A LOTTERY aficionado and content creator revealed three mistakes would-be winners should avoid when buying scratch-off cards.
TikTok user @UncleBillyJohnJr calls himself the first lottery ticket creator on the platform and has nearly half a million followers.
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Billy regularly posts tips on how to maximize your odds of finding winning lotto tickets and scratch-offs.
In a recent video, Billy shared mistakes that can prevent lottery players from winning the jackpot to avoid.
He said an explainer on common pitfalls was “highly asked for” by some of his followers.
These are his three “don’ts” when buying lottery tickets.
1. Buying tickets with no jackpot prizes left
There are limits on how many people can win the grand prize in one state from a single scratch-off.
As people score jackpots from certain scratch-offs, those prize tiers are no longer available for anyone who plays.
Billy advised researching scratch-offs before buying to ensure you’re only picking up tickets with top prizes still available.
You can find these details for games in your state by visiting your state lottery’s website.
New York’s lottery, for instance, has a webpage that displays the prizes that are still available for 87 different scratch-off games.
The site also shows the odds of winning each prize tier from every available game.
2. Opting for cheaper tickets
Next, Billy advised against buying scratch-offs that cost less than $5.
While $5 tickets can still be good, Billy warned that lower-cost scratch-offs tend to have poor odds and small payouts.
For example, a $2 777 Multiplier card in New York has a max prize of $25,000 with roughly one in a million odds to hit the jackpot.
On the other hand, a $10 Holiday Magic card comes with a one in 2.5million shot at winning a $1million jackpot.
In his experience $20 and $30 tickets come with the highest upside.
3. Buying based on looks
Billy said another common mistake that lottery players make is buying cards based on their appearance instead of their odds and potential payout.
Flashy-looking scratch off cards don’t always offer the best bang for your buck, and you’re better off strictly buying tickets with the most big prizes available and the best odds.
Other scratchcard strategies
Cards with certain numbers perform better than others, at least according to some experts.
Each scratch-off game has a roll of tickets each with a number on the bottom.
The first ticket will be numbered 000, the next ticket will be 001, then 002 and so on.
Some TikTok lotto players have said to buy tickets with the number 16 or 24 in the white box immediately, as they tend to be winners.
Another tip is to play newer scratch-off games.
Players who play new games tend to win more as the larger prizes have yet to be won.
With older games, because they’ve been around longer, the likelihood of someone claiming the big prize is higher.
The Sun revealed a lottery expert’s four ways to still win money on your ticket even if you didn’t hit the big jackpot.
Plus, here’s the method a lottery winner used to score $750,000.
