$1 or $2 Scratchoffs with $50, $200 "Jackpots": Do you waste your money?Prev Topic Next Topic

TheOtherOne

Nashville, TN
United States
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February 9, 2010
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Jan 1, 2011, 5:18 pm

I dont get these scratchoffs I see that give a super low jackpot chance, i.e. "Quick 50" or "Hit 200". It absolutely baffles me why anyone would waste there money. Here you have a dollar to spend on a ticket: Do I get the one where I can win fifty bucks, for 10,000 bucks?

To me, the key is in the odds: They hardly differ. I am sure in the grand scheme of things I have a better chance of hitting for 50 than 10,000, but if I am going to gamble I would rather truly GAMBLE.

But maybe I am missing something. Maybe these tiny jackpots are the way to go.

Do you buy these?
sully16

25

Ringleader

Michigan
United States
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October 28, 2009
128,312 Posts
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Jan 1, 2011, 11:06 pm

no, I'd rather spend a little more for something bigger than 50 dollars.
MattfromPA

SE PA
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July 3, 2010
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Jan 1, 2011, 11:13 pm

Sure a little fast money can be nice, but if the odds of winning are similar, I wouldn't even think about the low jackpot tickets. Why, when for the same odds you can play for much more.

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Jan 2, 2011, 1:30 am

The lowest top prize of any current Georgia instant ticket is $100 on Quick $100, but there are 41,043 top prizes. The second lowest is Georgia Lottery Limited at $500 and it has 1809 top prizes. I would say generally no, avoid the lower priced tickets with smaller top prizes, but you might have a better chance at winning a certain dollar amount with each ticket. I will compare 8 tickets with top prizes ranging from $100 to $5,000,000. As a general rule, you will get better odds for every dollar that you spend, but as you will see in the following table, that is not always the case. It pays to know everything you possibly can about each ticket.

You can find out how many top prizes remain here: http://www.galottery.com/games/instant-games/top-prizes-claimed
You can find out information about each individual ticket here: http://www.galottery.com/games/instant-games/instant-games
And of course you can find more detailed odds here, as well as compare the odds for each dollar amount in any ticket range here: http://www.lottohideout.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

Here is a table that does a few comparisons for you:

Georgia Lottery Limited	Quick $100	Mighty Mega Bucks	EZ Grand
$2 tickets	$2 tickets	$3 tickets	$5 tickets
Overall odds: 1 in 4.28	Overall odds: 1 in 4.17	Overall odds: 1 in 3.86	Overall odds: 1 in 3.61

TICKET...1 in 8	TICKET...1 in 8	TICKET.....1 in 8	TICKET...1 in 9
$5.......1 in 13	$3.......1 in 28	$3.........1 in 50	$8.......1 in 20
$10......1 in 50	$5.......1 in 25	$5.........1 in 27	$10......1 in 30
$25......1 in 150	$10......1 in 50	$7.........1 in 44	$15......1 in 30
$50......1 in 149	$15......1 in 150	$10........1 in 44	$20......1 in 50
$100.....1 in 4,000	$20......1 in 200	$15........1 in 100	$30......1 in 100
$500.....1 in 4,800	$25......1 in 400	$20........1 in 100	$40......1 in 200
1809 Top prizes	$30......1 in 800	$25........1 in 132	$50......1 in 174
	$50......1 in 960	$30........1 in 240	$75......1 in 600
	$100.....1 in 300	$50........1 in 300	$100.....1 in 960
	41043 Top prizes	$75........1 in 1,500	$200.....1 in 3,000
		$100.......1 in 2,400	$500.....1 in 15,000
		$500.......1 in 8,000	$1,000...1 in 6,000
		$1,500.....1 in 30,000	$10,000..1 in 1,200,000
		$100,000...1 in 960,000	$200,000..1 in 1,200,000
		97 Top Prizes	12 top prizes
Jingle Jumbo Bucks	Georgia Lottery Black	Maximum Green	Millionaire Jumbo Bucks
$10 tickets	$10 tickets	$20 tickets	$20 tickets
Overall odds: 1 in 2.74	Overall odds: 1 in 3.27	Overall odds: 1 in 3.03	Overall odds: 1 in 3.01

TICKET...1 in 10	TICKET...1 in 10	TICKET...1 in 11	TICKET......1 in 10
$10......1 in 30	$15......1 in 15	$20......1 in 38	$25.........1 in 15
$15......1 in 10	$20......1 in 11	$25......1 in 9	$30.........1 in 15
$20......1 in 15	$25......1 in 50	$40......1 in 25	$40.........1 in 30
$25......1 in 40	$40......1 in 100	$50......1 in 38	$50.........1 in 30
$30......1 in 50	$50......1 in 150	$100.....1 in 32	$75.........1 in 100
$40......1 in 375	$100.....1 in 125	$250.....1 in 275	$100........1 in 60
$50......1 in 150	$500.....1 in 498	$500.....1 in 545	$250........1 in 325
$100.....1 in 100	$1,000...1 in 3,000	$1,000...1 in 2,000	$500........1 in 600
$250.....1 in 3,750	$10,000..1 in 60,000	$10,000..1 in 30,000	$1,000......1 in 1,667
$500.....1 in 4,800	$100,000..1 in 600,000	$50,000..1 in 504,000	$1,500......1 in 6,000
$2,500...1 in 60,000	$1,000,000..1 in 2,400,000	$1,000,000..1 in 840,000	$2,500......1 in 8,000
$25,000..1 in 520,000	Unknown Top Prizes	$5,000,000..1 in 3,360,000	$5,000......1 in 10,000
$750,000..1 in 1,560,000		5 Top Prizes	$25,000.....1 in 120,000
5 Top Prizes			$250,000....1 in 1,008,000
			$2,500,000..1 in 2,016,000
			10 Top Prizes

