I usually buy my tickets from one store that I trust. When I do buy them, I usually ask the clerk which one he thinks I should get from the $2 ones and sometimes $5 ones (the $1 scratch offs have bad odds in NJ, almost every other one's payouts are the same overall- just with different prize structures.) The reason is just because he usually ends up lucky and because he knows which ones haven't hit a big prize yet. For example, this morning I went to go play a Pick 3. The Clerk added Instant/Bonus Match (Whatever you wanna call it-it makes your Pick 3 or 4 like a scratch off that you don't have to scratch) by mistake, when I realized I just said I'd take it, since I knew that you couldn't cancel them anyway, and it won me $10. Another time, I asked him which one to get and he told me to get a certain one because somebody had bought 10 of them and when they all lost got frustrated and left. I bought 5 of them, one won 5 bucks and another won $100.
Another example of why I only get scrath offs there - and why I almost never buy $10 tickets, especially multiple ones. I bought like 5 of this $10 dollar one at another store, and ran out of money. I went to the ATM, and another clerk who works there took the last ticket in the roll and definetly won a lot of money, because I heard it print out the winner, and it had 3 digits, so it was either $100 or $500. I know it's totally against the rules and I could have reported them - but I like the clerk (who didn't steal my scratch off lol) and he's the one who owns the store. I'd rather not screw him over, because I know he's a good guy - so I just don't buy scratch offs there anymore.
Nowadays, I don't buy many scratch offs. When I do, I usually ask the clerk which one I should buy- but that's because I'm a regular at the small convenient store and I trust the guy who works there. He's also led me to a couple 50, 75 and 100 dollar wins. Obviously he's not always right, but it's funny when he's not cuz he always says "awwww <snip>" in this funny tone if I didn't win on the ticket he suggested.
Like they said - make sure it's just a game. I've been guilty of spending too much a few times and now I just don't do that anymore. And try to find a store with trustworthy clerks.
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