What factors to decide when buying a scratch-off ticket?

Reply #2

redhot7 — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 04:45:47 GMT

I agree but there are certain circumstances in which #4 is not that important, even though there are thousands of grand prizes still available. Here in my state, we have Hot $500 and Hot $100 that have 6,400 and 9,730 grand prizes still available respectively. But the overall cash odds of these games are 1 in 7.59 and 1 in 9.15 respectively. I don't have good results from buying those games. With other games with higher odds, I either close to break even or make a profit. With these 2 games, I h... [ More ]

Reply #1

Fondant — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 03:51:39 GMT

#4 of your reasons is a big reason, as is #6... but I would have to add a #7 - How much cash do I have in my wallet... that one actually would be my #1 most important factor for me. No cash = no ticket.

What factors to decide when buying a scratch-off ticket?

redhot7 — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 03:33:51 GMT

What is the most important factor when buying a scratch ticket?

Initially, I bought any ticket I liked at random but as I gained more experience, I started to look at the game characteristics more closely.

This is how I strategize:

Starting from the most to the least important factors:

1. Overall cash odds

2. Ticket price

3. Grand Prize

4. Number of grand prizes still available

5. Grand prize odds

6. Ticket look and design