Just about everyone is familiar with the concept of the lottery, especially the big drawings that are held daily or every few days anyway. You select some numbers and hope to match them up to the ones that are drawn at random.
We’ve heard about the record-breaking jackpots and how office pools made an entire group of co-workers instant millionaires. Powerball and Mega Millions are the two biggies in the US and EuroMillions is Europe’s big millionaire making game.
Scratch-off tickets, though, have also created their share of nouveau riche. You don’t typically consider these instant win versions to be real contenders for providing big money, but you’d be surprised.
If the winning scratch-off ticket has already been redeemed, the lottery knows that the big prize is gone, but they still sell tickets to that game because smaller prizes are still available. Nothing prevents the lottery from legally selling those tickets, even if it involves advertising a prize that's no longer available. Buying a single lottery ticket isn’t necessarily the best bet. Scratch-off games could give players a greater chance of winning big. The top prize for most scratch-off games is around $3 million.
The Origin of Scratch-Off Tickets
Lottery draws have been a mainstay in the US since the 17th century and in other areas around the globe, well before that. In fact, lotteries were responsible for much of the original infrastructure in the new colonies and also helped to build the District of Columbia.
Scratch tickets don’t have nearly as rich of a history as they’ve only been around since the 1970s. Maryland was the first state to introduce them, but the concept didn’t kick into high gear until the 1980s, and now you can find them everywhere draw tickets are sold which, in the United States, is in 44 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands.
How Do They Work?
Scratch-offs or “scratchers” have some game play attached to them. Originally, you would have to do something basic like match up your number with the winning number or reveal three like prize amounts to be successful.
However, these days, the games are getting to be more and more intricate and involved, and it’s for a good reason. Lottery sales started to decline, but officials began to recognize that the longer the players were involved in the game, the more likely they were to buy more.
So, these days there are all kinds of extended play versions. For example, you could get a bingo scratcher and play through a full game of bingo scratching off each called number and then trying to match it to your number. Or there are crossword puzzles where you scratch off one letter at a time attempting to fill in actual words as each word equates to a prize payout.
It’s still a basic instant win premise as you’re not waiting for numbers to be drawn on a particular day, but it takes longer to get to the ticket result as you’re actively engaged in playing the game.
What Kind of Money Can You Win From Scratch-Offs?
You hear about someone winning $2, $5 or even $20 here and there, but there is big money potential in these types of tickets, but it all boils down to the actual game itself. There are dozens, and dozens of ever-changing game variations and every one has a different prize pool.
A $1 ticket may have a maximum prize of $500 or sometimes $5,000 with higher odds. One ticket may have a higher top prize and not as many lower level ones. Another game may offer a plethora of smaller prizes, so your odds of winning are much greater.
Whereas a lottery draw has a standard price like $1 or $2 per chance, scratch-offs offer multiple denominations. You’ll find $1, $2, $3, $5, $10, and even $50 or $100. You would think that those pricier versions would sit on the shelf, but you’d be amazed at how many people play those larger amounts. The odds of winning swings much higher in your favor at higher buy-ins and payouts can be $1 million or even more.
You won’t see these prizes reach the billion dollar mark as Powerball has before, but I wouldn’t turn up my nose to a few million.
A Winning Story
Speaking of those multi-million dollar wins, how about a $4 million dollar birthday present?
In 2014, a teen (yes, a teen) in Illinois scratched off a ticket given to her as a birthday present and ended up with a $4 million dollar gift. That $25 Target gift card I put in an envelope now pales in comparison.
The ticket’s grand prize was $100 million, so there is big-time money out there waiting to be revealed… literally.
A Winning Strategy
If I had a truly successful formula to winning big on lottery scratch offs, I would probably opt to keep it to myself but, there’s never a sure thing to gambling and especially when it comes to lotteries.
However, there are a few considerations that you may want to pay attention to if you’re heading out to buy some tickets.
The odds of winning are included on the back of every scratch off ticket, and you can also do some advance research online. The state lottery websites will provide you with all of the pertinent details about every game they offer.
You can pull up any game and take a look at the odds of winning. You’ll find some may have higher odds like a 5 to 1 but some tickets can even come in under 3 to 1. The other thing you’ll note when you access this information is the actual breakdown of the prize pool. You can see which games have more top awards and exactly how many prizes at each level are being offered.
Let’s take that a step further. If you are serious about bettering your odds, you can study the different games, and the lottery commission even updates the prizes that are claimed. So, you might see a $50,000 top prize game that had 20 of the $50,000 prizes available but 16 have already been issued, or you may note that a similar payout ticket has all 20 of those big winning tickets still out there in circulation.
You can truly give yourself at least a slightly better chance by doing your homework.
I, personally, can attest that I have better luck in winning on scratch offs when the game is brand new. I scour the titles until I see a recently released game and I do usually have better luck in at least winning something. A push is better than a loss any day.
