Don't be taken in by The Texas Blockbuster scratchoffs.

Reply #20

JanTX — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 16:38:14 GMT

Oh for heavens sakes....I meant: we've WON 4 times out of 6. Tired and typing too fast.

Reply #19

JanTX — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 16:31:44 GMT

We're new to the Blockbuster game - but, so far, we've one 4 times out of 6. The wins were in the $20-$25 range, so nothing to brag about.

Reply #18

duckman — Sat, 23 May 2009 04:33:49 GMT

For the game you can't find the tickets for, try calling or emailing the state lottery office and ask them where the nearest retailer is who has those tickets (they will know this because the lottery reps that visit the stores on a regular basis keep track of this - also, when packs or books are first used they are validated or activated by the terminal and this info is tracked by computer). Here in Florida, we have regional lottery offices around the state and they usually have all or most of t... [ More ]

Reply #17

Dead_Aim — Sat, 23 May 2009 02:42:03 GMT

Thanks Bobby.

Reply #16

bobby623 — Sat, 23 May 2009 02:03:44 GMT

Dead Aim

What is the proper expression, it is a book of tickets or a roll of tickets?

They are called 'packs'.

I think the total tickets in a pack varies according to the game.

Reply #15

Dead_Aim — Sat, 23 May 2009 01:43:45 GMT

Duckman,

With you showing us how the distribution works, it makes it much more apparent how they really mess with the odds.

In other words, they will tell you the odds of getting the big level prizes are such and such when in fact they are not available for the taking until a certain point.

Case in point, I know of a scratcher game that has been going on for over 3 years. The game sold much slower than anticipated.

They still have 1/3 of the top prizes left in the game but you can't... [ More ]

Reply #14

JackpotWanna — Sat, 23 May 2009 01:02:27 GMT

Cool..... Thanks

Reply #13

Dead_Aim — Fri, 22 May 2009 19:28:10 GMT

That makes sense. Thanks for the explanation duckman.

Reply #12

duckman — Fri, 22 May 2009 18:50:11 GMT

An example of how the distribution works in some of the scratch off ticket games:

(the example below uses ficticious amounts easier to understand - there will usually be thousands of books and the prize levels, values, and numbers will differ)

Example: 1000 Total Books in a Game

Prize Level#1 ($1,000,000) - 2 prizes total:

1 prize in books 1-500

1 prize in books 501-1000

Prize Level#2 ($10,000) - 5 prizes total:

1 prize in books 1-200

1 prize in books 201-400

Reply #11

Dead_Aim — Fri, 22 May 2009 14:57:43 GMT

Everyone, you will have to forgive all my writing errors and word substitutions.

I have sleep issues and go sleepless for days.

When I get like that, I can proofread all I want, but I will never see any of my errors until I read it again the next day. (after a little nap)

Thank you dr65! All I could think of (after getting over the irony of the situation) was, Well, the rest of that roll is useless. lol

It was ticket number 65 in the roll for those that keep up with those k... [ More ]

Reply #10

dr65 — Fri, 22 May 2009 12:12:20 GMT

lol Dead Aim - Alright! $200 WTG

Reply #9

JackpotWanna — Thu, 21 May 2009 18:22:43 GMT

Most likely someone won on a ticket before you bought or a big winner is coming. Good Luck

Reply #8

Dead_Aim — Thu, 21 May 2009 17:54:47 GMT

I am sorry Bradly, but I have to disagree. Anyone who has sold tickets (and I am sure it is similar in all states) will be able to tell you that a book of tickets will only average 1 big winners in it, and I am talking about $50 to $500 range. The rest of the so-called winners are tickets you get to scratch off for free. Occasionally, it will have more of course, but they are not the norm. And trust me the lottery gets very creative with their odds, I don't know if they use fuzzy math, but I kno... [ More ]

Reply #7

qwerty928 — Thu, 21 May 2009 15:43:34 GMT

Its a bit misleading but it it correct out of approx. 36 million tickets, 12 million are winners which is 1 out of 3 overall but not every roll

you just don't know where the winners are

I have had 12 losers in a row but then again I have had 3 winners in a row

Reply #6

Bradly_60 — Thu, 21 May 2009 14:49:14 GMT

That is not acutally true. If you do look at the full odds of any scratch off, especially a $20 you will see that the odds winning the minimum prize is more then the overall odds. They are usually 1 in 5 or 1 in 6 to win $20. The 1 in 3 odds includes every prize, like $25, $30, $50 and so forth. He just hit a unlucky streak of tickets. It happens all the time. I once bought 8 $5 tickets and didn't win anything. Went back to the store and bought 3 more and 2 of the 3 were winners.

Brad

Reply #5

Dead_Aim — Thu, 21 May 2009 14:40:19 GMT

Joey something else to keep in mind is even if every third ticket was a winner (which they do mean an average) it will only be the replacement price of the ticket in the first place. Meaning out of the 6 you bought and the third ones being a winner, more than likely you would have walked away with $40 out of the $120 you spent. The whole purpose of the 1 out of every 3 is to sucker you in. Without the $20 dollar give backs your odds would probably be more like 1 in every 50 that had enough money... [ More ]

Reply #4

Raven62 — Thu, 21 May 2009 13:59:17 GMT

Another Lesson Learned: You Can't Believe Everything You Hear

Reply #3

Todd — Thu, 21 May 2009 09:08:55 GMT

Reply #2

SmoothJuice — Thu, 21 May 2009 01:13:29 GMT

1 out of 3 tickets can win but it's not in order. You can have all the winners at the end of the roll and the losers in the beginning and middle.

Reply #1

MaddMike51 — Wed, 20 May 2009 21:45:50 GMT

They probably said that it averages out to one win out of every three tickets sold.

Don't be taken in by The Texas Blockbuster scratchoffs.

Texas Joey — Wed, 20 May 2009 20:59:09 GMT

The advertisement on the TV says there is one win in every three tickets sold....Not true....I bought 6 of them and didn't win anything!!! I had to learn the hard way. $120 Lost!!!

Joey