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Those of you who keep track of your scratch off spending, how many percent do you get your moneyback

less than 50%

[ 4 ]

[ 57.1% ]

between 50% to 60%

[ 1 ]

[ 14.3% ]

between 60% to 70%

[ 0 ]

[ 0.0% ]

between 70% to 80%

[ 2 ]

[ 28.6% ]

between 80% to 90%

[ 0 ]

[ 0.0% ]

between 90% to 100%

[ 0 ]

[ 0.0% ]

more than 100% (make profit)

[ 0 ]

[ 0.0% ]

Total valid votes

[ 7 ]

Discarded votes

[ 1 ]

redhot7

California
United States
Member #112,359
June 17, 2011
661 Posts
Offline

Aug 18, 2011, 4:17 am

Mine is around 72% and I bought like 275 tickets. Please include only scratch off and not lotto like Mega Millions.
MattfromPA

SE PA
United States
Member #93,578
July 3, 2010
1,950 Posts
Offline

Aug 18, 2011, 4:16 pm

Probably less than 50%, because the good days seem to be followed by numerous mediocre and bad days.
James1

Florida
United States
Member #104,431
January 14, 2011
2,267 Posts
Offline

Aug 18, 2011, 6:24 pm

Look at it this way, you aint gonna win in the long term unless you hit a big prize

2018 Biggest Win: $500 (multiple times but who cares about $500 right?)

All time Biggest Win: $4K ($5 Green & Gold)
redhot7

California
United States
Member #112,359
June 17, 2011
661 Posts
Offline

Aug 18, 2011, 6:49 pm

Quote: Originally posted by James1 on Aug 18, 2011
Look at it this way, you aint gonna win in the long term unless you hit a big prize

True. I am already 300 dollars in the hole
omiller315

Pennsylvania
United States
Member #109,270
April 9, 2011
1,628 Posts
Offline

Aug 18, 2011, 11:16 pm

Consider yourself lucky then. That is a days worth for some people around here and easily a week or two for others. If you are only down $300 from the beginning, then in my opinion, you are ahead.lol
cooldude

mt zion illinois
United States
Member #110,544
May 6, 2011
351 Posts
Offline

Aug 19, 2011, 3:24 pm

Here in Illinois lately very rare if you have a up day....

Biggest lottery wins for 2013 $100 1 Time.......
ILLotteryman

Chicago, IL
United States
Member #114,229
July 26, 2011
435 Posts
Offline

Aug 19, 2011, 10:48 pm

Yes, the win percentage is definately low in Illinois. I would say from what I have been seeing mine is between 35-40% estimated of course.

Cool dude, just check out the facebook comment from the Wheel of Fortune winners, a player writes that she's glad someone won the contest because she never won any money by scratching the WOF tickets! :)

ILLotteryMan Signing Out

Major IL Lottery Winnings: 06/29/11 (784), 08/07/11 (678), 08/15/11 (056), 08/16/11 (759 Midday + 579 Evening), 08/22/11 (101), 08/26/11 (668), 05/21/20 (712) Instants: $50 Wheel of Fortune!
Jon D

Los Angeles, California
United States
Member #103,809
January 5, 2011
1,530 Posts
Offline

Aug 23, 2011, 8:03 pm

Quote: Originally posted by redhot7 on Aug 18, 2011
Mine is around 72% and I bought like 275 tickets. Please include only scratch off and not lotto like Mega Millions.

I got about the same, >1000 tickets, must be a California thing. But our scratch games seem to be structured differently than the lotteries on the East coast.
redhot7

California
United States
Member #112,359
June 17, 2011
661 Posts
Offline

Aug 24, 2011, 7:08 am

Quote: Originally posted by Jon D on Aug 23, 2011
I got about the same, >1000 tickets, must be a California thing. But our scratch games seem to be structured differently than the lotteries on the East coast.

How is it structured differently?
Cupcake10

United States
Member #91,714
May 23, 2010
690 Posts
Offline

Aug 24, 2011, 11:22 am

Is someone really winning? I was thinking it was a joke. I was under the impression no one wins a penny in the long run.
Jon D

Los Angeles, California
United States
Member #103,809
January 5, 2011
1,530 Posts
Offline

Aug 24, 2011, 3:31 pm

Quote: Originally posted by redhot7 on Aug 24, 2011
How is it structured differently?

