Wondering how to win the lottery? Like scratch offs?
Well, I’ve got good news!
If you’re thinking of buying scratch off lottery tickets, then you’ll be glad to know that there are some simple things you can do to improve your chances of choosing a winning scratch off ticket.
First, check out this interesting video which takes you behind the scenes to see:
- How scratch off tickets are made; and
- How special measures are put into place to prevent cheating.
Now, here are 5 ways to increase your odds of winning with lottery scratch off tickets:
#1 – Buy scratch tickets from stores with fewer customers.
Every new roll of lottery scratch off tickets is guaranteed a certain number of winners — which vary by game.
This is not to say that these will all be big winners. In fact, one-dollar winning tickets are far more common than $500, $1,000, or jackpot winners.
Regardless, every time a winning ticket is bought from a roll, the odds of buying another winning ticket naturally become slimmer.
Therefore, experts recommend staying away from busy stores that sell multiple tickets daily — because more players translates into more winners.
#2 – Check the lottery’s homepage to see which games have been won.
Every scratch off game has a given number of top prizes. However, it is perfectly legal for a retailer to continue selling the rest of its tickets after all the top prizes have already been claimed.
Some might post a disclaimer where the lottery scratch tickets are sold, but most will not.
Fortunately, this information is available on the state’s lottery homepage.
Therefore, if your goal when playing is to win big prizes, you should first check to see:
- Which prizes have not yet been claimed.
- What games still have plenty of available prizes. (Those are the best scratch tickets to buy.)
Logically, the newest games will typically have the most unclaimed prizes — so try to find a retailer that sells these games.
When a new game is released, it will be published on the state’s lottery website.
#3 – Avoid rolls of tickets that have already had a big winner.
Because every roll has a set number of winners, your odds of getting a winning ticket when you buy from a given roll naturally decrease every time someone else buys a winner from that roll.
Therefore, if you know a roll has had winners, avoid buying from it!
Sometimes the sales clerk will be able to tell you if they remember recently cashing out a winning ticket from a roll. It never hurts to ask.
Also, you can ask what the number of the next ticket on the roll is.
You see… every roll begins with ticket number “000” — so the higher the number, the greater the likelihood that somebody has already bought one or all of the winning tickets in that roll of scratch offs. You want to avoid scratch off tickets with higher numbers.
#4 – Stagger your scratch off ticket purchases or buy in bulk.
Seven-time state lottery grand prize winner Richard Lustig argues that it’s better to buy several tickets in a row from the same roll than to randomly buy scratch tickets from various rolls.
Contrary to intuition, given initial odds of 1 in 3, the probability of getting a winner actually increases with every losing ticket you buy.
In other words, if you buy a loser, the next ticket on the roll has a greater likelihood than 1 in 3 of being a winner. The odds of winning the lottery continue to improve with every losing ticket.
By contrast, when you abandon one roll and buy a ticket from another, then your odds start again at 1 in 3.
Therefore, Lustig’s method uses probability to his advantage by sticking to the same game.
However, keep in mind that once you buy a winning ticket, the probability of the next ticket being a winner greatly decreases. So if the last ticket in the bulk set of scratch offs you purchase is a winner, you should avoid returning to the store and buying from the same roll that had the winning ticket in it.
If you’re wondering how Lustig won the Florida lottery 7 times, here’s the breakdown:
- 3 Florida Fantasy 5 lotteries
- 1 Florida Mega Money lottery
- 3 Florida lottery scratch offs
#5 – Choose scratch off lottery tickets with the best odds.
Perhaps the most obvious way to improve your chances of buying a winner is to check the odds a particular game has of winning before you make the purchase.
Check the state’s lottery homepage for this information or ask the sales clerk where you buy the ticket. The odds will be printed on the back of the lottery ticket as well.
As a general rule, more expensive tickets have greater odds of winning and greater payoffs while cheaper tickets tend to carry lower chances of winning and smaller payoffs.
Make no mistake, the lottery is a gamble no matter how you play it, and it didn’t become a multi-million dollar industry due to its large output of winners.
Though the odds of winning the lottery are stacked against you, there are still ways of improving you chances and enjoying the game while avoiding the pain of strong losses.
Always remember to play smart, play responsibly, and know when to walk away.
My goal here is provide you with some practical and useful tips showing how to win the lottery… or at least how to increase your odds of winning the lottery.
If you’ve won the lottery and you have any other helpful tips, let me know!
More Scratch Off Ticket Tips
Always on the lookout for a good bargain, I consider myself a frugal person — but not cheap. And not afraid to spend money on the things that matter.
I like to share good deals with others when I find them. One of my favorite ways to save money is to reuse items in ways other than their intended purpose — so I write a lot about outside-the-box ideas that most people wouldn’t think of!
When I’m not saving money or looking for good deals, you’ll find me at the corner of Good News & Fun Times as publisher of The Fun Times Guide (32 fun & helpful websites).
