someone winning $2, $5 or even $20 here and there, but there is big money potential in these types of tickets, but it all boils down to the actual game itself. There are dozens, and dozens of ever-changing game variations and every one has a different prize pool.

A $1 ticket may have a maximum prize of $500 or sometimes $5,000 with higher odds. One ticket may have a higher top prize and not as many lower level ones. Another game may offer a plethora of smaller prizes, so your odds of winning are much greater.

Whereas a lottery draw has a standard price like $1 or $2 per chance, scratch-offs offer multiple denominations. You'll find $1, $2, $3, $5, $10, and even $50 or $100. You would think that those pricier versions would sit on the shelf, but you'd be amazed at how many people play those larger amounts. The odds of winning swings much higher in your favor at higher buy-ins and payouts can be $1 million or even more.

You won't see these prizes reach the billion dollar mark as Powerball has before, but I wouldn't turn up my nose to a few million.

A Winning Story

Speaking of those multi-million dollar wins, how about a $4 million dollar birthday present?

In 2014, a teen (yes, a teen) in Illinois scratched off a ticket given to her as a birthday present and ended up with a $4 million dollar gift. That $25 Target gift card I put in an envelope now pales in comparison.

The ticket's grand prize was $100 million, so there is big-time money out there waiting to be revealed… literally.

A Winning Strategy

If I had a truly successful formula to winning big on lottery scratch offs, I would probably opt to keep it to myself but, there's never a sure thing to gambling and especially when it comes to lotteries.

However, there are a few considerations that you may want to pay attention to if you're heading out to buy some tickets.

The odds of winning are included on the back of every scratch off ticket, and you can also do some advance research online. The state lottery websites will provide you with all of the pertinent details about every game they offer.

You can pull up any game and take a look at the odds of winning. You'll find some may have higher odds like a 5 to 1 but some tickets can even come in under 3 to 1. The other thing you'll note when you access this information is the actual breakdown of the prize pool. You can see which games have more top awards and exactly how many prizes at each level are being offered.

Let's take that a step further. If you are serious about bettering your odds, you can study the different games, and the lottery commission even updates the prizes that are claimed. So, you might see a $50,000 top prize game that had 20 of the $50,000 prizes available but 16 have already been issued, or you may note that a similar payout ticket has all 20 of those big winning tickets still out there in circulation.

You can truly give yourself at least a slightly better chance by doing your homework.

I, personally, can attest that I have better luck in winning on scratch offs when the game is brand new. I scour the titles until I see a recently released game and I do usually have better luck in at least winning something. A push is better than a loss any day.

Another thing to consider is that buying more consecutive tickets can give you a better chance to at least get some prize win. At 3 to 1 or 4 to 1 odds of winning, it does make sense to buy ten of the same ticket in a row rather than ten different one-offs. No, that isn't a proven method either, but we're talking about tipping the scales in your favor any way you can.

Not Convinced?

In case you're skeptical about the really big payouts from a tiny scratch-off ticket, let's take a quick look at Joan Ginther.

Are you not familiar with her name?

She made headlines for winning an incredible amount on scratch-off tickets including a $10 million award in 2010 on a $50 ticket, making it her fourth million-plus prize from lottery scratchers.

Now, a player like Ginther is not your typical customer as she's investing big money. In fact, four wins prompted suspicion from the lottery commissions, so the legitimacy was investigated, but all of the payouts were found to be valid.

How did she do it? She bought a lot of tickets, maybe even a few million dollars worth. Her net payout wasn't as great, but she certainly increased her odds by sheer volume.

Now, most of us don't have a few million to throw around on scratchers but, it only takes one. Case and point, the Illinois teen who is now a millionaire courtesy of one relatively small birthday present.

Who wouldn't want to know how to win scratch offs, right?

We all want to win the lottery!

Scratch off cards can be pretty frustrating. You think that you're onto a winner and then you see the card is a loser.

So is there any way to increase your odds of winning scratch offs?

You'll be glad to know that there are definitely things you can do to win.

These are pretty simple things too! So whether you are a gamble often or just buy scratch offs or lottery tickets to hopefully hit the jackpot or win the Powerball, once in a while, you can use these tips.