Another thing to consider is that buying more consecutive tickets can give you a better chance to at least get some prize win. At 3 to 1 or 4 to 1 odds of winning, it does make sense to buy ten of the same ticket in a row rather than ten different one-offs. No, that isn’t a proven method either, but we’re talking about tipping the scales in your favor any way you can.
Not Convinced?
In case you’re skeptical about the really big payouts from a tiny scratch-off ticket, let’s take a quick look at Joan Ginther.
Are you not familiar with her name?
She made headlines for winning an incredible amount on scratch-off tickets including a $10 million award in 2010 on a $50 ticket, making it her fourth million-plus prize from lottery scratchers.
Now, a player like Ginther is not your typical customer as she’s investing big money. In fact, four wins prompted suspicion from the lottery commissions, so the legitimacy was investigated, but all of the payouts were found to be valid.
How did she do it? She bought a lot of tickets, maybe even a few million dollars worth. Her net payout wasn’t as great, but she certainly increased her odds by sheer volume.
Now, most of us don’t have a few million to throw around on scratchers but, it only takes one. Case and point, the Illinois teen who is now a millionaire courtesy of one relatively small birthday present.
Background
During the last few decades, lottery tickets have become an increasingly popular form of legal gambling in the United States. One popular game is the instant win, or scratch off lottery which features tickets that have the winning (or losing) numbers concealed on the game card itself. The winning numbers are typically hidden by a coating, which is removed by rubbing. By removing this coating, the owner of the ticket can instantly determine the ticket's winning status instead of waiting for a matching number to be drawn. Since the cash value of the ticket is determined at the time of printing, the tickets must be designed and manufactured with extraordinary security precautions to avoid ticket fraud.
Design
The design of instant lottery tickets varies from game to game. To entice potential purchasers, games may be thematically linked to popular interests such as sporting events, television shows, or even other gambling games like poker card or horse racing. Some states have even allowed customers to participate in the design process. For example, in 1993, the Oregon State Lottery held a 'Designer Scratch-it Contest' for the general public. Winners were judged based on theme, style of play, graphics, and originality. Regardless of the design type, instant lottery tickets are designed to be played by scratching off a concealing coating to reveal numbers, letters, or symbols that will (hopefully) match the designated winning symbol located somewhere on the ticket. These games are all designed with multiple security features to prevent tickets from being counterfeited or tampered with.
There are several techniques used to breach game security, which must be taken into consideration during the design process. One method of defrauding the lottery is to decode the relationship between the serial number on the ticket and the ticket's lottery number. Each ticket contains an individual serial number composed of a series of digits or alphanumeric characters. This number is used by the game operator to track the distribution of tickets from the operator to the selling agents and for accounting of sold and unsold tickets. It may also include information that shows the ticket is only valid for certain games or dates. These numbers are especially helpful in case tickets are lost or stolen and can be used to track tickets to make sure they are not inappropriately claimed.
What Do You Scratch Off A Lottery Ticket
By understanding the relationship between the serial number and the lottery number, one could try to locate lots or batches of tickets that are more likely to be winners. Other methods to breach ticket security attempt to directly view the lottery number without scratching off the ticket covering. One way this is done is by candling, which involves shining a bright light on the ticket in an effort to read the lottery number through either the front or back covering. Another technique, known as delamination, involves separating the different layers of the ticket to make the numbers visible. This technique can even be used after the owner has uncovered a winning number and turned in the ticket for redemption. In this scenario, individuals with access to winning tickets could separate the front layer of the ticket that contains the winning number and glue it onto a new back layer that has a different name and address for the winner. Still another way of circumventing lottery security, called wicking, uses solvents (e.g., alcohols, ketones, acetate, or esters) to force the lottery number to bleed through the concealing coating.
The design features employed to prevent these security breaches vary from game to game. In general, these features involve the serial number and the concealing coating. One key to controlling game security is to select serial numbers, which do not reveal any information about the winning status of the ticket. This is done by randomly encoding tickets with a series of computer-generated numbers or symbols. Each lottery game uses a specific algorithm, or mathematical process, to randomize the relationship between the serial and lottery numbers. This prevents anyone from discovering the connection between the two numbers. When properly encoded, the serial number cannot be deciphered by the ticket purchaser but still provides useful information to the ticket agent. Printing matching, coded numbers on the front and back of each ticket can help ensure winning tickets have not been tampered with. The security features used to prevent candling, delamination, and wicking involve the coating used to conceal the lottery number. A heavy foil coating can be used over the numbers to prevent light from passing through the ticket and illuminating the numbers. However, this foil is expensive to add and it does not prevent delamination. A better way to prevent the numbers from being read through the coating is to use an opaque covering in conjunction with confusion patterns imprinted on the back and front of the ticket. These confusion patterns are random designs used to obscure the image when light is shined through the ticket. This method can also be used to prevent wicking by utilizing dyes in the coating which are responsive to solvents. If anyone attempts to dissolve the concealing coating, the ink bleeds and obscures the lottery numbers.
