Join the best casino in South African and play online scratch cards for real money. Enjoy 100's of jackpot games and claim free bonuses to play them. Scratch-Cards.com - The ultimate resource for information about Scratch Tickets and Lotology! Mar 02, 2021 The overall odds of winning are the odds of winning ANY prize in a scratch off game. The overall odds remain the same throughout the life of a game and are typically printed on the back of a scratch ticket. If you want to know the best chances to win anything on your scratch off, the overall odds are the way to go.

Scratch off cards have come a long way since the 1970s when the first card was released by the Massachusetts lottery. There are now thousands of cards to choose from at lottery retail outlets across the country. You can now also play these games online. States with regulated online casinos and online lottery games give you access to online scratch offs. These add colorful themes and entertaining gameplay to the original idea.

Prizes for scratch offs can be huge. Retail cards with $1 million+ top prizes are available. Online you can win10,000x your buy-in or more in multiple games.

This page has everything you need to get the best from online scratch offs. This includes information on which states offer them via regulated casinos, the most popular games, and how the online games compare to the retail scratch offs we know and love.

Online games with games like scratch offs

Real money scratch off casinos

Legal online casinos are already available in many states. With regulation and licensing underway, the list of states where you can enjoy online scratch offs is growing. You will find them alongside slots, table games, virtual betting games, and video poker.

The current list of states with online casinos includes New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and West Virginia. Some states also have online lottery games – residents of Michigan can access scratch offs via the Michigan lottery website. National and international brands partner with local casinos in the regulated states. They develop apps that can host hundreds of different games. You can enjoy scratch off and novelty games at brands including BetMGM, FanDuel, andSugarHouse casino in New Jersey.

Online scratch games are an ideal way to take advantage of casino bonuses. Real money online casinos in the regulated states offer a mix of no deposit bonuses, matched welcome bonuses, and ‘no lose’ deals based on your first day’s play. While table games and video poker are often excluded from bonus clearing, online scratch offs contribute 100% to your bonus play-through target.

Keep in mind that the ongoing benefits are important. Once you find a casino online that offers the mix of scratch cards, slots, and other games you enjoy – those loyalty rewards and player promotions will make a big difference to your bankroll over time.

Popular online scratch off games for real money

Online scratch offs allow for play over multiple ‘rounds’. They have entertaining themes, quirky gameplay and sometimes add elements from ‘gems’ type mobile games or even sports into the mix. The core of these games is the same as retail scratch offs — only with a lot more features.

The examples of online scratch offs below show how diverse these games are. Many of them can be accessed in demo-mode, allowing you to find the games you like best before you commit to playing scratch offs for real money.

1. Color Cubes

This IGT online scratch off is loosely based on mobile gems games. You start by selecting a stake between $1 and $10. A grid then fills with colored blocks. You have 8 ‘turns’ where a block is selected and you are awarded all the matching colored blocks which are joined to the selected one. These can be auto-selected, or you can click each time. To the left of the blocks are the prizes. You collect blocks in groups to fill lines – and can win up to $250,000. Bomb symbols explode to give you all the adjacent blocks. Star symbols supply instant wins.

2. Ghostbusters: Spectral Search

This online scratch off takes the familiar 3×3 grid idea to a new level. It is based on the Ghostbusters movie franchise. You get five picks to match as many ghosts as possible. The Stay Puft man has the biggest prize of 15,000x your bet. If you find Slimer you get an instant win. Other ghosts have prizes for between two and four of a kind. The animations are amazing for this game, with the different monsters coming to life on the screen. You can pick a location to search or take one at random.

3. Medieval Money: Dragon’s Loot

Instead of scratching to reveal pictures, you get to catapult rocks at a medieval castle in this game. Each rock you throw will smash a hole in the walls, revealing gems. These move to the left, where they accumulate in lines triggering prizes. The top prize is 25,000x at $10 per ticket, or 15,000x at $1. There is a bonus game, which is triggered if you reveal a dragon. You get to pick from three piles of treasure, which will give you either more gems or an instant win.