Several things are different about CA Scratchers versus some of the more mature lotteries on the eastern half of the US:

1. Higher ticket prices, with big $10 and $20 scratch tickets. We don't have those, ours topping out at $5 tickets.

Those higher prices can provide more revenue per customer, as like with potato chips, its very hard to have just one. Say you buy four $5 tickets at a time now, but if there were $20 tickets, you might be tempted to spend more than your usual amount so you don't walk away a loser most of the time. Sure, they have better overall odds, but those big multi-million dollar prizes come at a cost.

2. Many more different scratch games in circulation, some with fewer top prizes. We have fewer games, but most with around 20 or more top prizes.

Some of those games in other states have only a few top prizes, like just 3 or 5, so it makes it harder to tell when is a good time to play the game or not based on top prizes outstanding. And yes, we in CA play a lot fewer scratchers per capita than other states, but still the variety and release schedule of new games in other states seems to be much greater than ours.

3. Seems to be more variability in the placement and interval of big winners in ticket rolls.

It would be more addictive to have more variability such as longer strings of losers and big winners in strange intervals and placement in the rolls. I don't know if they are doing this, but from other people's experiences in the forums, it seems likely. The lottieries on the east coast are more mature, and I'm sure have figured out how to maximize profits and milk the most from the players. Our CA lotto hasn't quite caught up yet. Maybe they shouldn't?

The closest we have to other states is our $5 Set for Life scratcher, which has a big $2,000,000 top prize, but terrible payouts for the lower prizes, so as a game, you are likely to be well below 50% return unless you hit the big one. Much better games to play for low and mid level prizes are Red Hot 7s and Wild 10s.
redhot7

California
United States
Member #112,359
June 17, 2011
661 Posts
Offline

Aug 24, 2011, 5:38 pm

Quote: Originally posted by Jon D on Aug 24, 2011
Several things are different about CA Scratchers versus some of the more mature lotteries on the eastern half of the US:

1. Higher ticket prices, with big $10 and $20 scratch tickets. We don't have those, ours topping out at $5 tickets.

Those higher prices can provide more revenue per customer, as like with potato chips, its very hard to have just one. Say you buy four $5 tickets at a time now, but if there were $20 tickets, you might be tempted to spend more than your usual amount so you don't walk away a loser most of the time. Sure, they have better overall odds, but those big multi-million dollar prizes come at a cost.

2. Many more different scratch games in circulation, some with fewer top prizes. We have fewer games, but most with around 20 or more top prizes.

Some of those games in other states have only a few top prizes, like just 3 or 5, so it makes it harder to tell when is a good time to play the game or not based on top prizes outstanding. And yes, we in CA play a lot fewer scratchers per capita than other states, but still the variety and release schedule of new games in other states seems to be much greater than ours.

3. Seems to be more variability in the placement and interval of big winners in ticket rolls.

It would be more addictive to have more variability such as longer strings of losers and big winners in strange intervals and placement in the rolls. I don't know if they are doing this, but from other people's experiences in the forums, it seems likely. The lottieries on the east coast are more mature, and I'm sure have figured out how to maximize profits and milk the most from the players. Our CA lotto hasn't quite caught up yet. Maybe they shouldn't?

The closest we have to other states is our $5 Set for Life scratcher, which has a big $2,000,000 top prize, but terrible payouts for the lower prizes, so as a game, you are likely to be well below 50% return unless you hit the big one. Much better games to play for low and mid level prizes are Red Hot 7s and Wild 10s.

The closest we have to other states is our $5 Set for Life scratcher, which has a big $2,000,000 top prize, but terrible payouts for the lower prizes, so as a game, you are likely to be well below 50% return unless you hit the big one. Much better games to play for low and mid level prizes are Red Hot 7s and Wild 10s.

I couldn't agree more with Set for Life. I don't play them anymore since I never hit anything decent. 10 bucks at most.

Here's the table of odds for Set for Life

Now compare that with odds for Wild 10 or Take 5. The following is for Wild 10 but Take 5 has a nearly identical odds

The probability of winning a decent amount like $50 bucks from Wild 10 is 1 in 185 but the probability of winning $40 from Set for Life is 1 in 500. What even worse, the probability of winning $100 from Wild 10 is 1 in 341 but the probability of winning the same amount from Set for Life is 1 in 932! You got much more chance to win $100 from Wild 10 than to win $40 from Set for Life and both tickets cost the same.