In this post, I'll give you a few tips to increase your odds of winning on every scratch off ticket you buy.

Do You Scratch Off Everything On A Lottery Ticket 2019

Tips to Increase Your Chances of Winning Scratch Cards

Here are a few not so 'secrets' you can use to win money on your next lottery scratch card.

1. Don't purchase the cheapest scratchers

There are so many scratch cards out there nowadays that it can be pretty confusing to know which ones to buy. You sort of feel overwhelmed by all of the choices!

There are so many different designs, prices, prizes and brands available that it can be hard to decide which ones to purchase.

Thankfully, there's a really easy tip you can use to make sure you purchase the right ones:

Don't buy the cheapest scratch cards.

It can be tempting to purchase the most affordable ones; after all, you can get more of them for your money.

But these cards are cheap for a reason – the prize pool is lower.

You'd be better off purchasing just a few of the more expensive cards, rather than lots of the cheap ones. It's quality over quantity basically.

2. Buy them in bulk

While the expensive cards are better, buying in bulk is still a good idea because it increases your chances of winning.

A lot of people swear by purchasing scratch cards in bulk. Consider purchasing a few scratch cards from the same game in a single trip to the shop, rather than just buying one scratch card.

Your odds of winning may increase if you purchase in bulk. It's like with the lottery; the more entries you have, the more chances you have to win.

If you get a bunch of scratch cards in one purchase, then the chance of hitting one of those winning scratch cards may be higher.

This is a pretty easy way to up your chances of winning, so you may want to consider it. Don't just buy any card in bulk though. Follow the rest of the tips in our article and combine those with buying in bulk to maximize your winnings.

I'd only recommend purchasing in bulk if your budget allows it – talking of which…

3. Make sure you set yourself a budget

I cannot recommend anything more highly when it comes to playing scratch cards than setting a budget.

It's so important for your financial health.

Just as important as actually setting the budget though, is sticking with it. Be strict with your budget.

While this doesn't increase your chances of winning, it does keep you from losing too much money.

Set yourself a weekly or monthly budget and make sure that you stick with it.

4. Check the odds before you buy

Like I said before, the amount of scratch cards out there nowadays is crazy. There are so many to choose from.

So how do you know which ones have the best odds?

As I also said earlier, purchasing the more expensive cards is a good option.

But another simple tip is to purchase the cards with the best odds, because, well, these give you the best chance of winning!

It's not tough to find them either.

The odds are actually printed on the back of every ticket!

Really. You can even ask the cashier at the store to tell you what the odds are on the back of the tickets before you buy them. Choose the games that have better odds, and you'll increase your chances of winning.

5. Check your state's website

The last thing you'd want to do is purchase a ton of cards for a game only to learn that the biggest prizes have already been claimed.

It's completely legal to sell tickets for a scratch off game after all the top prizes have already been claimed.

That's why I'd highly recommend checking to see if a game has had any prizes claimed before you make a purchase.

Some stores will post a flyer with the information, although sometimes this is weeks out of date.

The best way to make sure you're not wasting your time on a game is to check with your state's lottery website.

For example, I went on the Oregon state lottery website and viewed a scratch off game on there to see what prizes were left.

Do You Scratch Off Everything On A Lottery Ticket Game

As you can see in the photo above, this Casino Gold game had two top prizes remaining. It lists the odds of winning too, which is handy!

To find your state lottery's website, just open up Google, enter the term '[state name] lottery website,' and hit search.

I just entered the term 'Oregon state lottery website,' for example.

If all of the top prizes for a game have been claimed, consider switching to a different one.

6. Keep your losing tickets

Keeping your losing tickets can be a good idea. This is because sometimes the manufacturer will run a second chance game where they ask for losing tickets to pick a best loser, so to speak.

Second chance drawings allow you to turn a non-winning ticket into another chance to win.

For example, at the time of writing, there were details of a second chance scratcher game on the Virginia state lottery website.

