Can I Buy Scratchers Online
Reviewing the best online lottery scratchoff sites that are legally licensed to accept USA players.
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Since the dawn of mankind, people have found ways to gamble. History shows us that even in ancient civilizations like Egypt and China and Rome, people gambled on a wide variety of games. While our games in 2016 might look a lot better, be more plentiful, and a lot more easily accessible thanks to the Internet, the fact is that we're no different culturally than our ancestors who loved to play games of chance. There's a thrill provided when you're risking money for a shot at winning a lot more money. Gambling deals directly with our base instincts as human beings to have more. We want those millions of dollars. We want to win while gambling.
Legal Betting Online recognizes that gambling is a widespread genre, not only dealing with sports or online casino games. This is why we try to touch on a little bit of everything, even scratch off lottery tickets. Earning billions of dollars in revenue every year, scratch-offs are huge in the United States, and most states allow them. Some only cost a buck and might pay out a few thousand dollars, while some tickets cost $20 or more and can turn you into an instant millionaire. But can you buy online scratchoff lottery tickets legally in the US? Our guide answers all the questions you have and even the ones that you wouldn't think to ask.
What Are Scratch Off Tickets?
In all the gambling topics we have ever covered, scratch off lottery tickets are perhaps the easiest to explain. In essence, these are pieces of paper that have winning or losing number combinations on them. The numbers are covered up by a sort of thick film that must be scratched off. This covering keeps the tickets a mystery, and so people who buy a scratcher don't know if they've won or lost until after they've scratched off the covering, typically using a coin or their fingernail. With online scratch off tickets, the same principle applies. Only you will use your computer's mouse, or finger on a touchscreen, to scratch away the covering.
These tickets are produced typically by states, or at least sanctioned by the state, and they are available in dozens of varieties. You can find tickets for $1, $2, $3, $5, $10, $20, and some tickets might even cost you $50 to try your luck! Your odds of winning depend on the ticket you buy. It should tell you what your chances of winning are; e.g. '1 in 4 tickets win; 1 in 6 tickets win, 1 in 2 tickets win.' This usually also depends on the amount. For instance, if you're paying $20 for a ticket, you'll probably find that 1 in 4 win, whereas a $1 ticket might have odds like 1 in 10 winning. Winning amounts also depend entirely on the ticket itself. Some pay out a few hundred or few thousand dollars, while some have very large jackpots that can reach a million or more.
Is Playing Online Scratch Off Tickets Legal In The US?
Two very quick, very simple points to make here. Point #1: It is perfectly legal, no matter where you live in the US, to play a scratch off lottery ticket and to be eligible to win. No states, nor the federal government, have laws which stop you from purchasing a scratch off ticket where you can find one legally offered. So, yes, they're legal for you to play as a US citizen. Point #2: Not every state offers legal tickets. This doesn't mean they're illegal for you to play if you live in that state; it just means your state doesn't offer them.
To point 2, there are six states in the USA that do not allow legal lotteries like scratch off tickets: Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Mississippi, Nevada and Utah. One can understand the morality police in Utah not offering scratchers, but what's with Mississippi and Nevada? These states have hundreds of legal on-location casinos. And that's the crux. These states want you supplying revenue to their brick-and-mortar establishments. They don't want you putting money into a lotto machine. Though if you're in Mississippi and go buy you some scratch offs from Louisiana, you're operating perfectly within the law, per point 1.
Best Lottery Website To Play Online Scratchoff Lottery Tickets In The US
Betonline is a household name in the sports betting industry. And in early 2015, they started offering their players online scratch card games. They award all new players an amazing 200% bonus up to $5000 free, and have many scratch off games to choose from.
Pros
- All U.S. players accepted
- Very trusted name in online gambling
- 24/7 customer service
- Casino, poker, sports and lottery available
- Fast and easy deposits and withdrawals
- Mobile betting app available
Cons
- Nominal fees on deposits
Site | Review | Bonus Offer | USA | Visit |
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Poker Sites | ||||
Read Review | 200% Max $5,000 | Play now | ||
Read Review | 25% Max $3,000 | Play now |
FAQ's About Playing Online Scratchoff Tickets
Which Tickets Are Good Options? - Some people believe there are ways by which you can spot a winning ticket before buying it. They believe that winning tickets have thicker ink lines between the perforations. They believe that if you hit a winning ticket on a reel, you must wait until 4 or 5 more tickets go off the reel before getting a winner. They believe they have a system. However, when these tickets are made in the factories, they're completely random. You might purchase a roll of 20 and not hit a single ticket, and the person behind you might buy a roll of 5 and hit on every one. It's all random. If you're looking for a good ticket options, what you're looking for are odds vs. payouts.
