Why can't I ever get a good win on scratch tickets?

Reply #35

shyguitar — Sat, 12 May 2012 11:11:49 GMT

Hi pick4master,

It seems we are similar in terms of what we have won and the fact that we both check our States lottery websites. Guess you have a good store that is worth driving 20 miles to. When I look at my States website to see where the scratch winning tickets came from it never seems to be from my town, on the other hand if someone wins a million on a scratch ticket in my town someday, then I might have to play in another town because I'm not sure our town would have another winner. So... [ More ]

Reply #34

pick4master — Sat, 12 May 2012 04:01:54 GMT

Shy, I have won $40, 1 time and $100, 3 times. The rest, $5 here and $10 there. I always check the site to how many top prizes are left. I had a hunch that a particular store in a particular neighborhood would produce a big winner...and it did..million dollar scractch off. I buy scratch offs there all the time after driving 20 miles to get there. The guy who won drove the same 20 miles, i did not know him. I only buy sratchoffs in paritcular areas. I will not say why as the natives here get real... [ More ]

Reply #33

Lucky Loser — Sat, 12 May 2012 03:22:16 GMT

It's so funny that you say this...and I agree 100%. Why? With the amounts already won, based on what he posted, the GUARANTEED PRIZE AMOUNT per pack was close to being met which means the rest will be pure profit for the lottery. A roll very rarely exceeds the GPA unless there's a big winner figured in somewhere.

L.L.

Reply #32

SaintAndiesPl — Fri, 11 May 2012 21:32:10 GMT

Thanks :).. My brother has had success on the 1 dollar ones. He won 500 twice on a scratch out called lose change.. The 5 dollars scratch outs are mix of hot and cold. There was a 5 dollar scratch out 2 years ago that was like golden... called Red Hot Million, everytime I bought it I hardly ever lost.. always got back my 5 or tiny bit more like 15 or 30.. After playing scratch out for good number of year. like maybe 10 years or so.. I realize the odds are insane.. But I hope to look forward to t... [ More ]

Reply #31

time*treat — Fri, 11 May 2012 17:08:57 GMT

Of course you were a safe distance gone by the time that guy realized he hadn't won squat on the rest of that roll.

Reply #30

shyguitar — Fri, 11 May 2012 17:01:30 GMT

Hi JezzVim,

Thanks for your response. I have tried different places, one of the places I frequent is a high volume convenience store for the lottery. I've always been a viewer of my States lottery website to see which tickets still have big wins, etc. Unfortunately the price of gas keeps me being more local when it comes to buying tickets outside of my area. On occasion I will venture to places outside of my town but not too often. Now I really wish I could stop playing but don't see that hap... [ More ]

Reply #29

JezzVim — Fri, 11 May 2012 15:48:09 GMT

Play where they post the winning tickets up. Try a different place - high volume stores.

Look at the state website and see which tickets still has the remaining big wins - Pa has that.

Go to little towns and play - that happens a lot in PA.

And if all else fails?

STOP PLAYING AND SAVE YOUR DOUGH

Reply #28

GHolnyuk — Fri, 11 May 2012 15:41:50 GMT

A relative just won $5k/week for life on a $10 scratcher. He sold off his grocery store to the grocer across the street. On his last day, he tried his luck and beat the odds.Ifcourse, I would rather buy 10 SweetMillion lines for $10 reducing my odds to 1:383k instead of 1 scratch ticket.

Reply #27

Ronnie316 — Fri, 11 May 2012 14:43:38 GMT

Yo Shy,

Im taking up Thriftys system of positive energy flow. Once you begin to realize that gambling is for entertainment and not a sourse of income, you will stop trying to win all the time and just have fun. That equals positive energy flow, and that equals a win.

Which confirms my origanal point. You dont have to win the lottery, or even play the lottery to be a winner.

Excuse me while I get back to me Tony Robbins seminar.

Reply #26

olplugger — Fri, 11 May 2012 12:39:24 GMT

. . . and if I did play I would never play with the grocery money .

Reply #25

shyguitar — Fri, 11 May 2012 12:14:21 GMT

Hi dallascowboyfan,

Yes we agree about the frustrating part. Thanks for telling me to hang in there and will continue to play within my budget.

