Scratch Off Lottery Ticket Secrets | Your FAQ

Today I'm going to run through some quick lottery scratch off ticket secrets. Hope these help too.

[Q] Are scratch-off tickets easier to win than the regular draw based games?

[A] Some are, some aren't. You have to compare them to know. Yes, a cheap scratcher is going to be easier to win than Powerball. But the prize is so much smaller. Just like Pick 3 is easier to win than a high priced scratcher. Don't guess - choose your game wisely.

[Q] Do you think it's a good idea to play the $1 games until I win enough to play the high priced tickets?

[A] No - never do this. It will really hurt your chances overall. Always play the right game to start with.

[Q] Does buying tickets in batches (e.g. five or ten at one time) give a better chance of winning than buying one by one?

[A] Mathematically your chances of winning are exactly the same if you buy 5 tickets all at once, or if you buy 1 a day for 5 days. But it's actually more complex than this. There are different algorithms used to allocate winning and losing tickets across the whole print run of a game. The algorithms are not revealed publicly. So the short answer is 'possibly'.

[Q] I don't get how Dave's scratchers reports are better than just buying the latest tickets that will mostly have all the big prizes still available?

[A] It's better because it figures out what are the best scratch tickets that give you the best chance of buying a winner. And that includes both the big and small prizes. Think of it this way, imagine if all the losing tickets had been sold for a particular game. That would mean all those left on sale would be winners. Dave's ScratchSmarter service would tell you this is the No.1 best game to play this week. Without it you would never know. That's a big advanatage over other players. It's hurting your chances to play without it.

[Q] I tried to claim what I thought was a winning ticket but the assistant said it had not won. He kept the ticket - have I been ripped off? What can I do?

[A] The only thing you can do now is contact the lottery company and ask to speak to their security team. Tell them what happened, when it was (ideally the date and time) and at what store. They will do their best to investigate, but I'm afraid there is not much they can do if your ticket was stolen and that person has been careful to cover their tracks.

Still got questions? just ask here :-)