College Student Who Just Got into Scratchers – Advice?

Reply #27

JackpotWanna — Tue, 28 Oct 2014 04:25:12 GMT

Play once in a blue moon and invest in mutual funds. Your future self will thank you.

Reply #26

RJOh — Thu, 23 Oct 2014 19:10:00 GMT

Only spend what you can afford to lose because 80% of all scratchers are losers.

Reply #25

MattfromPA — Thu, 23 Oct 2014 18:49:52 GMT

The best advice is don't spend more than you can afford - make it just fun. Otherwise it gets stressful. I haven't had good luck overall with PA tickets, so also better to space things out. Playing every day can get you more addicted. And it's ok to buy more than 1 ticket, but chasing a win rarely works.

Reply #24

JoshUK — Thu, 23 Oct 2014 16:02:11 GMT

I've never played scratchers, just not my thing but if you're looking to maximize the enjoyment then I would get the Crossword or the Wordsearch scratchers, they seem to take the longest to scratch and I guess you could stretch it out by doing it throughout the day.... or even do a word everyday when you wake up. I suck at ideas sorry

Reply #23

dr65 — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 04:14:22 GMT

Try telling anyone who hasn't won a top prize on an instant that they aren't junk. Hey, maybe I think $2 cards aren't

that bad because MOI won a top prize on one...helluva lot better than a $100 on a $5 card, which, btw I win enough

$100's on so as it is...you know why? Because I play enough of them. They have as much filler as the $2 cards and

if you don't like considering a FREE ticket a win, maybe the OP does or will. Personally, I don't.

Funny the OP hasn't chimed in lately...may... [ More ]

Reply #22

Scratch$ — Mon, 29 Sep 2014 17:11:09 GMT

$2 cards are worthless. $5 cards have considerably higher top prizes and noticeably better odds of winning a prize.

You're just flushing your money down the toilet with $2 garbage cards. I've hit several $100 cards playing $5's, while every single person I know who plays $2's loses money virtually every time.

The sister of an acquaintance of mine won $250 grand on a $5 card - try telling her they're junk . The typical top prize on a $2 card is only around $20 grand.

Better to buy two $5... [ More ]

Reply #21

dr65 — Mon, 29 Sep 2014 10:10:39 GMT

$20 cards give the best bang for the buck.

$10 are the next biggest bang.

$5 cards are junk and need only be played here and there and at 4 max at a time. OR 1 from each slot of a

row in a IVM.

We are talking budget here and a budget seldom includes lottery at all. The overall feeling I get from the OP's

post is that s/he is going to try the instants and is looking for advice on just how to do it right.

There is no right but there is a way to do it.

Research on the PA lotter... [ More ]

Reply #20

Scratch$ — Fri, 26 Sep 2014 14:56:19 GMT

Beware of bad advice!

$5 cards are clearly superior to $2 cards. The prizes are substantially larger, and the odds of winning prizes are noticeably better with the $5 cards. Don't take my word for it - research it yourself on the PA lottery website.

For individuals on a budget, $5 cards give by far the best bang for the buck .

Reply #19

dr65 — Thu, 25 Sep 2014 17:30:14 GMT

Buddios..here we go. Honestly.

Buy $2 tickets only. If you have $5 to spare per week, get them early and get then on Friday and keep

to your budget. FRIDAYS, $5.00

Get 2 from the same slot and one $1 Frenzy ticket.

Don't even attempt the $20 tickets and you should stay away from the $10's too.

Most $5's suck.

IF you are just starting out, the lure of winning $100 on a $5 or $10 ticket is going to be too much. It doesn't happen

as much as it should and if you have $50, that's... [ More ]

Reply #18

GetReal720 — Thu, 25 Sep 2014 12:51:18 GMT

The main reason I recommend against it is that, if you have money to spend on the lottery

then you have money to put towards your student loans. Again your finances or your finaical

situation are none of my business but unless your going on a full scholarship or have someone

else paying for it then please consider my advice:

I graduated two and a half years ago with a degree in Computer Science. I spent five years at

the University of Pittsburgh and nearly $60,000 all in. Of... [ More ]

Reply #17

Scratch$ — Thu, 25 Sep 2014 05:16:17 GMT

Win It All and Red Hot Crossword are both good $5 cards.

$1 and $2 cards in Pennsylvania suck, the top prizes are just too lame to justify buying them. If your budget is on the lean side and $10 cards are a little too steep, go with the $5 cards.

Good luck

Reply #16

biggwinner — Wed, 24 Sep 2014 22:56:52 GMT

If you can only afford to spend a few dollars you will probably have more fun buying a ticket to the daily draw games instead of scratchers. Try the pick three game which usually pays $500 for a win.

In playing the lottery most of the fun comes from the anticipation of winning. Draw games make you wait until the draw to find out if you won, so you have more time to anticipate your win. With scratchers you win or lose instantly, so the fun doesn't last very long.

