California is the most populous state in the country, but that doesn’t mean that because there are more people playing, you should have a losing mentality. It only means you should strategize as best as possible. Winning California scratchoffs have two components: luck and strategy, and you’ll need a bit of both to win big.
In this blog post, we’ll be discussing some of the ways you can implement to ensure your next lucky dip is a winner; or you at least take home more than you took with you to buy the scratchoffs.
Read on for more information.
1. Set a Budget
Budgeting is never fun, especially when you’re playing a game that could win you big money. But you need to set a realistic budget and start with that, otherwise, you might find yourself going into debt trying to win big. Going into debt over lottery tickets is fairly easy to do, and something you should avoid at all costs.
If you’re going out to purchase scratch-offs, bring a certain amount of money in cash, like $20 or so. Leave your credit cards at home to avoid going over your budget, or buying on credit and telling yourself you can pay it off later. Spoiler alert: you most likely won’t be able to pay the sum back, as you’ll lose more than you’ll win.
It only takes one big win to pay back all of your debts, but unless you’re super lucky, that win probably won’t be immediate.
2. Stop Before You’re Ahead
Gambling can become addictive. It can be so addictive that people turn to therapy and other resources to go into why they’ve become obsessed with it. People can even continue to gamble after they’ve won big, something you might not ever tell yourself you’ll do.
The odds of winning any prize on a California scratch-off is around 1 in 3, but that any prize can be as low as a few dollars. The odds of winning a big prize, like the grand prize, is a lot lower. And the California Lottery spells out the likelihood of winning a prize right when you purchase a ticket.
So if you win $20, $50 or $100, stop before you’re ahead and call it a day. You can, of course, purchase scratchoffs on a different day, but don’t become so obsessed that you start to put bigger winnings toward more scratch-offs. The odds are that you won’t win more than you’ve won already, so leave it for now and come back afresh later.
3. Buy Several Scratchoff Tickets at a Time
Buying your scratch-off tickets in bulk is a great way to heighten the odds, and to make sure you stick to your budget. Drive to your local store and purchase may $20 or $30 worth of scratch-offs at once and scratch them all off carefully.
This improves your odds exponentially and means you’re one step closer to a winning card. Don’t despair if the first few are duds, there might be winners that you’re about to scratch off.
4. Buy More Expensive Tickets
The more expensive tickets have better prizes. Some of the cheaper tickets can give away as little as $5,000. While this is better than nothing, of course, it isn’t near a payday of $5 million. So, purchase wisely and make sure you have some of the more expensive tickets in the mix.
You may want to purchase a few of the inexpensive ones about it does up the odds of you winning something, but probably not the amount of cash you’re dreaming of. Remember: you have to spend a little to make a lot.
5. Double Check All – Your Tickets When You Find a Winner
Sure, it might be time-consuming, and the clerk behind the counter might roll their eyes, but a little attitude could help you win big.
Often, people throw away lotto winners not realizing that they actually are winners. Sometimes, if it doesn’t seem to blare with flashing lights that you’re a winner, you might think it is a dud.
But don’t toss it in the garbage without double, triple and quadruple checking. And one way to be absolutely positive you haven’t missed a winner is check them all with the self-serve ticket scanner at most retailers!
You might have missed a big win!
6. Stick to One Game
While not everyone likes to do this, some people do prefer this strategy, as they feel they’ll have to win the game at some point. That’s not objectively true, as the game is distributed all around the state. Still, you may wish to give it a shot and see if sticking to one game at a time will finally yield to big results.
If you’re not going to analyze the available games, its always a good idea to purchase the newest games, as these games won’t expire! That means if you do win and sit on the winnings for a while, you won’t show up and be told that the card expired. But make sure you get your winners in before the LAST DAY TO CLAIM has passed!
Finding Your Winning Strategy
There is no formula to winning California lotto scratchoffs, but you can hone in on your skill over time. The more you play, the more you’ll figure out what works for you and how often you’ll yield bigger paydays.
But remember: be responsible and don’t gamble more than you can afford. Getting into gambling debt is easy to do, and the game is more fun if it isn’t also making you stress about money.
Visit our scratch-off secret page for more information on hitting the jackpot.