4. DoublePlay: Super Bet

You need to match three symbols to win in this online scratch off from UGT. These symbols include red sevens, stars, bells, and lucky horseshoes. The big win potential comes in when you get three of the logo/badge symbols. This will trigger five free games at the same bet size used for your current card. For those five games, the prizes are tripled. This boosts the top prize (for three diamonds) from 1000x to 3000x. Bet sizes for DoublePlay SuperBet range from 3c up to $50.

5. Irish Eyes 2

You will see a classic Irish redhead on the 3×3 grid of this game. It is a classic scratch off format, where you must match three symbols to win a prize of up to 1000x your bet. Those symbols show classic luck of the Irish symbols. They include a four-leaf clover, leprechaun’s hat, and a pipe. If you are lucky enough to find pots of gold, then you win five free games. These are based on the bet amount of your triggering card, with a multiplier added to each win.

6. Medusa Scratch

In Greek myths, the Medusa was a hideous creature whose hair was made of snakes. This NextGen online scratch off uses a far more glamorous picture. This game uses the classic nine squares, with prizes awarded for matching three of the symbols. Those symbols include buildings, coins, and warriors. You can click on each square in turn, or auto-play, which reveals them all instantly. Get three logo symbols for five free cards with 3x win multipliers.

7. Merlin’s Millions Scratch

Merlin was the wizard involved in the legends of King Arthur. The version used by NextGen for this online scratch off has a friendlier demeanor. This is a classic scratcher game setup, where you need to match three symbols from a grid of nine to win a prize. The top prize (for matching three Merlin symbols) is a generous 1000x your triggering bet. If you match three orbs, you get three free cards, where all of your prizes are doubled.

8. The Price is Right: Come on Down

You will recognize the logo from the famous TV game show, though the gameplay is brand new. There are two main games, and two bonus games to enjoy. You set your bet, then click two rows of prizes. If you match three cash amounts, that is what you win. The second game uses squares with question marks. They show objects with prizes – here you win the ones in gold. If you get three mountain signs in either game, you play a ‘cliff hanger’ bonus game. There is also a wheel spin bonus called ‘Showcase Showdown’ which gives you a shot at winning up to 100x your original prize.

9. The Voice Scratch Off

This online scratch off is based on the TV talent show. It shows a row of seven red chairs, with prizes above each. You get seven rounds, with each round seeing between one and four of the chairs turning around. They reveal one or more colored music notes, which line up in rows above the chair. Prizes are triggered when you hit the top of each column. You can also receive instant wins.

10. Wheel of Fortune: Winning Words Game

There are two phases to this scratch card style game. You spin the iconic Wheel of Fortune wheel to start. This gives you three prizes – one for each predetermined word. You then see a row of cards, which flip to reveal letters. If you complete your word, you win that prize. The designers of this game keep you on edge by making sure one or more words only needs a single letter to complete. There is an additional random bonus wheel round, where your wins can be multiplied.

Virtual scratch offs vs Lottery retailer games

Many online scratch offs closely resemble the gameplay of their physical counterparts. There are some significant differences, especially when it comes to the complexity of the gameplay and the ability to have extras like bonus rounds or win multipliers.

Here are some of the key reasons to enjoy online scratch offs:

• Flexible bet sizes: It is rare to find a retail card at less than $1. Online, your bet sizes can be anything from a few cents up to $50.
• Bonus games: Spin a wheel to get a win multiplier or find the right symbols to win five free games at 3x on all wins. Online scratch off bonus games are varied, as well as potentially very profitable.
• Instant play: No need to get a coin and rub off the symbols one by one. Online cards let you reveal all the symbols at once, so you can get straight on with the next game.
• Novel graphics: Retail cards cannot give you the option to throw rocks at a castle — or spin a wheel to get a mountain climber moving upwards.
• Casino bonuses: The online casinos that host scratch offs will offer bonuses for new players. They can include no deposit deals, matched welcome bonuses, and special promotions.
• Mobile play: Access scratch offs from anywhere via your iPhone or Android smartphone with online casino apps.

