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$20 Lottery Scratch Off Tickets
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Last week, as my lovely wife was waiting in line at the supermarket checkout aisle, I wandered around. I don’t really enjoy waiting around for much of anything. It’s a mixture of impatience, attention deficit, and boredom, but in the time between putting the groceries on the belt and taking our bags to leave, I usually wander around the front of the store. I look at the piles of firewood, the coffee stand, some of the headlines on the newspapers, and I ended up looking at the cornucopia of scratch off lottery tickets in the automated dispenser.
That’s when I noticed that it sold twenty dollar scratch off tickets. (that’s one of them to the right) Twenty bucks… one card. The card probably had a bunch of games on it but the idea that there would be not one but three different $20 scratch off tickets was absolutely mind boggling. I was amazed. (as you can see, the letter “r” on my phone doesn’t work that great anymore)
What makes it even more remarkable is that it’s generally accepted that scratch off games offer the worst odds. The appeal is in the immediacy of the payoff. You scratch, you win, you walk into a store and get some cash. You don’t have to wait for a drawing, you have a little fun in scratching things off, and the ticket itself can be cheap ($1). The problem is that you probably won’t win anything.
A lot of other bloggers have done the $100 scratch off lottery game, where they buy a hundred $1 scratch off tickets and share their results. My favorite, and most entertaining, version of this was the $100 scratch off game by J Money. In his edition, he spent 90 minutes of his life and turned $100 into $38. If you want a way to turn $100 into $38 in less than 90 minutes, send me the crisp Franklin and I’ll send you back a Jackson, a Hamilton, a Lincoln, and three Washingtons. I’ll even cover postage.
Finally, if you are deadset on buying tickets… here are my secrets to how to win the lottery. 
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That’s a very interesting trade off, $100 for $62.
Lol meant to put “loss” after $62.
Florida offers a $20 millionaire raffle ticket around the holidays. They will have 10-20 winners every year and the odds are way better than any other loto deal as they limit the number of tickets they sell. I’ve never bought one though.
Awesome thread! I love the part when you mention, “I’ll even cover the postage!” Too funny.
It does highlight how crazy scratch offs can get and easy it is to blow literally hundreds of dollars in such a short time frame. I’m glad I don’t participate!
The only time I buy scratch tickets is during X-mas time because I insert them into my family’s cards.
It seems to me that scratch off tickets actually have better odds than other lottery tickets, and the higher the cost, the better the odds of at least winning your money back. Maybe it’s different here than down there though.
For entertainment in high school and sometimes after, we used to buy scratch tickets and keep trading them in until we won decently or lost our money. We often did pretty well actually.
I kind of like giving the 3 packs of $2 scratch card packs that cost 5 bucks bundled in with gifts and things. It’s a nice little addition and if someone ends up winning anything it would make for an awesome present. Other than that I generally don’t buy any lottery tickets, although I’m part of a group lotto buy at work.
Girl I dated years ago had an office pool like that. They went as far as to get a lawyer to draw up papers on the specifics of payout.
saladdin
Did they ever win?
If by “they” you mean the lawyers that got paid to draw up the agreement, then yes.
When I was working the union guys did it, twice they won big, enough for a few people to retire!!
No. Hence the reason she’s an ex.
saladdin
i saw a gift someone received and it was like an edible arrangement except on the end of the wooden dowel rods were scratch off tickets instead of fruits and such. They were one of the “certain sum of money per week/month for life.” It was cool because of the novelty. there had to be about 15-20 tickets. Creative to say the least
That’s a fun idea! My mom loves scratchers, so I will often put some in birthday cards, etc. A scratchers “bouquet” is a cool idea for a birthday present.
It is very interesting that lotteries are so popular. I play sometimes when the loot gets big enough, which is not much better since it has always been money down the drain. So stupid, but I still buy a ticket once in a great while.
megamillions goes over $150 mill then I buy 1 ticket on Fridays till someone wins. I will also throw in a couple if guys at work ask and have a large pool of people
I probably spend about $30/yr on scratchie cards. $20 of it consists of a $2 or $3 card bought to accompany bday gifts for relatives. The other $10 is about the total I spend on them for myself, buying a $2 or $2 ticket once every couple months.
I do get some enjoyment out of having the unscratched ticket in my desk drawer all day at work.
Then I usually get that empty, “I feel stupid” feeling after I scratch off a loser and tear the card up and drop it in my wastebasket under my cubicle.
That’s the way it goes, isn’t it? No sugar high without a crash… No getting drunk without the hangover… Can’t have good without the bad. Ah well.
