# Anyone Play Scratch Off Lotteries ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 30, 2019, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-play-scratch-off-lotteries/842718 "2019-10-30T22:25:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jim\_Taggart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9dc877/32.png) [@Jim\_Taggart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_Taggart)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-play-scratch-off-lotteries/842718/1 "2019-10-30T22:25:57Z")
Does anyone play scratch off lotteries ? I might have to make a new years resolution to scale back, been dropping 100-125 a week on them, maybe making back around 20. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-play-scratch-off-lotteries/842718/2 "2019-10-30T22:28:01Z")
Did you get $80-105 worth of enjoyment out of the activity? If not, then yeah, find a better use for your money. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-play-scratch-off-lotteries/842718/3 "2019-10-30T22:32:41Z")
The first time I ever played one I won $50. After spending at least $50 on more tickets in about a week I decided not to bother anymore. It could form a pattern for me, way back when they started the PA instant lottery I bought one ticket, and then won 2 more tickets from that ticket, and 2 more from both of those tickets, and eventually had a huge pile of tickets with not a single win. I tried a few more times, turns out the odds of winning new tickets was pretty high. The odds of winning money? Pretty low. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-play-scratch-off-lotteries/842718/4 "2019-10-30T22:38:06Z")
Do you have something you’d like to buy for yourself? Every time you think about buying a lottery ticket, drop the money into a jar instead. Eventually, you might actually “win” the prize you’re after. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-play-scratch-off-lotteries/842718/5 "2019-10-30T23:38:42Z")
If you’re playing with the end goal of making money, don’t. The entire industry is predicated on the fact that doesn’t work. If you’re just buying for the thrill of the gamble, well, that’s not the most expensive way to burn money. Just make sure to budget it so that you’re okay even if you lose it all. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-play-scratch-off-lotteries/842718/6 "2019-10-30T23:41:06Z")
Man oh man that’s a chunk of money to waste on tickets. Stop. Not good. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-play-scratch-off-lotteries/842718/7 "2019-10-30T23:55:29Z")
This may be obvious, but a hundred bucks a week means about $5,000 each year. That’s a lot. It could be a nice vacation somewhere, or a good start on a savings account. Would it make any difference if you limited your spending to ten bucks a week? ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2019, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-play-scratch-off-lotteries/842718/8 "2019-10-31T04:03:19Z")
Every time I look at lotto drawings or whatever, I remember that lottery tickets are kinda like a stupid tax: they’re a tax on people who are bad at math. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2019, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-play-scratch-off-lotteries/842718/9 "2019-10-31T04:15:22Z")
No. Never. I buy a regular ticket on the day after a drawing and stick it to the fridge so I can dream for a few days. I wait to see if the Action Nine News Team has set up at my 7-11. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2019, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-play-scratch-off-lotteries/842718/10 "2019-10-31T04:29:40Z")
I hang out at a bar with a lot of bad examples: Lottery Addicts, guys who spend a hundred on Pull Tabs, and one dude who often loses\* over a thousand\* in one weekend betting on college and pro football. > [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > Every time I look at lotto drawings or whatever, I remember that lottery tickets are kinda like a stupid tax: they’re a tax on people who are bad at math. I had a chance to design billboards for our state lottery, but I was conflicted enough that I just had fun with the pitch. I mocked up billboards with headlines like “Just Think Of It As An Ignorance Tax”, “Do You Have Too Much Money at The End of the Month?” and “For People Who Feel Like They’re Not Paying Enough State Tax…” Wish I’d thought of a tax on people who are bad at math. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2019, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-play-scratch-off-lotteries/842718/11 "2019-10-31T09:17:09Z")
I never gamble in the hope of winning. Which means I barely ever gamble. If I do, it’s just for the fun of it - a bet on a big race, where I can take timer and pleasure pouring through the papers and choosing bets then watching it on TV, or taking part in the office sweepstake for the winner of the rugby world cup, where we get to banter about our winning potential for about 4 weeks. I only ever buy a scratch card for fun, and usually as a daft present for someone. I do that maybe once every 3 years. If you’re doing it in the sincere hope of winning money, you should stop. And to be honest, it sounds like you need some help to get there. ---
