What would you do with a million dollars?
Earlier this year, one lucky Illinois lottery player won just that. How did they do it? By playing smart.
One of the best ways to win big is by purchasing Illinois scratch-offs. What can you do to increase your odds?
Keep reading for 5 winning strategies for playing scratch-offs in Illinois.
1. Quality Over Quantity
While it might seem like a good idea to buy as many of the cheapest scratch-offs as you can afford, this isn’t the best strategy for success.
When you go to buy scratch-offs for the Illinois lottery, it can seem overwhelming to choose the best ones. There are so many different types of scratch-offs including different brands with different prices and prizes. This is why it’s so important to do research ahead of time and come up with a game plan to help you stay focused.
Decide ahead of time which scratch-offs you want to bet on. Cheaper tickets mean you can buy more of them, but this isn’t the best strategy if you want to win. Cheap scratch-offs are cheap because their prize pool is cheap too.
Instead, opt for scratch-offs with a higher price tag. While you might not be able to buy as many, you’ll have a better chance of winning a prize worth your time and money.
2. Consider Buying in Bulk
One of the most popular scratch-off strategies is the idea of buying in bulk.
Buying in bulk means purchasing multiple scratch-offs from the same game at the same time. This means you only have to make one trip to purchase scratch-offs from a game as opposed to making multiple trips where you buy just one, or a few cards.
Buying in bulk can increase your chances of winning. This is because of the way scratch-off manufacturers place winning cards. You’ll have a better chance of getting one of these winners when you purchase multiple cards at one time.
You should establish a budget before buying any lottery tickets. Make sure to plan for bulk purchases in your budget so you don’t end up spending more than you can afford.
3. Analyze the Cards
Many experienced scratch-off players swear by a process called the “Singleton Method.”
This strategy involves studying scratch-off cards to look for clues that the card is a winner. You can learn to spot patterns on scratch-offs that could indicate that the card contains symbols, numbers, and combos that will score you a win.
Some manufacturers of scratch-off cards have caught onto this concept and have changed the design of their cards to prevent players from predicting the outcome of the card. However, not all manufacturers have made changes to their cards. You can still use the Singleton Method on cards that have visible numbers on the side.
You should also be sure to read the fine print on the card you plan to buy. You can often find out your odds of winning by doing this. Of course, you’ll want to opt for cards with better odds.
4. Don’t Throw Away Tickets
You always want to keep your old tickets and make sure you didn’t win anything.
It’s possible to miss something when scratching off a card. Instead of throwing your cards away, keep them and look at them again later. You might have missed that the scratch-off is indeed a winner.
Throwing away a winning ticket would be a terrible mistake.
Another reason to keep old tickets is that sometimes, they can become winners. If a jackpot isn’t won, some scratch-off manufacturers will ask players to submit losing tickets and pick a winner from them. So think twice before throwing out that losing ticket.
It’s also a good idea to always have your tickets officially checked, even if you think they are losers. It’s possible that you missed something or there is an error with the card. It’s worth the time to submit your losing tickets for official verification.
You never know when you might qualify for some type of prize, and something is always better than nothing.
5. Think of Scratch-Offs Like Shot Machines
If you play slot machines, then you know to pay attention to other players to predict when a win is coming. The same concept can be applied to scratch-off strategies.
If you’re not familiar with slot machines, here’s what you need to know. Savvy slot machine players pay attention to what’s going on with the machines before they start playing. When it’s been a while since anyone has hit the jackpot, it’s likely that the slot machine is going to declare a winner soon.
You use this same logic with scratch-offs. If you hang out at the store where you plan to buy your ticket, you can observe other players and plan the perfect time to purchase your card. If you don’t feel comfortable doing this, or don’t have time, that’s okay.
You can strike up a conversation with the cashier and ask if any winning tickets have been sold recently.
Are You Planning to Buy Illinois Scratch-Offs?
Illinois scratch-offs are a lot of fun and a great way to win some extra cash. If you’re looking to take your scratch-off game to the next level and win some big bucks, we are here for you.
Scratch Smarter can help you analyze the Illinois lottery and increase your odds of winning big. Click here to learn more about Illinois scratch-off secrets today.