Scratch-Off Addiction "Super Users"

Reply #11

NJJim — Sat, 01 Sep 2018 14:51:15 GMT

I was actually an anti- scratch off guy for a long time. I mean look at the odds, they are actually not measureable because of the physical limitations. The tickets are made in batches of about 6 million, on average, and distributed around a given state. I have no idea if it is planned that sizeable prizes are evenly distributed among the many stacks sent to the many stores throughout a state, but basically, we are hoping a nice size prize happens to end up at the few we frequent in our corner o... [ More ]

Reply #10

Soledad — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 02:20:59 GMT

Goals. First compare your spending. Realize what you could ve spent that 476.00 on or what have you. And realize that you re gonna have to either work double to get whatever you should ve or could ve spent it on, or you re just gonna ignore what you should do, which is what it seems like you re implying which ultimately is not a good choice for YOU. Then when you want to, well don t spend. Keep the money. Maybe you ll spend it on a $2 cup of coffee, or $5 breakfast sandwich, whatever. But, you w... [ More ]

Reply #9

NeedyNotGreedy — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 02:06:43 GMT

As someone who gets depressed losing $10-$20 on $5 scratch offs, this thread has proven beneficial.

But good lord, some of the money I m hearing about people spending is humbling lol. But one person made a very good solution: don t carry cash on you. Unfortunately for me, I work in a cash based business so I m always carrying it around.

But if I deposit it and only get gas at the pump (versus walking in a store), I can usually avoid it.

I also find myself getting intrigued at those sma... [ More ]

Reply #8

Dracos — Mon, 13 Aug 2018 14:07:11 GMT

Yes, the OP may have gotten a 50% return initially but that's not the point he's making. When he says he lost that amount of money, he's suggesting he continuously reinvested what he got back until he lost it all. Who buys $20,000 worth of tickets, scratches them, cashes them in, and then stops? Most regulars continuously invest what they've scratched over a long duration; the OP is suggesting that this is what his losses looked like during his time playing.

I've bought over 30 books of... [ More ]

Reply #7

Risky — Sun, 05 Aug 2018 11:32:15 GMT

Yep, buy one and take it home. If you lose it's harder to justify driving all the way back to buy more. I

Reply #6

James1 — Mon, 30 Jul 2018 02:03:35 GMT

Man i m down so much lifetime it s crazy. I m borderline looking at needing a jackpot just to break even lol. This year alone I have won $10K plus at the casino 5 times then dusted it all of on scratch offs right after. Scratch offs have been brutal for me this year, BRUTAL!!!

Its not even about the money for me anymore, rather I just want to get that $50K plus win as a something to cross of my bucket list . Then I can say I have done that and maybe stop playing altogether.

My honest advic... [ More ]

Reply #5

bcJunior — Wed, 25 Jul 2018 17:38:39 GMT

Thanks everyone, I am gonna try and stop completely. If I wasn't a compulsive person in general then I would keep playing but I really need this money now. My last lottery purchase was on July 22nd. I am down about $22k after recent losses and that is from 2016 until now. I must of scratched well over $50k in tickets but my money is still gone.

Reply #4

GetReal720 — Tue, 24 Jul 2018 20:25:55 GMT

Gambling is gambling.

You can't win if you don't play, but you also can't lose if you don't play.

I had a bit of a run of it myself, scratching more than I'm proud of at times... (never anywhere close to 21K though). I'd say from spring of 2014 to fall of 2015 I was up about 6K and then by fall of 2016 I had given back approx 3 to 3.5K. So while I am still a head a bit, I bet at this point in time it's less than 1K. I have cut WAY back on my spending. I do buy draw game tickets from time t... [ More ]

Reply #3

Synbios — Tue, 24 Jul 2018 04:12:59 GMT

Couldn't agree more. I started chasing a 20$ ticket that had really good odds of winning $1,000 - (1 in 200) the jackpot was low for a 20$ at 250k, but the $1,000 prizes made it worth it in my opinion, since you can't ever expect to win or chase a jackpot anyway.

I actually fared well - I lost only $400 before finally hitting my first and only $1,000 winner. Felt awesome! Felt like I won a million dollars or something lol. With this win it actually put me ahead of the lottery - I've been... [ More ]

Reply #2

Dracos — Sat, 21 Jul 2018 15:32:43 GMT

You're definitely not alone, Jason. There's many of us here who have control issues. Some people can maintain a budget and stick to it completely. Some always end up going over, and get the compulsive drive to chase. I'm very much like you, and there's been many times where I've spent way more than I should have, including in the $1,000+ mark.

For me, it became a necessity to stop playing because I'm expecting a child in a couple of months. I don't want the habit of withdrawing $300+ and los... [ More ]

Reply #1

rcbbuckeye — Sat, 21 Jul 2018 13:13:15 GMT

It can be hard. But, when you look at those tix, think of it as the money in your wallet is almost always more valuable than the ticket. If you must play, play one ticket, for one day, and win, lose, or draw, leave it at that.

I rarely play scratchoffs. I play draw games, and I buy my tix, and I'm done.

Scratch-Off Addiction "Super Users"

bcJunior — Sat, 21 Jul 2018 05:46:48 GMT

Hello,

I will explain my lottery story and hopefully others in here can relate. I am trying to stop gambling completely before I go broke again...

A few years ago I won $20 on a $1 ticket (my 1st ticket ever purchased). I did not play again for a while, after a lunch break one afternoon I won $200 on a $2 ticket. This is what caused me to play more often and play the $20 tickets over the smaller ones.

Time flies and I played daily for months, my biggest wins were 2 $1000