As you can see from the chart above, there are different odds for each prize. There is no perfect ticket that has the best odds for every dollar amount. It is a good idea to shoot for the top prize in every game, but you also have to realistically ask yourself if you would not like to win some smaller prizes in the mean time. I look for overall odds, odds of winning X amount for every dollar that I spend, top prize, and top prizes remaining. As I won at least $100 5 or 6 times last month, I am now seeking $500.

As you compare Jingle Jumbo Bucks with Georgia Lottery Black, you will see that for the same $10 ticket price, you will have slightly better odds of winning $100 on Jingle Jumbo Bucks, but when you compare the chance of winning $500, you have almost 10X better odds on Georgia Lottery Black. The trade-off is that you will win less money on Georgia Lottery Black overall, BUT you have much better chances of winning $500. Compare the $2 ticket Georgia Lottery Limited to $10 Jingle Jumbo Bucks. They both offer the same odds of winning $500, but with Jingle Jumbo Bucks, you have to spend 10X as much.

I have won 10 out of 25 times that I have played Georgia Lottery Black, but I am at have lost $100. In what world does that make sense? If you compare Jingle Jumbo Bucks to Maximum Green, I have won $100 twice on each game. I have purchased over 80 Jingle Jumbo Bucks tickets, but less than 20 Maximum Green tickets. My new tickets will be Maximum Green and Georgia Lottery Black. I will spend 90% of my scratch off budget on those two tickets roughly, but I may throw in a few other tickets from time to time. Keep in mind that if a ticket has paid out most of it's top prizes, it has most likely paid out most of it's lower tier prizes. In summary, there is a lot more to keep in mind than just the overall odds of winning.

I hope that helps answer your question.

CarHauler

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September 22, 2010
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Jan 2, 2011, 2:05 am

Another very important rule is that newer games have more prizes in the beginning, so I try and spend most of my money on newer games. Many people share this opinion, but there are some out there that think the longer a game has been out the better. It all boils down to how many top prizes are left. The more that are left, the better your chances of winning. I don't care what anyone else says, that just makes the most sense to me. It has been suggested that they may hold back top prizes to keep a game going, but that is very hard to prove. I wonder if it is possible to find out not only how many top prizes remain for each game, but how many top tier and lessor prizes were left. I wonder if anyone has ready access to this information, or if it could be discovered through a FOIA request.
Boney526

New Jersey
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October 18, 2010
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Jan 2, 2011, 3:06 am

I'd love if NJ would put out a couple $2 ones with a top prize of 100 and 500. I figure, out of millions of tickets, they'll only put a few top prizes of 10,000-50,000 dollars, but if the top prize is only 100 or 500, then they can have a few hundred of them for the same price. I'd shoot for those, but the only one we have in NJ with a top prize of 100 dollars is a $1 scratch off, which only pay back %55 of the total revenue....
B$Rizzle

The Ville, FL
United States
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August 19, 2010
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Jan 6, 2011, 7:54 pm

Quote: Originally posted by CarHauler on Jan 2, 2011
Another very important rule is that newer games have more prizes in the beginning, so I try and spend most of my money on newer games. Many people share this opinion, but there are some out there that think the longer a game has been out the better. It all boils down to how many top prizes are left. The more that are left, the better your chances of winning. I don't care what anyone else says, that just makes the most sense to me. It has been suggested that they may hold back top prizes to keep a game going, but that is very hard to prove. I wonder if it is possible to find out not only how many top prizes remain for each game, but how many top tier and lessor prizes were left. I wonder if anyone has ready access to this information, or if it could be discovered through a FOIA request.

In Florida when new scratch off games come out there is typically a top prize winner within the first few days. When our $20 Monopoly came out 3/2010 there wasnt a winner until 4-5 months later which was really odd. Seems like they were holding back on that so more people would play.

Fast forward to November of 2010. The new FL Lottery "Black" $5 scratcher came out. (Its the same as GA's but the GA one is $10)....The FL Black" scratcher you can win up to $250,000 and there were 5 top prizes available....As of now there are only 2/5 left. That means 3 people won the top prize wihin the first 6 weeks....Kinda weird

Some games are weird like that and its hard to say. We have 2 new ones coming out next Tuesday a $5 and a $20. Im contemplating on buying some the first day or not.
Coin Toss

Zeta Reticuli Star System
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January 17, 2006
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Jan 7, 2011, 2:36 am

My wife won $200 on a $1 scratcher.

