Generally Scratch Odds are posted, and yes, they are better than even the best on-line games overall, usually in general. Worst is 1 in 5, but best is 1 in 1; like apparently in Ohio, our $20 Christmas ticket guarantees at least $5 on every ticket. What isn't always known is the Payout, I sat down and figured it out and could be as well as 60%.
Actually better than the average slot machine.
Here in Pa. we have our cash 5 which is 1 in 8 of getting your dollar back. And the new Match 6 will be abot the same. Now consider this against PowerBall , nominally 1 in 42 of getting a winner.
I know that even by buying 5 tickets with odds of 1 in 5 or better doesn't guarantee a winner.? Why? two things: Random distribution of tickets, as previously discussed. ; (I like your example--that sort of happened to me except I only bought 5 tickets with odds of 1 in 3 and got zilch. After looking uo in a Probability text book, I learned that Bernoulli probability theorems apply which take the odds of winning times the odds of not winning. So a sure thing is reduced somewhat.
A similar question is why of the odds of getting the Power Ball only exceed 1 in 42. Because that 1 in 42 is multiplied by the probability of going 0 for 53.
Good luck to all of you scratchers. Down side--just like slots, you can lose lots of money by playing too much. Budget, and quit while you are ahead. In other words, take the money and run.
