I thought about that too. I wonder if I should spend all $100 on a single one though or spread it out over several cards. Probably a single one?
I thought about that too. I wonder if I should spend all $100 on a single one though or spread it out over several cards. Probably a single one?
dainthomas
Lifer
- Dec 7, 2004
- 14,936
- 3,915
- 136
moshquerade
No Lifer
- Nov 1, 2001
- 61,504
- 12
- 56
polarmystery
Diamond Member
- Aug 21, 2005
- 3,888
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I don't know about anyone else, but I think any lottery/scratch off tickets are tax deductable in Texas. If some poor old bastard spends his extra money on them he could make an itemized deduction on his taxes. But still the chances of him winning are really low
AstroManLuca
Lifer
- Jun 24, 2004
- 15,628
- 5
- 81
I know the strategy and it is called 3-7-5 and works 99% of the time. The hard part is convincing a cashier to do it for you as I'm sure it violates most state lotto policies, but whatever. Luck obviously has nothing to do with it.
You have to start out trying to figure out where in the pattern the current roll is... if you notice a roll of tickets has not been touched, start with those as it will be easiest, but still not "a sure thing".
Start off buying one ticket at a time. Scratch it, and repeat, one at a time until you find a winner. This starts the pattern. You might be able to determine where in the pattern you are if you don't have a winner after the first couple, but essentially every multiple of those numbers is a bigger winner. Every third ticket is a winner. This sounds great, but with most scratch-offs the "third" winner (as some people call it) maxes out at giving you your money back. A fifth winner is a minor prize but more than the cost of the ticket... ie on a $2-3 ticket it'll be about $5-$10. Maybe up to $20 on a $5 ticket. A Seventh winner is the big one. Without them you'll really only have about a 50% return on the entire roll. A seventh winner will net you about $20-$40 on a $2-$3 ticket. Now here's the best part. They combine. So every 35 tickets will have a ticket totaling anywhere from $25-$100.
The exact amount of each one is random, but it's based on a multiplier that coincides with the ticket price. For instance, a $2 ticket might have half of the thirds being for .5 times the cost, and half of them being 1 times the cost... and so on.
Here's the catch: The numbers don't start fresh with the roll, they start by the day the roll was made. So the start of a roll could be the 100th roll made in the day and you really have no idea what the roll starts on, so a fresh roll won't guarantee that the 35th & 70th tickets are big money.
The grand prizes are flukes, really. They make those rolls once or twice a month and randomly throw them in with other rolls. There is nothing as systematic as the rest of it involved, you really do just get lucky with the grand prizes (But it doesn't stop them from advertising the hell out of it!)
I had a buddy that worked for a scratch-off printing company and while he was ineligible to play (he could get jail time if turned in a ticket because they immediately have to suspect him) he would go with me to buy them on boring weekends and we'd work out to about 125% of our investment. The only thing that kept us from doing it all the time is that it's not only time consuming, but stores have a duty to turn people away if they think there is a gambling addiction involved! hahaha! Well, I guess that and the fact that it's not really a fast way to earn money.
You have to start out trying to figure out where in the pattern the current roll is... if you notice a roll of tickets has not been touched, start with those as it will be easiest, but still not "a sure thing".
Start off buying one ticket at a time. Scratch it, and repeat, one at a time until you find a winner. This starts the pattern. You might be able to determine where in the pattern you are if you don't have a winner after the first couple, but essentially every multiple of those numbers is a bigger winner. Every third ticket is a winner. This sounds great, but with most scratch-offs the "third" winner (as some people call it) maxes out at giving you your money back. A fifth winner is a minor prize but more than the cost of the ticket... ie on a $2-3 ticket it'll be about $5-$10. Maybe up to $20 on a $5 ticket. A Seventh winner is the big one. Without them you'll really only have about a 50% return on the entire roll. A seventh winner will net you about $20-$40 on a $2-$3 ticket. Now here's the best part. They combine. So every 35 tickets will have a ticket totaling anywhere from $25-$100.
The exact amount of each one is random, but it's based on a multiplier that coincides with the ticket price. For instance, a $2 ticket might have half of the thirds being for .5 times the cost, and half of them being 1 times the cost... and so on.
Here's the catch: The numbers don't start fresh with the roll, they start by the day the roll was made. So the start of a roll could be the 100th roll made in the day and you really have no idea what the roll starts on, so a fresh roll won't guarantee that the 35th & 70th tickets are big money.
The grand prizes are flukes, really. They make those rolls once or twice a month and randomly throw them in with other rolls. There is nothing as systematic as the rest of it involved, you really do just get lucky with the grand prizes (But it doesn't stop them from advertising the hell out of it!)
I had a buddy that worked for a scratch-off printing company and while he was ineligible to play (he could get jail time if turned in a ticket because they immediately have to suspect him) he would go with me to buy them on boring weekends and we'd work out to about 125% of our investment. The only thing that kept us from doing it all the time is that it's not only time consuming, but stores have a duty to turn people away if they think there is a gambling addiction involved! hahaha! Well, I guess that and the fact that it's not really a fast way to earn money.
Depends on how your state handles scratch offs.
I'm in New York and actually had an interesting conversation with someone playing scratchers yesterday at the bar. In NY, they mark games (on the website) where the very top prize has already been one, and ones where some top prizes are still available.
He always recommended playing the newest games (especially if you're hoping for a top prize, even if the odds are 1 in 3 million), and always the $5 games at a minimum.
He said that so far he is still net positive buying games based on these rules.
I'm in New York and actually had an interesting conversation with someone playing scratchers yesterday at the bar. In NY, they mark games (on the website) where the very top prize has already been one, and ones where some top prizes are still available.
He always recommended playing the newest games (especially if you're hoping for a top prize, even if the odds are 1 in 3 million), and always the $5 games at a minimum.
He said that so far he is still net positive buying games based on these rules.
i'm sure there's a local indian casino where you live that you can gamble it with? would be more funner then scratching the tickets.
No not $100 ones. I meant $100 on a single roll of some sort (maybe $5-10 ones) rather that spreading it out over several rolls.
iamwiz82
Lifer
- Jan 10, 2001
- 30,772
- 13
- 81
I believe it is only deductible up to the point of covering winners.
As for the OP, I would follow one of two thoughts, if I had no expectation of winning I would find the scratch off that was most entertaining, not simple match three and win. If I wanted to win, I would look up the odds of each game along with total prizes and determine the highest potential payout versus chance of winning and go from there.
AstroManLuca
Lifer
- Jun 24, 2004
- 15,628
- 5
- 81
Zoom is the sound of Injury's post flying over my head. I swear there's something to the italics and sheer craziness of the post, but I'm not motivated to dig deeper.
Edit: AstroManLuca, I salute you!
Edit: AstroManLuca, I salute you!
So what do you think, $1, $2, or $5? I'm leaning towards 5. Less scratching and the payoffs are bigger in general.
CrackRabbit
Lifer
- Mar 30, 2001
- 16,642
- 62
- 91
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