Here are the key advantages of retail scratch offs:

• Availability: You can buy retail lottery tickets and scratch offs in most states. The online versions are currently only available in a handful of states.
• Charity: State lotteries are set up to provide funding for good causes including education, veterans, and the environment.
• Jackpot potential: Retail cards can have huge top-prizes, with the biggest being $1 million or more.
• Remaining wins: In some lotteries, the proportion of cards with big wins with each design is published. This allows you to be strategic in your choices.
• Huge choice: Online casinos have a handful of scratch offs, some lotteries have 20+ games to choose from, with new/seasonal cards appearing all the time.
• Control: Since you need to head to your local lottery retailer to buy scratch offs, there is less temptation to gamble with money you cannot afford.

How do I increase my chances of winning?

You can’t. The odds are stacked against you. To demonstrate this, we’ve provided a chart below comparing the odds on the highest paying scratch tickets across the US.

How To Win Scratch Off Tickets

Odds of winning top prize across the US

If you’re playing online, the outcome is controlled by random number generator software, which means you cannot affect your chances. There is no strategy involving betting more after losing or varying your bets in specific ways that will influence how often you win. As with all games, the house edge is a mathematical fact.

You can do this by playing only with money you can afford to lose, making sure you are not showing signs of problem gambling, and finding the games that are entertaining to play — then seeing any wins as an extra.

History of scratch offs

The concept of instant win games started with Pull-Tabs. All this would change in 1973 when two inventors — John Koza and Daniel Bower — combined forces to create the first modern scratch off games. There was more to this than simply creating a surface to scratch. Math was needed to develop games that had fair returns and to randomize the outcomes for the lottery operators.

Scientific Games was created in 1974 to market the new cards. This company went on to become one of the biggest names in gambling. Their modern brands include Bally, WMS, and Barcrest slots — Shuffle Master for devices for casino table games. The first cards were produced for the Massachusetts lottery, though they would soon become hugely popular across multiple states with lottery games.

Cards are now created by lotteries across the country. A new format saw these cards move online in the early 2000s. With online casinos not available in every state in the USA, it is only recent state-level regulation that has seen them become available. You can enjoy game show themed novelty games, cards which are closer to the original concept of revealing three matching symbols online.

When people ask “What are the Best Lottery Scratch off Odds?”, they usually are referring to the overall game odds. These are the printed odds on the back of instant scratch games. You might see something like “Overall Odds of Winning are 1 in 4.05”.

These are the the odds of winning any prize, including prizes that are equal to the price of the ticket.

One of our most popular scratcher strategies is our ranking of the best Overall Odds (available free to all our members) where players can instantly compare the overall odds for each game.

However, we are here to caution you that overall odds may not be the same as the best odds of winning. How so?

State lotteries can manipulate the overall odds to make them appear among the best when in reality, the individual prize odds might be among the worst.

Let’s dive in and see an example firsthand.

How is Overall Odds Calculated?

Free Scratch Off Apps Win Real Money

We need to take a step back and first see how does a state lottery calculate the overall odds of winning.

For every scratch game, the state lottery will determine the prize levels (e.g. $5, $10, $100, etc.) and the total number of prizes that will be made available. For our example, I’ve pulled an actual prize chart from a state lottery website.

As we can see, there are 12 different prize levels with a total of 2,395,512 prizes available. The lottery already tells us the overall odds of winning this game are 1 in 4.12, as show below.

The lottery calculated the “1 in 4.12” overall odds by dividing the total number of tickets printed by the total number of prizes available (2,395,512).

But we don’t know how many tickets were printed.

That’s right. The number of tickets printed isn’t disclosed, BUT we can figure it out by multiplying our total number of prizes (2,395,512) by the overall odds (4.12).

The result is approximately 9,900,000 tickets printed. Note we rounded the ticket count as it’s a rough estimate but close enough.

How about Prize Odds?

Now that we have the overall odds calculation out of the way, let’s dive a little deeper and see how the odds of each prize is calculated.

In our same game example, we see that the $500 prize will have 1,247 prizes available at the start of the game. Remember, the lottery has determined they are going to print 9,900,000 tickets so among all those tickets, there will 1,247 $500 winners.

To calculate the odds for our $500 prize, we simply divide the 9,900,000 printed tickets by the 1,247 prizes and learn the odds of winning the $500 prize are 1 in 7,915.

Pretty easy, right? Here’s what all the original prize odds look like.