As far as new tickets being winners goes, that doesn't seem to be the cae in Illinois, but you never know.

If you hink about it, there are really only a very few types of scratchers, just the "packaging" is different.

Comic characters, sports teams, etc...but the idea is still to match three symbols, match a winning number, or get Bingo or at least three words on a crossword.

That's about it.

One time we won on one of those tickets where everything matched. I think we got paid $42 on a $2 ticket, that was fun.

Of all the lottery games, scratchers have the best chance of winning something, but I have a theory that the people most likely to play scratchers all the time are Type A personalities....they can't wait for the drawing, they want to know now.

We saw a young guy come into a gas station, buy a $20 scrstcher, and ask the clerk to check it, he never scratched it. Guess he didn't want to go through the formalilty of scratching it. Sorry, not a winner.

Those who run the lotteries love it when players look for consistency in something that's designed not to have any. So many systems, so many theories, so few jackpot winners.

There is one and only one 'proven' system, and that is to book the action. No matter the game, let the players pick their own losers.
CarHauler

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September 22, 2010
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Jan 8, 2011, 6:40 am

Quote: Originally posted by Coin Toss on Jan 7, 2011
My wife won $200 on a $1 scratcher.

As far as new tickets being winners goes, that doesn't seem to be the cae in Illinois, but you never know.

If you hink about it, there are really only a very few types of scratchers, just the "packaging" is different.

Comic characters, sports teams, etc...but the idea is still to match three symbols, match a winning number, or get Bingo or at least three words on a crossword.

That's about it.

One time we won on one of those tickets where everything matched. I think we got paid $42 on a $2 ticket, that was fun.

Of all the lottery games, scratchers have the best chance of winning something, but I have a theory that the people most likely to play scratchers all the time are Type A personalities....they can't wait for the drawing, they want to know now.

We saw a young guy come into a gas station, buy a $20 scrstcher, and ask the clerk to check it, he never scratched it. Guess he didn't want to go through the formalilty of scratching it. Sorry, not a winner.

Some of us don't mind waiting on the drawing, we just get tired of watching our money go down the drain. I have started to play online games a little more, so I will see if I do any better. Scratch-offs just seem like a lot better bet. I have made thousands on them (not in profit, but in overall winnings), where I have only made a couple hundred on draw games in the last 3-5 months (not in profit either).

As for the person that does not even scratch his ticket, I hope the clerk tells him it is a loser and keeps it for himself. If you are too lazy to scratch off the latex, you shouldn't be playing. I found one in the trash once with just the validation number scratched, and it was a loser just like the clerk said.
rcbbuckeye

100

Texas
United States
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October 23, 2007
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Jan 8, 2011, 11:51 pm

Quote: Originally posted by Coin Toss on Jan 7, 2011
My wife won $200 on a $1 scratcher.

As far as new tickets being winners goes, that doesn't seem to be the cae in Illinois, but you never know.

If you hink about it, there are really only a very few types of scratchers, just the "packaging" is different.

Comic characters, sports teams, etc...but the idea is still to match three symbols, match a winning number, or get Bingo or at least three words on a crossword.

That's about it.

One time we won on one of those tickets where everything matched. I think we got paid $42 on a $2 ticket, that was fun.

Of all the lottery games, scratchers have the best chance of winning something, but I have a theory that the people most likely to play scratchers all the time are Type A personalities....they can't wait for the drawing, they want to know now.

We saw a young guy come into a gas station, buy a $20 scrstcher, and ask the clerk to check it, he never scratched it. Guess he didn't want to go through the formalilty of scratching it. Sorry, not a winner.

I buy scatchers only once in a while. I enjoy the on line games because I like the anticipation of the drawing. But I agree that playing scratchers would probably pay off more money in the long run, not necesarily a profit, but unlike the on line games where I might win a few bucks here and there, scratchers probably pay more consistently.

Plus, I think scatchers are more expensive to play. I'll play $20 -$25 per week on the jackpot games, with a shot at least 200,000. A $5 scratcher top prize is usually about 50K. I play a $5 scratcher and after 2 minutes, it's done. Not much fun.

CAN'T WIN IF YOU'RE NOT IN

A DOLLAR AND A DREAM (OR $2)
TheOtherOne

Nashville, TN
United States
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February 9, 2010
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Jan 15, 2011, 1:18 am

I wish I had posed this question in this thread as well:

Would you buy a whole roll of games like this?

Have you or do you know of any one who has?

I dont see why anybody would, but it has my interest peaked because maybe they would put more than 1 big winner in the roll. I just seriously doubt it though, because then you could buy the whole roll and most likely break even.

All around these just dont do it for me BUT I will admit the intrigue of maybe hitting that 'quick 100' or 200 is fun. I think I will take my chances with the higher jackpot games though.

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$1 or $2 Scratchoffs with $50, $200 "Jackpots": Do you waste your money?Prev TopicNext Topic

$1 or $2 Scratchoffs with $50, $200 "Jackpots": Do you waste your money?Prev Topic Next Topic