I still remember my $500 win from a $1 tic-tac-toe scratch-off I bought from a West Chester gas station way back. But I do agree that prizes now come few and far between. Heres a few tips I would like to share from my experience with scratch offs.
Based on NJ standard of $300 per set of scratch-offs regardless of denomination.
$20 - 15 Tickets per set
$10 - 30
$5 - 60
$3 - 100
$2 - 150
$1 - 300
Most sets follow the odds set forth by the Lottery, 60% returned as prizes, the rest goes to intended beneficiary and overhead costs. So in a regular set, we should expect on average $180 in prizes. The more attractive the prizes, (20x,15x,10x,5x) the lesser the number of winners in each set. Just like in casinos, where slot machines are clustered in islands, only 1 or 2 of this machines will hit a jackpot. The same way with the scratch-offs. Somehow when the retailer orders them, the Lottery people seem to include 1 set with a big prize, several which sticks with the odds and the rest are losers (which funds the jackpot).
So it helps to be friendly or in good terms with the retailer. You can ask if there had been any big winner on the game you prefer. If there had been, your chances on that retailer just got lower. I find that sets with small prizes, $2,$5,$10 are indicative that the set are generally losers.
I like to keep track of the sets from the start. Sometimes the big prizes are on the top of the set, other times its buried in the middle or at the tail or worse its a loser set which means, you can play the whole set and lose a lot. It helps to maintain perspective when playing, that someone ahead of you already got the big prize for the set. So don't go crazy finding whats not there. It might already have been taken.
Here in NJ, I like to play the $5 and $3 crosswords. The biggest I have won is $1K on a $5 cashword in NY. In NJ, I have only gotten $150,$100,$50. Although I have won $500 on $2 tickets. Overall, its a net loss for me but its so addicting, I keep coming back. By the way, if you're chasing the jackpot, it might help to look in odd places where dark characters might want to hide them.