For instance, let's say a $1 ticket gives you a 1 in 8 shot of winning, with an average prize of $5. So, this would be hard to profit on. You buy 8 tickets, only win $5, you're out $3. You'd have to be very lucky to hit something like $20 or $50 to come out on top in the long run. A $10 ticket, on the other hand, might give you a 1 in 3 shot at winning, with the average prize being $20. Still not ideal odds in your favor, but a heck of a lot better. Now, a $20 ticket may give you a 1 in 2 shot of winning, with the average prize being $50. These odds are more in your favor. However, these odds are created to entice you to play for more money, so be careful shoveling sawbucks into the machine. Just because the odds are 1 in 2 doesn't mean you're guaranteed to win 50% of the time. And just because the average win is $50 doesn't mean anything in the aggregate. You can win $5, with every 10 $5 winners getting $500, and it's still an average of $50, though meaningless to the 9 who hit $5. You can lose 10 in a row, and since the odds are calculated over millions of tickets made, it's just your bad luck. Your best ticket option will be something that gives you decent odds of hitting a winning ticket without having to spend too much money. This will typically be in the $5-$10 range, but there are simply no guarantees.
Can I Play Scratch Off Tickets Online? -Technology has been consistently improving in the realm of online games, and today's gaming sites do provide a range of options for playing scratch off tickets. Now, that's not to say that every online casino will provide this option. It's still much more of a niche game. Because scratch off tickets are so widespread throughout the nation, with only a handful of states not offering them, the online market for such a game/activity isn't very large. It's not like, say, poker, where only a few states offer this on location. Most people can find scratch off tickets everywhere, and so the demand has never forced the Internet to create a big supply. However, many sites do offer these tickets.
An online scratch off ticket is essentially the same as one you'll purchase at a store. It's digital, of course, but how the game operates is still the same. You will receive a card that has number combinations under a covering. You will remove the covering to reveal the numbers, and then see if you won any sort of prize. Purchasing your tickets online, you should be able to find tickets with different odds, different dollar amounts, and different prize amounts.
Are Scratch Off Tickets Fair? - Now for the million-dollar question, possibly literally: Are scratch off lottery tickets fair? Many reports exist out there about tickets not having enough winners per tickets purchased, and some states like Illinois are actually so dysfunctional that they are not paying lottery winners. By and large, however, most tickets are fair. Most ticket lines do provide winners per their estimated win scale, and most will pay you if you win and the bar code scanned says your ticket is a winner.
Online tickets may operate by different standards. To know if these are fair, it really depends on the website on which you're playing these tickets. For instance, if the casino where you find scratch off tickets isn't reputable and isn't received well, then you shouldn't expect that the tickets are going to be fair. They are probably more tilted in the house's favor so that they can collect more money. Contrarily, an online establishment with a solid reputation for fair play is going to provide you with fair lottery tickets. So it boils down to location and reputation. For a reputable site, it really doesn't make any sense to cheat players. They already make hundreds of millions of dollars per year, and by default lottery games are a guaranteed winner for the house anyways.
How Do I Collect Winnings? - If playing online, everything is instant. Meaning you can instantly scratch off the tickets, and you will instantly get paid when you win. For example if you win $100, your available balance would increase by $100.
Understanding Bonus Terms - It's very important that you understand the terms and conditions of any promotion you take advantage of. For example Betonline offers players an incredible 200% bonus up to $5000. In order to be able to cashout any winnings, you must rollover your deposit + bonus a certain amount of times. This essentially stops any abuse from players who are looking to take advantage of a casino, without genuinely risking their own money.
Your Guide To Playing Scratch Off Lottery Tickets
Pick Your Ticket - Picking your ticket isn't always going to be as simple as putting the money in and selecting which ticket you want. Technically speaking, that's all there is to the process of buying a ticket, but what's more important here is that you purchase a ticket whose odds are more in your favor. You're never going to have quite even-money odds, or the odds in your favor explicitly, but, for instance, a ticket that's 1 in 4 is better than 1 in 8, so choose tickets based on your likelihood of winning. If this means spending $5 instead of $1, it will pay off more in the long run.