Reply #24

shyguitar — Fri, 11 May 2012 12:11:41 GMT

Hi B$Rizzle,

Thanks for your comments. Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one not to win anything big on scratchers but as you say many people play for years and still no big wins.

I agree with you about being in the right place at the right time (just wish I knew where the right time and place is). I agree with you on the 1 dollar scratchers not being good but have done okay on the 2 and 5 dollar ones (on the 5 dollar ones I won 100 dollars on 2 different 5 dollar scratchers). 10 dollar s... [ More ]

Reply #23

shyguitar — Fri, 11 May 2012 12:01:38 GMT

Hi Ridge,

I can understand why you don't like playing scratchers. I am in agreement about not liking seeing guys that sit there waiting to see what I'm going to buy and then get the next one. I'm always amazed when I see so many people sitting and scratching so many tickets at one time in the convenience stores.

Reply #22

shyguitar — Fri, 11 May 2012 11:55:42 GMT

Hi PlayTwoWin,

I've never been to a casino once years ago in Atlantic City but allowed myself to only spend 20 dolars and then left but have been tempted to someday go to Foxwoods and play some Blackjack.

Reply #21

shyguitar — Fri, 11 May 2012 11:52:57 GMT

Hi SaintAndiesPl,

You seem to have a good thought process when it comes to playing scratchers. Being sensible about playing scratchers but at the same time having fun playing as you are doing makes good sense. I do agree about the 1 dollar tickets being useless but have won some decent money on the 2 dollar ones. I do tend to stick to the 5 dollar ones the most but have been buying the 20 dollar ones every now and then.

Reply #20

shyguitar — Fri, 11 May 2012 11:49:02 GMT

Hi RJOH,

Though you make a good point I can't seem to walk away from scratchers. As I stated in one of my previous forum posts I originally started buying scratchers when my daughter was a junior or senior in high school ( not sure which year, lol) that was a few years back. I was hoping to win enough to pay for her college (well that didn't happen). When I first started playing I was doing well with scratchers but that didn't last and the losing tickets started to come into play. Sorry if I... [ More ]

Reply #19

shyguitar — Fri, 11 May 2012 11:39:10 GMT

Hi Lottolaughs,

I commend you for quiting playing scratchers years ago. I do take breaks every now and then from playing scratchers but seem to go back to playing them.

Reply #18

shyguitar — Fri, 11 May 2012 11:35:39 GMT

Hi Ronnie,

Thanks for your response. Though you make a valid point about the best way to win is not to play and save your money, unfortunately, once I started playing a few years ago feel like I can't totally stop playing and due to having a job that doesn't pay well and at times in between work projects have no work for a few weeks here and there, realize that the only way for me to ever be financially secure would be a lottery win (realize it's extremely rare for that to happen but continue... [ More ]

Reply #17

dallascowboyfan — Fri, 11 May 2012 03:00:26 GMT

Hi shy, playing scratch-offs can be very frustrating. I only play a couple of times a year when were in Texas. Hang in there make sure you stay within your budget.

Reply #16

rdgrnr — Thu, 10 May 2012 19:51:48 GMT

Good one, RJOh.

The only way I messed with 'em was to take 'em home to scratch 'em so they wouldn't know if I got a winner or not.

But usually I didn't.

Reply #15

RJOh — Thu, 10 May 2012 19:35:02 GMT

I too rarely buy them but when I buy one and it's a winner I buy some more depending on the size of the prize.

I once got a guy's hackles up who did just that. After getting a $10 win on a $1 ticket, he bought the next 5 which was all losers and I bought 5 more and had a $50 winner and he bought the next five which were all losers too. I bought five more and had a $100 winner and then told him he could buy all of the remaining roll he wanted because after I cash my $100 winner I was leaving.... [ More ]

Reply #14

B$Rizzle — Thu, 10 May 2012 19:25:15 GMT

shyguitar - There are many of us that play heavily on the scratch games and very very few have won $5,000 and up. There are also people that have been playing heavily for years and years and have yet to win $1,000-$5,000 and up.

It is all about the right place and right time. I have always done Terrible on the $1, $2 $5 scratchers. The $10's $20's are where the most decent winners are (for the most part).

You may want to save your $ that you are spending on the $5 games and wait... [ More ]

Reply #13

Ronnie316 — Thu, 10 May 2012 19:20:40 GMT

Way to go O-H-I-O. Thats what Im talkin about.