Reply #15

goherd14 — Wed, 24 Sep 2014 22:19:09 GMT

Play once in a blue moon or not at all! The most i ever won in college on a scratch off was $36 and you would have thought it was $500! It was a $2 or $1 ticket. I very rarely played though. It is not a good habit to pick up and from reading the boards PA is not a state with good odds.

Reply #14

MDguy — Wed, 24 Sep 2014 21:09:52 GMT

I would advise that you put as little money as possible into playing scratch offs.

Reply #13

Buddios — Wed, 24 Sep 2014 18:05:05 GMT

What are some good $5 cards? And are the $1 and $2 scratchers ever worth playing

Reply #12

Scratch$ — Wed, 24 Sep 2014 17:35:19 GMT

In the PA Lottery, I would recommend 10X The Money and Aces High - both $10 cards. If you want some recommendations on $5 cards, let me know.

The payout on a lot of PA scratchers is weak, considering it's such a large state. $10 card top prizes usually only pay 300 grand in PA, compared to $1 Million in NC.

Reply #11

Buddios — Wed, 24 Sep 2014 17:04:36 GMT

I am! Philadelphia, to be specific. Are you familiar with PA lottery? I'm coming from a different state, so the scratchers are a bit different here.

Reply #10

Scratch$ — Wed, 24 Sep 2014 17:02:09 GMT

Are you going to school in Pennsylvania

Reply #9

Scratch$ — Wed, 24 Sep 2014 15:02:23 GMT

And like I said, most college freshmen can't afford to buy an entire roll. Many don't have even a part-time job. Little to no income makes it pretty hard to save up and buy scratchers by the roll. Most of the people I know who work full-time for a living can't even afford to buy by the roll.

Reply #8

Lildarryl — Wed, 24 Sep 2014 14:38:54 GMT

They can read though. I said. Save money. Til you can afford entire roll.

Reply #7

Scratch$ — Wed, 24 Sep 2014 14:31:59 GMT

Not many college freshmen have the money to buy an entire roll of scratchers - they might graduate before they could afford just one roll!

For those on a limited budget, I recommend buying ten of the same card at one time. Do your research and only get the ones with the most top prizes left.

Reply #6

Lildarryl — Wed, 24 Sep 2014 13:05:52 GMT

Save your money til you can buy a whole roll...

Only buy roll of new games. Find out what day. New games drop in your state..

Find out what stores in your area has sold big winners before

Learn a lot from your states lottery website

When you buy a roll. 1 of 3 things happen. You break even. You lose. Or you profit.

Once you win. Take the winning. And wait again for perfect time to buy whole roll of new game at a known winning store..

I only buy $10 tickets

Using t... [ More ]

Reply #5

GetReal720 — Wed, 24 Sep 2014 12:49:17 GMT

Only play the money you can comfortably afford to lose. If you lost the money you were going to play,

it shouldn't put any financial pressure or stress on you at all.

I don't know your finances or your financial situation but your probably better off not playing at all. I'm

paying back my student loans now, and if I had done just a few things different while earning my degree

I wouldn't be in nearly so much debt.

If you really want to my suggestions are to buy at l... [ More ]

Reply #4

Scratch$ — Wed, 24 Sep 2014 05:13:33 GMT

Don't waste your money/time on cards costing less than $5. On the other hand, assuming you're a typical college student who doesn't have a lot of money to spend - the $20 and up cards might be a little too expensive. Thus I would recommend you key on the $5 and $10 cards.

Reply #3

biggwinner — Wed, 24 Sep 2014 02:56:21 GMT

The best advice is only play with money you don't need or wouldn't miss because chances are you won't get it back. If you are getting stressed out from losing money you are playing with money that you can't afford to lose. Remember the lottery is supposed to be fun, not stressful.

Reply #2

Enigmas — Wed, 24 Sep 2014 00:48:48 GMT

My advice is to pick a limit on how much you want to spend and don't go over it and above all, stay positive and have fun

Reply #1

LottoMetro — Wed, 24 Sep 2014 00:44:43 GMT

I play the ones with the best odds, regardless of cost. Some get freaked out spending $20 on a scratcher but instead of buying lots of little tickets I save up and get a big one. I think playing more can lead to addiction easier. I usually buy from same places but it doesn't really matter and I like to mix it up every once and awhile. If I'm buying more than 1 ticket I'll usually stick to the same game. But that's rare since I'm a one ticket guy

College Student Who Just Got into Scratchers – Advice?

Buddios — Wed, 24 Sep 2014 00:33:28 GMT

Hey guys!

I'm in my first year of college, and recently I've begun treating myself to a few scratchers every week, particularly on Fridays or after a big test or assignment as a sort of reward . Do you guys have any advice to maximize the fun while playing without any of the stress? I don't want to get addicted and would like to keep it as nothing more than a nice little treat for myself. Is this a good system? Also, do you guys usually buy from the same place? And do you tend to buy the same... [ More ]