I love the fact that lotteries are popular. The more money the government can get from the lottery, the less they need from taxes. In theory.
I buy a handful of PowerBall tickets in a given year, but I haven’t bought a scratch ticket in years.
About 10 years ago, I dropped by the grocery store to grab a frozen pizza on the way back into down after a weekend out of state. On the way out, I bought a $1 ticket and won $50. I’ve had a few $20+ winners … which is odd, since I doubt I’ve ever bought more than 5 scratch tickets in a given year.
In Iowa, they have “pull tab” machines with tickets that cost as little as 25 cents. Bascially, training wheels to allow you to get addicted.
There’s also the possibility that our casinos will add sports gambling soon.
A couple of years ago, they experimented with machines in restaurants, bars, and gas stations that were essentially mini slot machines. After several months, they axed the machine due to pressure from the actual casinos in the state. At which point they were sued for breach of contract by the private companies involved. They chose to settle out of court. That was a wise move, since it was pretty clear that they had breached the contract.
“The more money the government can get from the lottery, the less they need from taxes. In theory.”
Here in Ohio all the lottery money goes to public schools, which is nice
I buy a scratcher or two occasionally (probably spend $2-3 a month on them) because I think they are fun, but I would NEVER pay $20 for one. Wow. I guess I could save up and not buy any for 6 months, then buy one $20 one, but ugh, it’s just not appealing to me.
worst waste of money ever. i hate these things. how can someone justify spending $20 bucks on that?
Sorry for your luck! I justify spending 100 bucks on 5-20 dollar scratch offs and won 3 out if 5! 25,000, 500,000, and 10,000!! That’s how its justified! I’m rich and your complaining because u know ppl are out here winning and your not. LEARN HOW…HOW TO PLAY…and maybe your losing mentality will fade!
WHAT GAME DID YOU PLAY-I JUST WON ON 3 MILLION DOLLAR MONOPOLY-BUT IT WAS 4 WINNING NUMBERS-3 TWO’S AND A FIVE-TOTALLING ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS-I USUALLY WIN 25.00 PRIZE-50 PERCENT OF THE TIME.
haha…hey, you kindly forgot the $200+ we raised for charity on that one
but yes, I’m a stupid head.
and even more so for buying a $10 one for the first time ever last week! not as crazy as that $20 one, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t interested.
It was a great article! I enjoyed reading it when I came across it.
I will very occasionally buy a ticket for the draws, normally not when the sums get really high( the odds actually get worse on the higher jackpots), and occasionally I receive scratchers from someone for gifts. But the odds flat out suck, and generally the government uses any proceeds for a slush fund rather than going to schools as was the original mandate for the money where I grew up so I don’t see much point and the government tends to out spend any budget anyway.
Most I’ve ever seen won was a friend who won 100k from a scratch off. They have a picture of the 75k check (after 25% withholding tax).
saladdin
Several years ago an associate where I worked won several million on the CA Lottery. He was evidently hit by the “new money” syndrome because he returned just a few years later asking for his old job back. Sad.
I bet that happens more then you can imagine.
Great job!!! Who gives a hoot about the tax taken?!? U have to be greedy S.O.B. to give a damn about the state take! What’s left over is way more than u could ever start with..!!! I don’t care how much they take! I’m going to the bank everytime!
I occasionally buy a ticket when the jackpot is high, but I am amazed when people buy over 50 dollars worth of tickets per game. If they just saved their money, they would be much richer in life.
These people who spend large amounts of money on lottery or lotto tickets are mostly in the “get rich quick with little or no effort” frame of mind.
It’s the ‘get something for free’ attitude (and they doubtfully ever count in the money they’ve already lost) that keeps them from saving the money instead.
I don’t do gambling, and I don’t do lotteries either. Like the saying goes, it’s a tax for people who can’t do math.
I can definitely see the appeal in it, though. The thrill of the scratching, seeing if you win anything – I definitely get a kick out of that kind of thing when a fast food place is doing a promotion.
I rarely do any type of gambling or lottery play. The scratch off cards seem like such a waste, and I notice people looking for the quickest buck for no work happen to be the biggest consumers. I am now in a lottery pool at work, but that’s more to be with the group than anything else.
Many stores, both big and small, sell scratch-offs in either self-service machines or over the counter and the retailer gets a very small percentage of the sales.
At the beginning of the month when new game tickets come out (and checks come in) sales are very good.
Scratch-offs are so additive and yet so unrewarding. When I was a kid, my grandmother and I would buy an occasional scratch-off, but we actually were pretty lucky. We would win $20-50 pretty often. Since then, she has probably given all those winnings back and more.