Now that we know how the lottery calculates the odds, why shouldn’t we use the overall odds to figure out the best scratch off odds? Can’t we just see which game has the best overall odds and play that one?

Unfortunately not. Keep reading and let me show you a couple reasons why you shouldn’t rely only on the overall odds.

Is Winning Really Winning?

First, most players would agree that just getting their money back on a scratch ticket isn’t actually winning. “Winning” the price of the ticket back gives the illusion of winning and keep players coming back but it’s really just breaking even.

Let’s take a look at our same example from above and recalculate the odds of winning a prize more than the ticket price. You know, actually “winning”.

In this example, we want to know what are the real odds of winning any prize GREATER than $5, the price of our example ticket.

To do that, we’ll sum up the total number of prizes again but this time exclude all those breakeven $5 prizes.

With the $5 prizes removed, we now see there are really 1,407,930 actual winning prizes.

Using our math skills from above, we find that the actual winning odds, or as we call them Adjusted Odds, is really 1 in 7.01 tickets is a winner. That is 9,900,000 tickets divided by 1,407,930 total prizes.

The overall odds just change by OVER 70%!

Now some players may not care as getting their money back is winning in their mind. But let’s dive just a little deeper.

The Best Odds Illusion

I’ve just shown you that all those breakeven prizes aren’t really winning prizes but are there to make the overall odds seem better. Let’s go a step further and say a lottery wanted to really manipulate a scratch game to look better than it really is.

Below is our original prize table from the example above, but I made 2 simple changes. I lowered the $250,000 top prize from 5 prizes down to just 1 and I lowered the second top prize, $10,000, from 24 prizes down to 2.

The change looks simple enough, the total prize count change is barely, if at all noticeable. The total number of prizes only went down by 26 prizes. However, let’s check out our prize odds.

Play Scratch Off Tickets online, free Win Real Money

We now see a HUGE change as the top prize odds went from 1 in 1,973,902 to now 1 in 9,869,509. A whopping 5x increase in odds!

The same thing for the $10,000 second place prize. We altered the count down to 2 prizes, which changed the odds from 1 in 411,230 to 1 in 4,934,755. This was a 12x increase in odds!

But here is the very sneaky part. Did you notice the overall odds?

The 1 in 4.12 overall odds never changed.

In both cases the lottery has two tickets with the same overall odds. If you had a choice though, which one would you choose?

For the curious, where did that extra prize money go? Remember, we took away 4 prizes of $250,000 and another 22 prizes of $10,000. You guessed it, pure lottery profit.

See, in our first example the total prize pool at the start of the game was $34,077,430, which represented an overall payout to players of 69.06%.

However, in our revised numbers, the prize pool dropped $1,230,000 to a total prize pool of $32,847,430, which is now only a payout of 66.58%.

online, free Scratch Off Tickets Win Real Money

The overall odds stayed the same but the lottery is keeping an extra $1,230,000 in profit instead of paying it to players.

Bringing it All Together

Let me show you one last example that brings both our points together. Let’s start with our original prize table again.

Now I’m going to reduce those top 2 prizes again like above BUT I’m also going to add some $5 prizes back. Let’s add 100,000 of the $5 prizes.

The lottery is still keeping a nice bonus profit by removing most of the top prizes but did shift a small piece of that money back to $5 prizes.

Here’s what our new prize table looks like

After taking out the top prizes and adding 100,000 small $5 prizes, we have a total prize count of 2,495,486. And now the magic.

Play Free Scratch Off Tickets Win Real Money

Let’s divide the same ticket count by the new prize count. For those keeping track, that is 9,900,000 tickets divided by 2,495,486 total prizes. Our new overall odds of winning are 1 in 3.95!

Just like that I gave you a ticket with the best odds of winning, yet I took away most of the top prizes AND I’ve kept a bunch of extra ticket sales as pure profit!

Conclusion

Free Scratch Off Tickets Win Real Money

Relying solely on the overall odds of scratchers as a way to determine the best odds of winning is a recipe for disaster.

The real “best odds of winning” will vary by the player and their own strategy.

Make sure to get a FREE account here at Lotto Edge. We offer lots of free tools to help you find the games with the best odds of winning for the strategies and prizes you want.