Why do people buy scratch-offs?

**Fearless** · 12-28-2009, 06:06 PM

My brother-in-law gave me $40 worth of scratch-off tickets for Christmas. I wasted 45 minutes scraping these stupid things, marking off bingo games, making a mess on my desk and fingers. Net result: One $5 bingo card won $5, one $2 match any of your 3 numbers to the card won $2 and one $2 match 3 card won $5. His $40 bought me aggravation + $12 that I have to go into a convenience store to retrieve.

I've never bought a scratch-off ticket before and now I know I never will.

**Acquisition** · 12-28-2009, 06:22 PM

I don't play these things either.. But 2 years ago my sister-in-law won the cash for life scratch off.

She gets a $5k check every month for 20 years.. Tax-free in Canada.

She could have had the one-lump sum up front but elected to go with the monthly payout.. I was one of the ones telling her to take the lump sum upfront, for the obvious reasons that she could turn that million $ into a hell of a lot more.

**DomainsInc** · 12-28-2009, 06:35 PM

you don't really have to scratch them off, you can just take them to the store to check them but i guess people buy them for the same reason people buy crappy domains and try to sell them for insane amounts of money...dreams of what could be, if only but of course the chances of winning anything significant are so slim.

**Credit** · 12-28-2009, 06:39 PM

I guess for the same reason millions of people pack slot machines at casinos.

**HasRob** · 12-28-2009, 06:46 PM

won $400 bucks couple weeks ago (:

**Fearless** · 12-28-2009, 07:20 PM

Originally Posted by HasRob

won $400 bucks couple weeks ago (:

You're hooked.

**Poker** · 12-28-2009, 07:25 PM

A guy named Fearless is afraid of scratch-off tickets.

**HasRob** · 12-28-2009, 07:39 PM

I'm just waiting for the lottery "scratch off" app on the iphone lol

**bgmv** · 12-28-2009, 07:40 PM

dont really like em', played once and won 5 consecutive "redeem for tickets", ended up with nothing.

But I do own, ScratchOff.org and .info

**Mike Cruz** · 12-28-2009, 09:24 PM

I don't think I have ever bought a scratch off ever in my life. I think I bought a lotto ticket one time and a play four, won like $500 with the play four and can't remember ever buying another one.

I rather play poker when I have the time with the money

**HomerJ** · 12-28-2009, 09:35 PM

my brothers friend won 50 grand on a scratch off earlier this year. i dont play them

**Banned: theinvestor** · 12-28-2009, 10:46 PM

my second cousin's wife's brother won on a scratch card too

**tas38** · 12-28-2009, 10:47 PM

They help older and disabled people with the funds, so people feel good about buying them, plus they can win money to boot so it's a win win.

**DNP** · 12-28-2009, 11:04 PM

I buy $2 tickets for my kids sometime.

**katherine** · 12-29-2009, 03:23 AM

People need hope, otherwise there would be no religions.

**jasdon11** · 12-29-2009, 04:14 AM

Originally Posted by bgmv

But I do own, ScratchOff.org and .info

Get any traffic? I'm a buyer of scratch off / slots names.

**hugegrowth** · 12-29-2009, 11:09 AM

A scratch off app is a good idea, especially with touch screen technology, you could rub the screen with your finger - I bet it would do well.

I was in Kamloops a couple week ago and met some friend for dinner, they had just got a couple scratch tickets and won $1,000 plus two tickets to the Vancouver 2010 Olympics closing ceremony.

I used to buy them weekly, but now only for family fun on birthdays and holidays.

**Dale Hubbard** · 12-29-2009, 11:31 AM

The iPhone app is a cracking idea. Only problem is the gambling laws in each country. But I guess if you operated it from a legal jurisdiction it would work well. I don't think it would ever get into the Apple App Store though. Shame.