You could enter a non-winning ticket into the weekly eXTRA Chances drawing. The scratcher just had to have the eXTRA Chances logo on the front in order for it to be entered into the drawing. Prize themes change every month and, at the time, included gift cards, vacations, and concert tickets.

All you had to do was buy a scratcher with that logo and then if it was a losing ticket, you could either mail it to the Virginia Lottery or enter online with your non-winning ticket. Or you could use the app to enter the drawing.

Lots of states have second chance games like this.

So it's worth checking with your state's lottery website to see if there are any second chance games available.

Just as importantly though, keep hold of your losing tickets! You don't have to spend any more cash, yet you get another chance to win.

7. Take in all of your losing tickets

Like I said above, you shouldn't just throw out your losing cards and not only because of those second chance draws that I mentioned above.

No, another reason to not throw out a losing card is that it may not actually be a losing card.

There's always a chance that you may have missed something on the ticket, which is why you should have your ticket officially checked.

You can have the computer at the retailer check the winnings to make sure that you haven't missed anything. This way, you don't throw away any winning cards!

It's always worth doing, especially in games that have several different ways to win prizes because it can be easy to overlook winnings.

Get your ticket checked and you could win something!

8. Try the 'Singleton' method

Next on the list is a tip that was used in the past by a lot of experienced scratch card players.

It's called the 'Singleton Method.'

This method involves looking at the numbers that are visible on a card before you purchase it. Basically, you analyze the card to see if you can pick up on any patterns that can indicate whether a scratch card has certain numbers, symbols, or combinations that could lead to you winning.

Now, this method isn't really as useful as it once was because when the manufacturer's caught on to the fact that people were analyzing the cards this way, a large number of them designed future cards to work against this method.

Still though, there may be a few manufacturers who have not yet taken steps to address this method. So you could still use it on the type of scratch cards that have numbers visible on the side.

It's definitely an interesting theory. If you would like to learn more about how the singleton method works, then check out this guide from Casino.org.

9. Avoid package promotions

Another really useful tip I have is to avoid those 'Mystery Packs' or other package promotions. This is because these promotional packages are often just a way for retailers to clear out their old stock. So they repackage older cards and then sell them in discounted ticket packages.

At first glance, it can seem like you're getting a good deal. Who wouldn't want discounted scratch cards, right?

In reality though, these packages are comprised of games in which the top winnings have already been claimed. This leaves you with little, if any, opportunities to win prizes yourself. It's always best to focus on active games where there are still top prizes left to be won. That way, you have a better chance of actually winning.

10. Play them like the slots

Okay, this tip will only work if you have a lot of time on your hands and don't mind doing some detective work, so to speak.

You've probably seen those people who hang around the slots waiting for someone to lose before swooping in to take that slot machine.

There's even a Friends episode about it where Phoebe gets lurked by an older lady who always swoops in and wins right after Phoebe leaves her seat after a losing streak.

There is some science behind this method. Although the house always wins, as they say, slots do have to pay out at some point. And if a slot machine hasn't paid off for somebody in hours, it's likely that it will pay off for the next person who comes along.

Surprisingly, you can apply this same method to scratch cards.

Long streaks of losses can mean that your odds are better if you swoop in with a well-timed purchase.

So, how does this work with scratch cards, you ask?

How To Win The Lottery With Scratch Offs

Well, it's pretty simple. Just try talking to the cashier at the store to get some information on which games have paid out recently and which ones haven't.

Do You Scratch Off Everything On A Lottery Tickets

That way you can play the games that not many have won yet.

While this doesn't guarantee that you will win, it may up your chances. After all, if someone earlier bought ten tickets and lost on them all, and you buy a few, there's a better chance your tickets will win if those previous ones didn't.

Similarly, if another game has had lots of winners, then you'll know which ones have paid out already, and therefore, which ones to avoid.

So keep an eye on your competition.

Good Luck!

How To Scratch Off A Lottery Ticket

While there's no magic formula for winning scratch cards, there are plenty of things you can do to improve your odds and make sure that you don't miss out on any opportunities to win!

Remember though that you should always stick to your budget. You want to keep your finances intact.

Give our tips on how to win scratch offs a try and let us know in the comments section below whether you have any tips of your own!