**Author:** ![TheCuse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thecuse/32/2854_2.png) [@TheCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheCuse)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2019, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-play-scratch-off-lotteries/842718/12 "2019-10-31T12:03:01Z")
I never play them. But I know a few folks who drop $40–$50 every morning on the dang things. I don’t think they’ve hit it big as they’re still working and buying more and more each day. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2019, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-play-scratch-off-lotteries/842718/13 "2019-10-31T12:41:04Z")
When there are Crossword scratchoffs available, I will occasionally buy two of them as part of a 4 mile walk. Sure the cost is at least $10 but the alternative is I might not be motivated to walk otherwise. And when I’m walking for exercise, my smart phone is too cumbersome to take with me for an alternate source of entertainment. I don’t play scratchoffs other than crosswords since they don’t provide more than a minute or so of entertainment. ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2019, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-play-scratch-off-lotteries/842718/14 "2019-10-31T12:44:53Z")
Every once in a while, scratchies don’t tickle my “what if I win” button. Regular lotto is a $1 ticket a week. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2019, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-play-scratch-off-lotteries/842718/15 "2019-10-31T13:58:10Z")
I play the Mega-Bucks lottery… mentally. Once a week I pick numbers (if it’s a busy week I write them down\*), then I stay away from anywhere I could actually buy a ticket… Then I make sure I’ve got the TV on when they announce the winners. And in eleven years of playing, I’ve never matched more than three numbers. It’s usually none or only one. So, if I’d really been plunking down a couple of bucks at the gas station every week, I’d’ve made $38. And it only would have cost me over a thousand to do it! \*I really should mock up a Mega-Bucks slip, place the image in InDesign, and type my guesses in every week… Idea: you could test the odds (or your “luck”) immediately by picking a series of numbers and looking up an archive of past winning numbers from your chosen lottery. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2019, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-play-scratch-off-lotteries/842718/16 "2019-10-31T14:04:25Z")
I’ve read, but have not confirmed, that there are strategies to allow one to improve the odds in scratch-off games. For example, a given game might have 100,000 tickets with a million-dollar grand prize and I believe the state lottery websites list how many tickets remain and which prizes have been won. It may be that three-quarters of the tickets have already been sold but no one has yet won the grand prize. Or in another game, only a small number of tickets were sold but the grand prize has already been claimed. So if you’re clever, you want to buy tickets for the former game but not the latter one. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2019, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-play-scratch-off-lotteries/842718/17 "2019-10-31T14:22:07Z")
Yeah, I’ve played them. I haven’t done that in quite a while though. I always lose. As a bit of info, I consider a $1 or $2 win, or a free ticket as losing. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2019, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-play-scratch-off-lotteries/842718/18 "2019-10-31T15:10:08Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > Every time I look at lotto drawings or whatever, I remember that lottery tickets are kinda like a stupid tax: they’re a tax on people who are bad at math. I won $50,000 on a $2 Powerball ticket. I’m thousands of dollars ahead of the game and will be for a long while. You can’t win if you don’t play. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2019, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-play-scratch-off-lotteries/842718/19 "2019-10-31T15:48:30Z")
> [@racer72](#): > > I won $50,000 on a $2 Powerball ticket. I’m thousands of dollars ahead of the game and will be for a long while. You can’t win if you don’t play. You also can’t lose if you don’t play. Playing the lottery is not necessarily stupid. But some of the thoughts and attitudes held by some of the people who play are (e.g. “if I just keep playing long enough, I’ll eventually come out ahead”). ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2019, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-play-scratch-off-lotteries/842718/20 "2019-10-31T19:34:52Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > Every time I look at lotto drawings or whatever, I remember that lottery tickets are kinda like a stupid tax: they’re a tax on people who are bad at math. Frankly, I find this to be condescending and self-righteous. Most of us will drop a few bucks now and then, because it’s fun to buy into the fantasy of winning lots of money, even though we are quite aware it’s not likely to happen. No need to be a judgmental curmudgeon about it. And those who gamble more than they can afford to lose are addicts who need help, not scorn. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-play-scratch-off-lotteries/842718.md?page=2)