Reply #12

steph219121 — Thu, 10 May 2012 19:18:35 GMT

I hardly ever win on $10 or under scratchers. I play the $20 ones.

Reply #11

Ronnie316 — Thu, 10 May 2012 19:16:27 GMT

Thats why they sell em in packets of 15 round these parts.

Reply #10

Ronnie316 — Thu, 10 May 2012 19:13:45 GMT

The only person who is a fool, is the one who says There is no God

Reply #9

rdgrnr — Thu, 10 May 2012 19:08:58 GMT

If you rarely win on scratchers you're in the majority.

I don't like 'em much and rarely, rarely play 'em.

And when I did buy 'em I didn't like seeing them guys that sit there waiting for you to buy that one so they can jump up and get the next one.

That always got my hackles up.

Reply #8

Ronnie316 — Thu, 10 May 2012 19:04:55 GMT

The part about $1500. is exactly right, and you can bet money that I wont be whining about it afterwards. The stated odds of a $500,000. hit are 1 in 240,000. Even if you multiple by the $20. price of a ticket you are still looking at a 4.8 million (per $1.) chance of hitting half a mill as opposed to 1 in 175,000,000 chance of hitting the multiple millions. 5 million vs. 175 million?.... 5 million vs. 175 million?..... 5 million vs. 175 million?......

At 35 times difference I would need to s... [ More ]

Reply #7

PlayTwoWin — Thu, 10 May 2012 18:40:09 GMT

If you want real odds. Don't spend any lottery money for a month and then take it all to the casino. Boom.

Reply #6

SaintAndiesPl — Thu, 10 May 2012 18:29:01 GMT

I have a love and hate relationship with scratch outs.. the most I have won was 500.00 twice on 20 dollar ticket.. But I'm sure my loses since I started are greater than that. The odds are against us but it is suppose to be fun.. which is why I try not to spend so much on scratch outs anymore because it is frustrating to spend 15 and get back a dollar.. I use to buy them all the time.. I realize the 1 and 2 dollars ones are useless. Instead of buying the 1 or 2 dollar ones like 10 times every we... [ More ]

Reply #5

RJOh — Thu, 10 May 2012 18:08:44 GMT

You can be a winner every day with scratchers if you just look at their cost and don't play. Every time you don't buy a scratcher you're its price richer than you would be if you bought it. You probably won't end up a millionaire but you won't be whining about not winning either. Good luck.

Reply #4

ONEDAY — Thu, 10 May 2012 18:00:11 GMT

I agree..its total gamble..where at least in pick3/4 you can choose your own destiny.. by playing the numbers with a educated playing system.

Reply #3

rcbbuckeye — Thu, 10 May 2012 17:59:07 GMT

If you play $3000 in scratchers, you most likely will win back roughly $1500, unless you hit a ticket that has a major prize. Don't know about your state, but in Texas, thay list how many prizes there are in a scratch game. Usually there might be 6 top prizes out of 6 million printed tickets. Odds of 1 in a million. Overall odds anywhere from 1 in 2.5 to 1 in 5.

Scratchers sell better than the online games because people like instant gratification. I always liked the anticipation of a lottery... [ More ]

Reply #2

lottolaughs — Thu, 10 May 2012 17:50:46 GMT

I quit playing scratchers years ago. Not worth it. Instant gratification games are anything but. Instant frustration.

Reply #1

Ronnie316 — Thu, 10 May 2012 16:27:45 GMT

You believe you cant win if you don't play because they told you, you cant win if you don't play ...... the best way to win is to NOT play and save your money. The second best way to win is to spend a lot more money. I bought 10 $20. scratcher tickets and got back $125. and consider that a win. I'm thinking about buying 15 tickets next time as they sell packs of 15. My last option would be to buy 10 packs of 15 at a cost of $3000. and see what happens. What do you think

Why can't I ever get a good win on scratch tickets?

shyguitar — Thu, 10 May 2012 15:21:49 GMT

Hi everyone,

I look at the odds of scratch tickets and know the odds are not on my side but still why can't I win more then a few bucks when I play. I've won 100 dollars just twice on 5 dollar scratch tickets but the majority of the time I either win nothing or just get my money back on the ticket price. I realize that the lottery commission prints out millions of tickets per scratch game and I do look at my states website (MA) to try to pick games that still have some decent prizes but... [ More ]