The sad thing is that the people buying most of those tickets are the ones who can least afford to waste their money on them. The lottery is a sucker’s bet.
Very, very true my friend. I agree.
Let see buying lotto tickets and losing 38% in a few minutes or buying a hot stock and losing 68% over a few months. Both are speculating just a different poison I guess. At least with the lotto ticket it’s over quickly versus the agony of unrealistic hope of a turn around with the stock.
I’m so glad someone took the time to do this challenge! I have always wanted to do it just to see what the results would be. I don’t play the lottery except for the occasional ticket i might get or give as a gift for Christmas or maybe once or twice a year someone at work wants to throw in for a bunch of tickets.
Don’t play the lottery if you want to get rich, do it if you like to donate your cash to education….without the tax write off.
I’m glad it goes to education, but its also the pooer demographic that plays constantly. They dont have the money to be wasting on it.
lol I’ve never actually bought a lottery ticket before. Don’t plan on starting any time soon.
I like the lottery. I realize it is a tax for the stupid. However, if you look at it as an entertainment expense and not an investment, then I see no problem with it. Somebody has to win, right?
So I guess you didn’t buy one of these?
Maybe you could buy one and let people bid for it with Bargaineering Bucks (don’t scratch it off until after the auction ends).
$20 lottery tickets from a machine. Seriously? 38% payback…that’s lower than slot machines…hmm.
This is probably the best case for legalizing casinos or at least slot machines. Don’t they pay 60% or more? My goodness…what a ripoff.
The real losers are all you boring, no-life, no-adventure having, save my money and drive a prius commenters. Funny how you do have the time writing about how bad it is. If you don’t do it or recommend it then how do you know its bad. Get a real fun life losers. You’ll realize what I’m talking about when your buying scratchers one day when ur mate leaves you cause your so effen boring!!! Lol!
Troll alert! (TROLL-Person who tries to start fights over the safety of the internet, best to ignore them)
If you are someone you know hits the lottery a big payoff/ make sure you owe no federal taxes,student loans, child support, or any outstanding hospital bills that are registered in Austin, Texas connections because you will not see your money, you won until all the other collectors are paid off……
This comment does not reflect the views are the opinions of the Texas lottery but is true experienced participator…..Listen and read…..
I does seeem strange that people that don’t like lotto is in here urging others to not like them. I buy $70 a day, then at the end of the week cash all the winners at once. I bring in a huge stack. Its like $250 and all the people in line cant believe all the cash I’m getting paid out. Lotto is soooo mcuh fun, I’m never stopping, even if I’m destitude.
Hey brother!! Me and you are on the same gravy train baby! I couldn’t agree more! Ppl try to discourage other because they fail at success! Plz ppl!…don’t fall into their misery! They want u to fail like them. The saying holds true: “MISERY LOVES THAT BITCHES COMPANY”!! Keep doing you Luke! I smell a jackpot coming buddy!!
Do you have a positive net worth? Do you know what net worth means?
70 A DAY EQUALS 490-IN ONE WEEK-SO WHEN YOU SPEND 490 DOLLARS A WEEK-WHY IS IT YOU ARE HAPPY WHEN YOU ONLY GET BACK HALF OF WHAT YOU SPENT?BE CAREFUL OF GAMBLING-IN THE END-NUMBERS REMAIN NUMBERS-IN WHICHEVER ORDER THEY DECIDE TO APPEAR-DIGITALLY-SCRATCHABLY-OR ACTUALLY.GOOD LUCK-AND BLESSINGS TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY-AND TO EVERYONE IN THIS COOL FORUM.
won $500 last month, $100 today, spend only $10 every two weeks, you do the math.
The worst thing about scratch tickets are the odds, the lottery says 1 in 5 chances of winning its an estimate way off what they do is calculate the number of tickets that are in a single game and the number of actual winners in that single game and divide them and thats the odds divided out, I looked on my states lottery website and for a 2 dollar scratch ticket game the total amount of 2 dollar winning tickets are 284,000 the next amount 5 dollar winning tickets in that same game are 17,000 so with 1,300,453 total tickets for 1 single 2 dollar game with 380,000 winning tickets, all I can say is you never know just buy 1 ticket if you dont win then say better luck next time, the lottery is only a game, you dont always win but you can sometimes
I’ve been having better luck with the Scratch offs, But, You have to obtain many to get results with patience, When I get the feeling, I don’t know what it is,” Intuition!” “Or What?” Is when I play, Everyone has to have a good day or more, Within the month. When you get that feeling go for it.
