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How to Win Scratch-Offs Every Time, According to Players
Scratch-offs are purely based on luck, which means that the wins are totally random. However, there are a handful of tips and tricks that some players have reported to improve their odds of success:
- 1. Avoid the cheap scratch-off tickets. The prize pools are a lot smaller so you probably won’t win any juicy jackpots.
- 2. Try using the ‘Singleton Method’. This is a system where you study the designs of cards to find the winning combinations, although there are some limitations.
- 3. Read the small print. Sometimes it can include the odds of winning, so you know whether it’s a worthwhile game or not.
- 4. Pick a game and stick to it. Rather than spread your chances across different games, some players believe that by sticking to one game it improves their odds.
- 5. Keep your old tickets. If the winner doesn’t come forward, one of the next best losers wins.
Here at Techopedia, we take great pride in giving you the best advice: informed, researched, and tested.
Which is why, when it comes to scratch-off tips, we can offer you only these sage words of wisdom: there aren’t any.
There simply is no method, technique or system that can enable you to beat a scratch-off. It’s either a winner – or it isn’t.
Scratch. Play. Pray.
However, with that massive caveat in mind, we have put together a cheeky list of alternative tips that could supercharge your scratching.
Got an itch? Let’s start.
1. Buy Them All
The odds of winning on a scratch-off are between 60% and 70%. For every dollar you bet, you can expect 60 to 70 cents back.
It’s a bit like the RTP rate of real money slots; the amount a machine pays out on average, over a period of time.
So, if you want to absolutely guarantee that scratch-off jackpot win, there is a way: just buy every single ticket.
To do this, you will need an Elon Musk-sized bank account, combined with a highly organized team of instant shoppers.
As soon as the new scratch-off is released, engage operation Clean Sweep. In every outlet, an operative will buy every scratchy.
Obviously, you will win only 60% of your total card spend, excluding insane operational costs. But the joy of scratching that jackpot is exclusively yours.
2. The Inside Job
In the US, scratch-offs are made by just three companies: Scientific Games, Pollard Banknote, and IGT.
If you are playing the long game, you could consider a career at one of these three companies. If Italian living is on your bucket list, IGT has offices in Rome.
Of course, you will have to spend years working the system, forging relationships, and working out the corporate security. It will be very tight.
Once you have coerced, worked, and bribed your way into the right position, you can ensure that the winning ticket is yours.
Just don’t scratch it at the office and rock up the next day in a Ferrari.
3. Develop a Superpower
There are many ways to develop a superpower: the bite of a radioactive spider, a cosmic ray related incident in space, a gamma ray incident at the laboratory, or just a boring old genetic mutation.
Your superpower would have to be the ability to see through scratch-offs. You would be known as ‘Scratchman’ or simply ‘The Scratch’.
If there was an emergency, you would run to the nearest store or gas station and quickly buy a winning scratch-off. You could then use your winnings to alleviate any perilous situation.
When you are not saving the planet, one scratchy at a time, you can use your x-ray vision superpower to find that elusive jackpot.
4. Science It!
Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Science created the scratch-off. Science can reveal its hidden secrets.
Check out twin sisters Matlhogonolo and Masego Mphahlele who are developing a pair of real x-ray glasses that can be worn by medical practitioners; enabling instant diagnosis.
The digital x-ray glasses are still very much in development. Could they be adapted to penetrate the scrapeable layer on a scratch-off?
Of course, they could. Wearing them in Walmart, as you stare at each individual scratchy, may be an issue, however.
5. Hack It
Today, you can enjoy the thrill of a scratch-off on your computer or phone. Just connect to one of the top online casinos, pick a card, and start virtual scratching.
Of course, if it’s software and online, it might just be hackable. Although, it won’t be easy. Cyberattacks do happen.
In September 2023, MGM Resorts was hit by Scattered Spider – a subgroup of the ALPHV ransomware gang. Their modus operandi was to fish for login credentials.
Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet both cheated players, using bent online poker software.
Unlocking a winning scratch-off will require cracking the mighty random number generating algorithm.
It’s supposed to be impossible, but never say never.
Is There Really No Way to Win Scratch-Offs Every Time?
You may have detected that these top tips are not entirely serious.
Well, as we said: you really can’t cheat a scratch-off. It’s pure luck; nothing more, nothing less.
However, there is one thing you can do to improve your chances of winning on a scratch-off. If you live in the UK, there is a website called Smart Scratchcard. It monitors all the current scratchcards in play; checking if jackpots have been won via the National Lottery website.
It means that you can always choose scratch-offs that still have jackpots in play. Why pick a card with no jackpots left?
With no stateside equivalent, US scratch-off players will have to resort to superpowers, genius, or crime.
Good luck.
