# MA Lottery Ticket mystery.... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 21, 2011, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ma-lottery-ticket-mystery/589858 "2011-07-21T15:13:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ecoaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/85e7bf/32.png) [@ecoaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ecoaster)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2011, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ma-lottery-ticket-mystery/589858/1 "2011-07-21T15:13:43Z")
or maybe I’m an idiot. In MA, the Lifetime Spectacular scratch ticket is a simple number-matching ticket with three symbols that increase your winnings. However there are also certain letters that are reveled under the numbers on certain tickets, for example: V N F, N E W, T R E, T Y H (each set of three is on a different ticket, and each letter is alone in a window under a number). These letters appear on both winning and non-winning tickets…but I’m wondering if you can win just based on the letters alone. The guy at the corner store tried explaining it to me, but I couldn’t understand because his English is so poor. He seemed to be saying certain letters made the ticket a winner, but others did not, but I’m really not sure. There is no mention of these numbers on the back of the ticket or anywhere on the state lotto website. I’ve searched high and low. Can anyone help me? ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2011, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ma-lottery-ticket-mystery/589858/2 "2011-07-21T17:06:57Z")
Some sets of letters spell out an abbreviation for a winning amount. Ex. TWY - $20 FVE - $5 TEN - $10 TWO - $4 ONE - $1 FRT (? I can’t remember exactly) - $40 and so on. I used to have them all memorized because I sold lottery tickets and saw them all the time. I don’t know if it’s true but a customer once told me that high value winning tickets have meaningless codes so you can’t tell for sure if you’ve won just by finding the code. I’ve never seen a winner over $500 (and I don’t remember what the code was for that one) so I don’t know if it’s true or not. In any case, if I get a ticket and I get see the code before I’m done scratching, if it’s a known code for a winner, I stop wasting my time and cash it in. If it’s a non-code, I keep scratching on the off chance that my customer was telling the truth. Yes, this is based on experience buying and selling scratch tickets in MA. Edit to add: [Here you go.](http://www.scratchoffcodes.com/massachusetts/) ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2011, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ma-lottery-ticket-mystery/589858/3 "2011-07-21T17:30:30Z")
> [@congodwarf](#): > > FRT (? I can’t remember exactly) - $40 $14. You win a FoRTnight of dollars. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2011, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ma-lottery-ticket-mystery/589858/4 "2011-07-21T17:57:49Z")
I too have heard that the big winners have meaningless symbols to prevent forgery. Many years ago St. Jude’s hospital received an anonymous envelope containing the million dollar instant winning piece from that year’s McDonald’s monopoly game. I lived in Memphis at the time, so I saw a lot of news coverage, and I remember a McDonald’s spokesperson saying they’d examined the thing and it contained all the meaningless symbols they’d put on the winning piece, and that allowed them to determine it was genuine. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2011, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ma-lottery-ticket-mystery/589858/5 "2011-07-21T21:57:35Z")
From **congodwarf** ’s link, **Raegan** wrote > [@](#): > > …every time i know i won something the ppl at a store near me say oh its nuthin then tries to keep the tix ,so when they say its nuthin i take back. they say they cant check if its not a winner because it will shut the machine down!!.. to which **Scott** replied > [@](#): > > Lottery agents can only scan 3 losing tickets per day. The first time one is scanned, nothing happens. The second time, they have to scratch off the VOID IF REMOVED code for every single ticket and type it in. The third time, the machine shuts down for the day and can’t scan any more tickets until the next day. > > Codes over $500 are just the same as “losing” codes, with no correspondence to the amount won. So if you only scratch off the codes and not the actual game numbers, you’ll never know if you won above $500. They get dinged for scanning a losing ticket? Or a winner over $500? Is this true? Why would this be? ---
**Author:** ![GuinnessGulper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@GuinnessGulper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuinnessGulper)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ma-lottery-ticket-mystery/589858/6 "2011-08-10T19:17:48Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > From **congodwarf** ’s link, **Raegan** wrote > to which **Scott** replied > They get dinged for scanning a losing ticket? Or a winner over $500? Is this true? Why would this be? they could scan unsold tickets then sell only the losers and buy the winners themselves. They can scan a big winner but can’t pay them out as 600 or more must be claimed at a lottery office. big big winners have to be claimed at the HQ only. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ma-lottery-ticket-mystery/589858/7 "2011-08-10T22:57:48Z")
Yes, you can tell. I once found a stack of partially scratched, discarded tickets. Only the outer edges were scratched. At the time, I was unaware of the codes’ meanings, so I took 'em home, hoping someone was just stupid. I scratched them all completely, and they were all losers. Some only had one letter scratched - but if the first letter was a z, or a b, for example, the gambler knew immediately that no code had that letter, and he tossed it aside. ETA : The CA lottery stopped using the codes a few years ago. My guess is that unscrupulous retailers would scratch the letters, knowing that most customers had no idea that the codes existed. Joe ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ma-lottery-ticket-mystery/589858/8 "2011-08-10T23:08:09Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > From **congodwarf** ’s link, **Raegan** wrote > to which **Scott** replied > They get dinged for scanning a losing ticket? Or a winner over $500? Is this true? Why would this be? That’s craziness. There is no “void if scratched” area on any tickets I’ve sold or bought, in CA or NJ. There are code numbers that MUST be revealed by scratching, in order to cash or check ANY ticket, winning or losing. People are so fricking 1) stupid, 2) illiterate, or 3) non-English-speaking that having a “Void if Scratched” area is really a terrible idea. Joe ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ma-lottery-ticket-mystery/589858/9 "2011-08-10T23:24:34Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > From **congodwarf** ’s link, **Raegan** wrote > to which **Scott** replied > They get dinged for scanning a losing ticket? Or a winner over $500? Is this true? Why would this be? I’m gonna be a sonofabitch and say, “My god, the people who post on that site are idiots!” At the link to Massachusetts’ codes above, there is a full chart of the winning codes. Right below that are people asking, “Is this a winning code? Is that a winning code?” First, consult the chart. Second, READ THE FUCKING INSTRUCTIONS ON THE TICKET! If it says “Match Three and Win!!!”, did you FUCKING match three? No? Well there ya go. You know enough to post on a lottery code website asking if you have a winning code, but not how to play your scratcher? Just fucking empty your pockets over the garbage disposal Atlantic Ocean. Joe