Scratch it Off - Okay, this step seems axiomatic, and there's really no reason for us to say anything about it, right? Well, we want to urge some caution here when scratching. If you damage the numbers or the bar code by handling a real ticket too roughly, you may end up having difficulties when cashing it in. So scratch off gently, just hard enough to remove the covering.
Look Carefully at the Rules - Look very, very carefully at the rules. Some tickets don't want you scratching off more than one column or section, and scratching off the entire ticket will render it void. Some tickets have complex rules, like you have to add up all numbers in a row to beat the dealer's (house/card) number, and so you might win while actually thinking you've lost if, for instance, you overlook a number. Again, this is another one that seems axiomatic, but it's always best to exercise caution and to read the fine print so that you understand how the ticket is played.
Legal Betting Online knows just how insanely popular scratch off tickets are, and we know that a lot of our base, even if they primarily play poker or blackjack, also love to play the scratchers. We hope this guide has given you some important information about the genre. Don't forget to check out our casino reviews to find the most reputable sites to buy your tickets!
If you are looking for the regular lottery tickets such as Powerball and Megamillions instead of scratchoffs, check out our Legal US online lottery guide that contains everything you need about where to buy these tickets.
The California State Lottery has been running for more than three decades. Players win billions of dollars every year, and the state givesbillions to public education.
There is a great lottery game selection to choose from in California. You can play the $1, $5 or $20 scratchers at your local store, or the multi-state Powerball on Saturdays and win a life-altering jackpot.
The 2021 lottery laws in California
The California State Lottery Act of 1984 created the first legal framework for lotteries in the Golden State. The California State Lottery Commission was founded to help oversee the running of all lottery games.
The CA Lottery launched shortly after the Lottery Act passed. Since then, 50% of lottery revenue has been given to the public in prizes. This rule is written into law under the terms of the Lottery Act. Public education in California receives 34% of revenue.
The Lottery Act was updated in 2010 to allow organizers to pay out bigger and better prizes.
From 1985 to 2018, public education programs in the GoldenState have received more than $34 billion.
How to play California Lottery games
Currently, you can’t purchase California lottery tickets online. However, it is possible to obtain tickets at more than 23,000 registered retailers throughout the state.
There are two types of lottery games in California: draw games and scratchers.
You can download the California Lottery mobileapp for free to scan and check California Lottery scratchers and draw game tickets to see if you’ve won. The app is available on Android and iOS.
Any prizes less than $599 are exempt from federaltax. There are currently no California state taxes on lottery wins.
The biggest games in California are multi-state lotteries, which are shared with more than 40 US states. Players in any of the participating states can win the jackpot.
Multi-state draw games
The California State Lottery runs eight draw games through the week.
Big draws like Powerball and MegaMillions take place twice a week. Smaller draw games like HotSpot and Fantasy5 are available every day.
Powerball (Wednesdays and Saturdays)
The Powerball drawing is California’s largest state lottery game. Around 45 other states participate, which means players across the US can play. The Powerball costs$2 to enter, and drawings are held midweek and on the weekend.
First, you select five white numbers and onered Powerball number. Like in most California Lottery games, you can opt for a “quickselect” option in the store to generate random numbers. With the “advanceplay” option, you can purchase up to 10 draw tickets at once.
If you match the red Powerball, you win $4. Select one white number and the Powerball to win $5. If you match all five white numbers and the Powerball, you win the jackpot worth at least $40,000,000.
If there is a rollover, the jackpot increases by $10,000,000. The winning Powerball jackpot is paid in 30 annual installments or as a single cash option.
Mega Millions (Tuesdays and Fridays)
The MegaMillions is legendary for its big jackpots. It is available in 46 other state lotteries. The jackpot prize is the same across all participating states. However, smaller prizes are based on the number of tickets sold within CA state lines.
To play Mega Millions, select five numbers from one to 70. You also need to choose one “Mega” number from one to 25.
SuperLotto Plus (Wednesdays and Saturdays)
The SuperLotto Plus was the original “millionaire maker” in California.
Drawings take place twice a week. You select five regular numbers and a Mega number. If you match all five regular numbers and the Mega number, you win the jackpot worth at least $44 million.