I’ve hit Ten Scratch offs in a row, Recently, The whole ten strip. won’t mention the amount, But, It covered me nice. Good Luck to All!
I personally know 2 people who have won big, one 30 k and the other 18 k I would still never buy the 20 dollar tickets but I have fun with the occasional small ones, they are entertaining and I may just be the next winner!
you don’t play there is no chance to win or loose… you play atleast there is a chance.
My buddy at work won 1 million on a $20 ticket three years ago. So…if it can happen to him…
i think its ignorant for people to say ( if your going to waste money like that just send it to me) are you stupid? people pay for the chance to win a ton of money.. they dont just “waste” the money.. ur fat azz probabily spend more money on hamburgers than people play scratch offs.. i had morons say ( just give the money to me if your going to buy scratch off’s) untill i won 50,000 from a 10$ scratch off.. and said see moron i spent about 200$ in my life on scratch off’s and now i have a extra 50 thousand.. what did you get for not playing? Exactly….
I like your screen name. Are you calling yourself an idiot? People get so heated over lottery topics. Very funny!!!
Odds have nothing to do with scratch offs// if you play just 1 scratch off.. it will always be 50/50 chance because even if there is a win after 5 tickets.. 5 people could of bought a ticket before you.. making yours a winner.. or you can buy 1.. loose and 4 more buy.. and you buy another after that and win..
Lotto tickets are my retirement plan. Basically the only way I’ll ever be able to retire is if I hit a mil. Then I’ll stop playing. Remember, you cant win if you don’t play.Must focus on whats inside the box. Ignore everything else.Good news is the MA lottery has a payout of 53% which is better than most states.
In the summer of 2010, I decided to play $100 on $20 lotto tickets. I wanted to see how often it was that you won at least $100. What I found was that 1 in 4 tickets really do win $100. My original 5 tickets purchased for $100 dollars allowed me to buy an additional 48 yes 48 $20 scratch off tickets before I decided to call it quits with $80 remaining. So I was able to 53 $20 games for $100 of my original money and walked away with only having spent $20 on an hour of fun.
I am an avid casino-goer and I buy lotto tickets about everyday. I occasionally play the “draw games” (powerball, mega millions etc) but I buy scratch offs almost daily. I used to play 1,2 and 5s – but within the past few weeks I’ve been buying 20s. I only buy 1-3 a day and I’ve done a lot better on them. I don’t always win but I usually get even or close to it. I’m
In Ohio so I can’t speak for other states, but the ones I buy have a 75% payout so that’s a lot better than the other cheaper tickets. If I’ve learned one thing from the casino: you have to bet big to win big. Good luck everyone : )
WoW! I can’t believe how many sore, broke losers are complaining! Let me tell u a short but true story. I used to play the scratch offs and bitch about never ever winning okay. I used to just walk in the store and buy a ticket, lose and then bitch about losing! Until I start thinking and using the brain that God screwed inside of my skull, and start strategizing. I begin to time myself and ask questions at the store about what’s losing and what’s winning, then and only then, will I buy. If u go in and bitch, u will come out the sore loser u make yourself to be. If u walk in with good intentions and a thinking mans brain, its guaranteed u will win! U might just get lucky the 1st try! Youll thank me for it thru the universe when I win big! Oh yeah…don’t buy 1.00 scratch offs…its a poor man’s hopelessness. Buy 10.00 or 20.00. If u can’t afford that buy 5.00 and stick to it! You have to be a attack mode! Don’t forget to ask the questions and go against the grain of the answers given to you…then u buy. Good luck and STOP BITCHIN’! Use your noggin’!
“If u walk in with good intentions and a thinking mans brain, its guaranteed u will win! ”
Really????
Well let me say this….I play scratch offs more than anyone in here..that’s fact….just because people can afford to lose their Ass and you can’t….Don’t knock em…just yesterday I bought a 10$ ticket…one ticket and bang 100$ winner…it happens…don’t ever give up….in order to appreciate the success can’t be afraid to fail
I do buy scratch offs..I spend $20 or less a week(If a ticket is a winner I use the $20 ONLY from it the following week to buy my tickets). I usually buy the $5 ones and due to the odds win min $5 and up.
I never used to buy scratchoffs for myself, only to put in b-day and x-mas cards sometimes. Last year I bought a co-worker a $5.00 scratch-off for X-mas and she won $100. Since then I’ve decided to try my luck by spending $20 a month on them… So far I’ve only won $27 and I’ve been doing this since the beginning of the year… Oh well…