In 1994, John Major launched the National Lottery. Twenty years on it has created 3,600 millionaires and paid out £53bn in winnings and in the UK we love it. Same goes for scratchcards, nowadays you can skip the corner shop and play scratchcards and lottery games online.
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Online scratch cards and lottery tickets are identical to their physical counterparts. When it comes to lottery tickets, they even look the same at online casinos. You can still select the numbers you’d like or click a button for the lucky dip option and see where that takes you. The ticket prices are the same as they are in the shop – although we have all noticed that these have gone up over the years (where are those £1 lottery tickets we used to love?).
Scratch cards share the same concept as online scratch cards. There usually is a large variety of options available to you. Each ticket cost will be explained. Generally, a small discount is offered when buying more than one ticket i.e. a bundle of tickets. On each ticket, there is usually info explaining how likely you are to win and what the payout rates are. This will help you can make a better judgement on which scratch card you might decide to try your luck with.
When it comes to lotteries and scratchcards, there is an ever-growing number available. As the costs of hosting a televised lottery have now gone, prizes can be higher and more lotteries have sprung into existence. Of course, that also means that more people than ever are playing the lottery, which will hurt your odds of winning the jackpot. You are more likely to be hit by a part of a plane falling from the sky (1: 10,000,000) than winning the national lottery ( 1:45,057,474).
| Name | Cost | Odds of winning a Prize | Odds of winning the jackpot |
|---|---|---|---|
| EuroMillions | £2.50 | 1:13 | 1 :139,838,160 |
| Lotto | £2 | 1: 9.3 | 1: 45,057,474 |
| Thunderball | £1 per line | 1: 29 | 1:14,000,000 |
| HotPicks | £1 per play | 1:10 | 1 : 834,398 |
| Postcode Lottery | £10 per month | Variable due to amount of participating households | Variable due to amount of participating households |
| The Health Lottery | £1 per line | 1:9.7 | 1 in 2,118,760 |
| Name | Price | Odds | Top Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 777 Scratchcards | £0.50 | 1.3.52 | £7,777 |
| Fruity Flurry | £0.80 | 1.2.4 | £50,000 |
| £100,000 Cash | £1 | 1.3.1 | £10,000 |
| Instant Millionaire | £4 | 1.3.25 | £1,000,000 |
| Dreamcar: Ferrari | £10 | 1.2.5 | A Ferrari + £50,000 |
One of the biggest and most time-consuming things is choosing which place to sign up to in order to buy your tickets. To make things easier for you, here are a few things to look out for when picking your casino site. Firstly, the site needs to be licensed. If it isn’t licensed under a recognised jurisdiction, then there could be something funny about the way things are run. You want to know that you can trust where you put your money.
Secondly, while many casinos offer a variety of these types of games, there are dedicated sites too. If you are only interested in these games, you’re better off simply choosing a dedicated lottery site – you’ll get more choice and catered offers.
That brings us to the third point, the bonuses – Always try and choose a site that offers a range of bonuses, including free scratch cards and free lottery tickets when you buy a certain number. That way, you can also boost your chances of winning.
At this point, you’re looking at how to buy your lottery ticket. Here are the steps to doing so:
Step 1 – Sign up at an online casino
Step 2 – Make a deposit (Not all lottery-specific sites need the deposit; some will offer the option to pay for the ticket once you’ve chosen your numbers) – rather like going to the checkout at Amazon.
Step 3 – Find lottery options
Step 4 – Choose your numbers
After selecting your numbers and the number of tickets you’d like to buy, all you have to do is confirm, sit back and wait for the draw.
Scratch cards will work in a very similar way. Once you’ve chosen the scratch card game that you want to play, you simply pay for it then and there. This will then lead to the card load up on your account, and you can play it at your leisure. You can either run the mouse (or your finger if you’re on a mobile device) over the card to “scratch” the numbers to reveal them or click the auto-reveal button to have it done automatically. As with the lottery ticket, any winnings are added to your account instantly.
With the scratch card, you’ll know instantly when you’ve won – you’ll see the results on your card. However, things are a little different when it comes to lottery tickets. These you may have purchased in advance of the draw and will have to wait a few days. Nowadays, these are not revealed on the TV; you’re going to have to find them yourself. You don’t need to fear; it’s simple and easier than remembering to get the right channel and the right time on TV.
Instead of having to mess around, the lottery site will send the numbers directly to the email you used to create your account. It’s that straightforward. If you’ve won, your email is likely to arrive that little bit faster too. If you’re too impatient to wait, the numbers, once drawn, will be placed on the lottery site so you can simply head there, have a look and compare them to your ticket to see if you’re a winner. If so, the winnings will be added to your account – although big wins are paid in instalments.
Buying a scratch card or a lottery ticket is a walk in the park, minus the need to walk. For scratch card players, there’s still the opportunity to self-scratch to reveal the possible winning numbers while for lottery players the options for choosing numbers or a lucky dip are the same as the original physical game. Playing online has made things much easier; it will also ensure that you never miss a draw again. What are you waiting for? Start playing now!