When most people think about games than can turn them into overnight millionaires, they think about the lottery. For the measly price of $1 or $2 for a ticket, the lottery is incredibly appealing to millions of people with dreams of becoming rich quickly.
But did you know you could also win a lot of money from scratch cards? In 2015, a couple from North Carolina hit one of the biggest jackpots from a scratch off game, clinching $10 million in the Ultimate Millions game.
A pair of sisters from California, a teenager from Chicago, and a Florida man are some of the people to have won over $1 million from scratch cards in the US. What does it take to win big from scratch off games?
Bet Big
There’s a gigantic number of scratch card games online. Most of them cost less than $1. So, you could easily play 100 games with a budget of $10. Unfortunately, cheap games often have small payouts.
It’s simple mathematics. Developers create a specific number of scratch-off cards, say 100,000. If each game costs $0.10, so the maximum prize pool from the game is $10,000. Casinos need to make money, so they probably keep $2000 from the amount.
That leaves $8000 as the maximum you can win. Still, this money is divided into multiple cards so that a lot of people win small amounts. In other words, cheap scratch cards have low payouts and pricier tickets–$1 to $5—have bigger grand prizes.
A case in point, Lucky Nugget, which is one of the best online scratch cards in 2024, cost $2 per ticket. Its maximum payout: $200,000. Another example is Millionaire Scratch Card, which costs $3 and pays out up to $100,000. You can find more on LegitimateCasino.com.
Scratch Multiple Times
Out there, the advice is to buy multiple cards at the same shop. The explanation is that many scratch card companies place a winning card from a collection of five to 20 cards. If you buy 10 cards, there’s a chance one of them will be a winner.
New York based Jerry Kajfasz is testimony that the strategy works. In 2014, the then 53-year-old man ordered seven scratch-off tickets from a shop. Luckily, the shopkeeper sold him eight and not seven tickets.
And guess what? The eighth ticket was the winner, helping Jerry take home a grand prize of $10 million. Although Jerry mostly won because of the store seller’s mistake, it does prove that buying scratch cards in bulk is better than buying one of them.
That said, online casinos don’t sell you tickets. They have games you can “scratch” more than once. You can scratch off the virtual card numbers or leave the job to the computer. The best games have multipliers that magnify your bets 10x, 50x or 100x your stake.
Pay to play a game severally. Let’s say you have a $10 budget. If you play 10 times ($1 each) and win one round with a x20 multiplier, you’ll have won $20 in total. But if you play once and lose, then the game won’t have been worth it.
Read Every Game’s Fine print
Scratch cards are just like every other genre of casino games. They have terms and conditions. They come with unique betting rules, in-game features and payout rates. In other words, no two games are similar.
Find out what a game is about before you think about playing it. Maybe it’s about sports and you have zero interest in soccer, basketball and tennis. Or maybe it’s about Norse gods—your favorite topic in the world.
Crucially, choose games based on topics you love. There are games themed after all popular stuff, from TV and film to books and ancient cultures. After that, look at the betting terms. What’s the minimum and maximum you can bet?
How does the game work? What are the best paying symbols? Crucially, learn about every game’s payout rate. It’s calculated as a percentage and is often referred to as Return to Player (RTP). Choose games with an RTP of over 90%, preferably in the higher end of the spectrum.
Try Out Different Games
Scratch cards are games of luck. You can’t use your years of experience in gambling to tilt the odds in your favor. There are no skills needed. You place a bet, scratch and win or lose. It’s normal to lose more times than you win.
But if you play a game over and over without winning, cut your losses and try out a different game. As we mentioned, scratch card games can vary immensely in their payout rules. Some games might have a decent RTP and a mouth-watering maximum payout amount.
However, a game might have an alarming level of volatility. This means it’s pretty mean in producing winners. But when someone wins, they walk away with good cash.
Follow a Budget
Spending all your money on scratch cards won’t guarantee winning. Instead, treat gambling as a way for having fun on a small budget. Pay your bills, set money aside for savings and meaningful investments.
Then use a small budget to buy online scratch card games. Have a daily, weekly and monthly budget and stick to it. If you had planned to spend $50 on a weekend and deplete it having not won, cut your losses.
Take a break and come back another day. And if you’re unlucky too, don’t exceed your budget. Instead, consider doing more research about the games you play and the strategies you use. Maybe you pick games that are too volatile or you’re too impatient.
Summary
Scratch cards are all about luck. There’s no short cut. You’re either lucky like the New York guy who won $10 million from a card sold to him by mistake. Or you’re unlucky. Set a budget to limit your losses on your unlucky days.
Play top-paying games multiple times to increase your chances of winning. But always know when to take a break from a game and when to quit playing scratch cards altogether.