Every time you spend $1 on a SuperLotto Plus ticket, you receive one entry into the SuperLotto Plus 2nd Chance draw. You can win one of five $15,000 prizes in the 2nd Chance drawing.
California state lotteries
The CA Lottery also offers several localized games that happen daily. These offer smaller prizes than multi-state games like Powerball. However, you can still win a six-figure payout playing these CA lottery games.
Fantasy 5
It costs $1 to play Fantasy 5. You select fivenumbers from one to 39.
If you match two numbers, you receive a free play. Match three numbers, and win $15. Hit five numbers, and you win the jackpot.
Daily 4
To play Daily4, you select fournumbers from zero to nine. Tickets cost $1.
You can play in different ways: If you match the winning numbers in the same order, you win the “straight.” Matching the winning numbers in any order grants you the “box” prize. Play the “straight/box” option, and your prize is split depending on the order of the winning numbers.
You can also choose “advance play” and purchase multiple draws in one go.
Daily 3
The Daily 3 game costs $1 to play.
You select three numbers from zero to nine. If you match the numbers in any order, you win the lowest “box” payout. Hitting the numbers in order awards you the “straight” jackpot.
Daily Derby
Daily Derby is a horse racing-themed CA Lottery game. It costs $2 to play.
To play DailyDerby, choose three horses from the ticket. You must select one to finish first, one to finish second, and one to finish third and also select a race time. You can get a random selection with the “quick select” option.
In the Daily Derby, you win prizes based on your horses’ finishing positions. A horse win pays $3, with bigger payouts awarded for correct race time, exacta and trifecta.
Hot Spot
HotShotworks similarly to keno. The more correct numbers you select, the more you win. Hot Spot drawings take place every few minutes.
The game costs $1 to $5, $10,or $20 to enter. You can bet an extra $4 and select a “Bulls-eye” number. There are 80 numbers; choose one to 10 groups (“spots”) and a corresponding total of numbers on the list.
In a “10 Spot” game of Hot Spot, you win $3 by matching zero numbers and the Hot Spot. If you match all 10 numbers and the Hot Spot, you win $100,000. Match the Hot Spot and Bulls-eye number to win $300,000.
Can I Buy Scratchers Online Poker
Scratchers
Scratchers range in price from $1 to $30. You can win several hundred dollars in cash on the spot at your local retailer or a life-changing prize. They are available in vending machines, game points and self-service ticket machines across the state.
Scratchers carry a range of payouts, e.g., $20 scratchers like Monopoly award top prizes worth $5 million, while $30 scratchers like Bonus Play Millions can pay $10 million.
You can check if your ticket is a winner by scanning the unique barcode at your CA Lottery retailer. You claim prizes up to $599 immediately at the retailer.
Here are a few of the scratchers available in California:
- “$weet Ca$h:” This scratcher costs $1 and carries a top prize worth $500. Match your numbers to either of the two winning numbers to win the displayed prize.
- Beginner’s Luck: Beginner’s Luck awards a top prize worth $5,000. You can win in several ways. First, match three like symbols to win the corresponding cash payout.
- California Millions: California Millions is one of three big money scratchers available for purchase. Tickets cost $30, and all games (California Millions, Bonus Play Millions and $10 Million Dazzler) offer a top prize worth $10 million.
You can see a list of “your numbers” along the top of the scratcher. You win the corresponding prize if you match them to any of the 10 “winning numbers.”
Next, you scratch off a prize multiplier. Multipliers are worth 2x-50x the total prize. You might also uncover a “500” symbol and win $500 cash instantly.
Many CA Lottery gamesoffer a second chance to win. You get another shot at winning through Scratchers 2nd Chance by saving your ticket code and submitting it online on the www.CALottery.com website. The second-chance scratchers pay out around $100,000 every week in bonus cash.
Can I Buy Scratchers Online
The Monopoly scratcher currently features a second-chance promotion with a progressive jackpot. All non-winning tickets contribute to a jackpot that keeps growing. You can win a top progressive, second-chance prize worth $40,000.
Can I Order Scratchers Online
The CA Lottery runs a Jackpot Captain program that helps you set up a lottery pool. As a “captain,” you can gain access to online management tools and exclusive offers like SuperLotto Plus 2nd Chance entries for your team.