Best Way To Play Scratch Off Lottery
- Lottery Scratch Off Games
- Best Way To Play Scratch Off Lottery Tickets
- Best Way To Play Scratch Off Lottery Tickets
- Play Scratch Off Lottery Ticket
[1] You Might Be Wrong!
Assume the Machines Do Favor a Small Percentage of Numbers. If you want to weight your chances.
Scratch-Off games are easy to play. Just scratch the scratch-off coating on your ticket with a coin to see if you have won. Game instructions are printed on the face of your ticket. Check the odds and the winners. There are literally thousands of scratch cards you can choose from.
A ton of winning scratch-off tickets are just thrown away. Theseare normally just small winners (but not always).
They are not thrown away because people can't be botheredto claim small amounts. They are thrown away because peoplehaven't realised that they did actually win!
Or sometimes because they lost the ticket. Or washed it in theirjeans pocket. Or the dog ate it. You get the picture :-)
The number of unclaimed prizes every year for each lotterycompany is insane.
So firstly, take care of your tickets. Treat them as winners untilyou are positive they are not.
But second DOUBLE CHECK every ticket.
Play the game first. Visually check it and decide how much youwon. Then keep that ticket until you can scan it at a self-checkmachine to see what that says.
If there's no self-scan machine, then by all means ask the shopassistant to scan it for you. But do this having some idea ofwhat the ticket is worth. And sign the back first.
The newspapers are full of stories of people who thought theyonly won small, but then it turned out to be a heck of a lot more.
Can you really win scratch offs every time? Get the answer to this and lots more important tips in my free scratch off tips.
[2] Second Chance Draws
These are bonus draws that give you a chance to turn a genuinelosing ticket into a winner.
This is one of the most important things you can do with losing scratch tickets.
How Does 2nd chance Scratchers Work?
It's a random draw process. And you get one entry for everylosing ticket you submit. They then randomly pick out e.g. 10 tickets, who might all win $1,000.
How To Play 2nd Chance Scratchers?
These days they are mostly done online (you used to have to mail them in).So typically you have to register on the official lottery company website first. Then you just type in the barcode number for each of your losing tickets. Simple, right?
TIP: If the ticket is rejected when you try to enter it in a second chance draw, then check it closely again - because it might actually be a winner! And winning tickets normally cannot be entered :-)
Not every lottery company offers these extra draws (check their website).But even if they don't have one right now, they may soon. So youcould have a stockpile of entries all ready to go if you keep yourlosing tickets.
They usually limit how old a ticket can be, so there's not muchpoint keeping 10 year old tickets. But some older ones will mostlikely still work.
These draws are definitely worth doing.
Why? Because people are lazy. Most players cannot be botheredto enter 2nd chance draws.
Which means your chances are a lot better than you might think.If you CAN be bothered.
Do You Have To Keep Your Second Chance Lottery Tickets?
Lottery Scratch Off Games
Yes, you do have to keep your ticket for second chance. So please do keep the scratchers that you enter. :-)
Although unlikely, technically anyone could enter the code from your ticket. So you do need to keep that ticket to be able to prove you are the rightful owner and winner of the 2nd chance prize.
How Do You Know If You Won Second Chance Lottery?
You will know if you have won the 2nd chance lottery because the lottery company will contact you.
When you enter the draw, on their website or using an app, you will need to have an account. So they know who to contact when you win.
How Does 2nd Chance Scratchers Work
Remember, 2nd chance promotions are a 'draw', not an 'instant' thing. So there is a closing date and everyone who enters before that date has a chance of winning.
And yes, you do have to wait until after the end date for that draw to find out if you won.
Odds Of Winning Second Chance Scratchers
The odds of winning a 2nd chance draw depend on how many people enter the draw. This is different to regular scratch games which have fixed odds based on how many tickets are printed.
So this means if 10,000 tickets are entered, and you enter 1 ticket then your chances are 1-in-10,000.
People are lazy, so the odds do tend to be around this level (1-in-10,000 to 1-in-20,000)
TIP: Do you know what are the best scratchers to buy? Yes, it really does matter. Because this affects your chances of winning more than anything else.
[3] Tax Offsetting
I'm not a tax expert of any kind. But in the USA lottery winningsare taxable.
What most people don't realise though is that your entry costs canbe offset against those winnings. Which can reduce your tax bill!
It's like winning all over again ;-)
But you must keep your tickets as evidence of those costs.
Talk to your tax office - they are nice folks really. They will behappy to explain if you're not sure how this works. Or how to dothe paper work.
What To Do With Losing Scratch Off Tickets
Here's what to do with losing tickets:-
- Double check they are definitely losing tickets
- Use them to enter second chance draws if possible
- Keep them until they are no longer relevant for those extra draws, or relevant for tax.
- Then you can finally throw them out!
Today I want to talk about how to play a scratch-off. Andwhy you should play it the RIGHT WAY.
First up. Scratchers are NOT games of skill. You cannot winmore on them by being 'better at playing scratchers'.
This comes as a big surprise to some people.
And yes, this does apply to all scratch-off tickets. Even theones that 'seem' to have an element of skill. So it doesn'tmatter if it is a crossword, Monopoly, word search, pokeror whatever!
How do scratchers work?
Every ticket is either a 'win' or 'lose' the moment you buy it.It does not matter who plays it.
Best Way To Play Scratch Off Lottery Tickets
Now there may be some element of skill or knowledge inUNDERSTANDING if you have won (and yes, there are ways to work out what are the best scratch offs to buy). But you cannot loseby being bad at playing. And you cannot win more by beinggood at playing.
Hopefully that's clear :-)
Make sure you get the whole story - get all my free tips with how to win lottery scratch offs from here.
So technically you don't even need to know how to play scratch off tickets - or even play the game. Youcan just hand the ticket over to the assistant and ask themto scan it, and tell you if you've won.
But please do NOT do that!
That's not the best way. Play the game as it was meant to be played.
For 2 very good reasons.
Best Way To Play Scratch Off Lottery Tickets
[1] Would you normally hand a blank signed check over toa total stranger..? :-)
That ticket could be a jackpot winner. So blindly handingit over without having any idea what it's worth is not a goodidea.
Think this isn't a problem? Just have a read of some of thecomments on my blog post here. It is pretty shocking.
Of course, the vast majority of shop assistants are really nicehonest people. Who would just be happy for you that you won.But some are not. So why chance it?
Yes, you could (and should), put your name and sign the backof the ticket before handing it over... but...
[2] Part of the reason to play lottery games is the fun element.It's the buzz of finding out if you have won, and how much.
How do you win scratch off tickets? Firstly - one of the 'secrets' is to play it as it was meant to be played!
If you actually play the game instead of just scanning it, you get some real entertainment value foryour money. That way, even losing tickets are never really losers :-)
Why not go even further. Take your time playing it. Scratchjust one symbol at a time. See how close you are getting toa win before you scratch the next one.
If you buy multiple tickets in one go, don't play them all atonce. Spread them out over a day.
Play Scratch Off Lottery Ticket
I know someone who spends a whole day playing a singleticket. She loves playing. And gets massive value out of herhobby - and when she wins on one (and she does win), what a massive BONUS!
Now that's how to play the scratch off lottery :-)
What If I Don't Understand The Game?
This happens. Some games are quite complicated. There arelots of ways to win, different games within a ticket, or confusingwin conditions.
Bottom line - if you don't understand it, either get the assistantto explain it to you fully before you scratch it. Or avoid thatticket in future, and only buy the ones you do fully understand.
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