Two months ago, I decided to start playing more scratch-offs than normal. I wanted to see what combinations of tickets I could win on.
I started with a $5 and a $1. Won both - broke even.
Bought another $5 and another $1 - won $10 on the 5 and $2 on the 1.
Bought a $10 ticket and a $2 ticket. Won $10 on the 10 and $5 on the 2.
Bought a $10 and a $5. Won $50 on the 10 and $10 on the 5.
This time I decided to see if I bought more than one ticket of the same kind, if I had a better chance, so I bought 3 $5 and one $20 ticket. I won $25 on one of the 5's and $20 on the 20.
Bought the same ones: 3 $5 and one $20. Won $5 on a 5 and $20 on the 20.
Bought one $5 and one $20. Lost on the 5, but won $500 on the 20!
By this time, I knew my luck was probably over. I have never won above $50 on a scratch-off before (and that was only 1 time, I win maybe $5 if I'm lucky, that's it).
I played one last time, buying a few of the same, and lost. I was right, my time was over.
The key, I discovered, was not buying in bulk or buying in singles, it was that when I won, NOT to immediately go back and buy more tickets. What I consistantly did, was wait a few days to several, before going back and buying more tickets. That way, other people (which was usually me) would buy the losers/small winner, leaving the nice ones for me.
A side note: I went to the same store every time. They have winning tickets hanging everywhere by the cash register, so I thought I'd adopt it as "my lucky place". It was! When I have won in the past, I would go to a different store to cash in the winning tix and buy more - but I always lost the second round. I will only play scratch-offs this new way now at this store.