You probably purchase your games based on the name of the game and the images on the ticket. You might even think “that one looks lucky!”.
You might be surprised to know that the lottery game designers don’t talk about scratch off games by name. They need to be very clear when they’re designing a game, so they only use the UNIQUE GAME NUMBER when they’re developing, designing, printing and marketing at scratch-off game. EVERYTHING IS ABOUT THE GAME NUMBER!
WHY? There are many reasons….but mostly because of reporting. Scratch-off games are HUGE profit centers for the state. They need to automate as much of the reporting and monitoring of games, and its just clearer to do it by Game Number than by Game name. BUT there is also a marketing tactic at play here too, because the lottery corporations will often print new releases of games using the same game name. When people LIKE a game name, the lottery will use that game name over and over again.
But remember, the lottery has to make a profit with every game they design and print, so its just easier to refer to these games with the same game NAME by their Game Number to eliminate any confusion.
They have found that a particular game sold very well often because it was a fun game to play or people liked the top prize. A few favorites among the different lottery corporations are “$1,000 A Week For Life “, “Crossword”, and “Monopoly™”.
Once all of the tickets have been sold under the Game Name “Crossword”, an entirely new run of tickets (with updated prizes) must be printed to ensure the overall odds remain as reported. To differentiate one run from another, a game number is assigned to each printing. Game Numbers are unique to each state and, for most states are typically used only once. Although, we have found that some states are starting to re-use game numbers over time. So game number 187 may have been used in 2015 and now is being reused again in 2023 for a completely different game.
Some states do not report game numbers on their website, which makes it a little more difficult to accurately report the prizes remaining.
Why is the game number important?
Often a new printing of a particular game will be printed and distributed to the retailers before the prior batch is still in circulation. If the prior circulation has no more top prizes remaining it will be unfavorable. The new batch, having just been released, will still have top prizes available and would be a better purchase than the prior batch.
So, to prevent you from buying tickets of games that have no top prizes available you need to ensure that you purchase the correct game name and number.
ScratchSmarter analyzes all games by GAME NUMBER and we clearly identify when the lottery has ‘REPRINTED‘ a game to warn you from buying ‘old games’ with bad odds.
With ScratchSmarter’s Best Game to Play Report, the advantage is yours, every week!