Raw Materials
The basic materials required for ticket manufacture are the same as those employed for any similar ticket or card printing. The main component is paper stock of appropriate stiffness, but aluminum foil is also used as a component of some multilayer tickets. Other important raw materials include the suitable inks, adhesives to laminate multi-part tickets, and the scratch-off coating materials used to conceal the number. These coatings are most often made using acrylic resins.
The Manufacturing
Process
Printing
- 1 Depending on the technique employed, tickets may be printed in a single stage (where all the information is printed at once) or in two stages (where the game information and secure numbers are printed separately). Game information includes details such as ticket prices, gaming rules, validation dates, prize information, and graphics to entice the consumer. Tickets can be printed by either a continuous feed process or by a sheet press process. In the continuous feed process a strip of paper ticket stock is fed into the computer controlled printer. In the sheet press method, ticket sheets are imprinted by engraved plates. After printing, the sheets are sliced into individual tickets. These tickets are then stacked and shuffled to ensure the lottery numbers are not in consecutive order. Winning tickets are randomly intermingled so there is a wide and preferred distribution of winners.
Serial number coding
- 2 Coded serial numbers and corresponding lottery numbers can be added to the tickets in several ways. The continuous printing process uses sequencers, which advance the serial number for each ticket when it passes through the press. These serial numbers go through a complex mathematical transformation (known as algorithmic conversion) to intermediate numbers, which are in a consecutive order. A second algorithmic converter operates on the intermediate number and generates the actual lottery number.
- In the sheet printing process, after the tickets have been cut and shuffled, they are fed into a serializer which adds a computer generated serial number. Depending on the process employed, these numbers can be conveniently printed with fast, computer operated ink jet printers. Sensors attached In order to prevent illegal tampering of a lottery ticket, an opaque covering in conjunction with confusion patterns is imprinted on the back and front of the ticket. These confusion patterns are random designs used to obscure the image when light is shined through the ticket.to the printers transmit information on speed and relative position of individual tickets as they are being printed. The computer then generates print control signals that cause the ink jet printers to simultaneously print book numbers and lottery numbers. By printing both these numbers at the same time from opposite facing printers, the front and back of the ticket can be printed at the same time. Similarly, tickets can be printed with a single printer which has a print head located on the top and bottom of the ticket face. After the printing process is complete and both the lottery and serial numbers have been added to the cards, the lottery number can be concealed.
How To Win The Lottery With Scratch Offs
Lottery number concealment
- 3 The tickets are sent through a cover applicator, which treats the ticket with one of several concealing coatings. One type of coating is an opaque metal foil, which is applied with pressure. A paper pulltab may also be used to conceal the number, although this method is not frequently used today. The preferred concealment method uses an acrylic film to cover the number. This type of coating is applied in several layers. First, the paper card surface is treated with a primer coating which prepares the surface to accept the other layers. Next, a confusion pattern, consisting of random lines or symbols the same color as the lottery numbers, is printed on top of the primer coat. The lottery numbers are printed on top of this layer, and a seal coat is applied over the numbers. The uppermost concealing covering is added next. This concealing coating contains highly opaque materials such as carbon black pigment or aluminum paste mixed with acrylic resins and appropriate solvents such as methyl ethyl ketone. The resulting coating effectively hides the numbers beneath but can be easily removed by rubbing. An additional confusion pattern is printed on top of this layer. Finally, an overprint layer featuring additional graphics or instructions may be printed on top.
Conversion and packaging
- 4 After the printing and coating processes are complete, additional converting operations may be performed on the tickets. These operations include slicing the tickets into rolls or perforating them for ease of dispensing. Finally, the tickets are boxed and readied for shipment to distributors. After delivery, the tickets are sold for use. When the ticket is purchased and the owner scratches off the covering, he or she reveals the ticket's winning status. The ticket is then taken to a ticket vendor to claim the prize, and the game operator inputs the serial number in their computer to decode it and confirm that the ticket is a winner. The ticket vendor then pays the customer and is subsequently reimbursed by the lottery operator.
The Future
Printing technology is continually evolving and this evolution is likely to lead to new methods for lottery ticket production. For example, improved encryption technology could result in the creation of more secure lottery numbers. Likewise, newly developed chemical methods of concealing lottery numbers could produce less expensive tickets than those currently used. Perhaps of more interest for the future are alternate ways in which games may be played. One method under consideration by the lottery commission involves a video terminal instead of a paper ticket. It is conceivable that at some time in the future, an instant lottery game could even be played over the Internet on a personal computer.
Where to Learn More
Books
Johnson, Ben E. Getting Lucky-Answers to Nearly Every Lottery Question You Can Ask. Chicago: Bonus Books, 1994.
Periodicals
Lotto Magazine
Other
The Lottery Collectors' Society. 1007 Lutrell St., Knoxville, TN 37917.