Some people only play scratchcards for fun. Then there are others who play in order to win the grand prize. This section is intended for those players in latter category and focuses on what la strategy to adopt for playing scratchcards. It’s important to face the facts: tickets bought from the corner shop won’t win you anything; in fact, they may make you go broke. And if they don’t even allow you to recoup your initial bet, it’s mainly because the payout rates for these tickets are infinitesimal compared to the market average.
The Rate of Return to Players (RRP) is a mathematical measure expressed as a percentage that represents the proportion of total bets returned to players in the form of winnings in relation to all bets collected over a given period. Mathematically, the RPR can be expressed as follows:
In the case of scratchcard games, if a game has a RRP of 70%, this means that out of every €100 played collectively by all players, an average of €70 is redistributed in the form of winnings, while the remaining €30 represents operating costs, operator profits and other contributions. A higher RRP therefore indicates a better probability of winning for players over the long term.
Do you think that games from the Irish National Lottery or the Games Store are your best bet to make you rich? Think again! The odds of winning vary between 17 and 29.5% which, in our opinion are totally ridiculous! OK, it might be practical to buy a ticket while you do your other shopping, but it’s a waste of money over the long term. In other words, it’s a fun way of paying more taxes :(
We advise against betting your money on Irish National Lottery games because, as we’ve previously seen, they will earn you very little over the long term.
If you’re someone who thinks that the Irish National Lottery is rather stingy with the prizes it offers to its players, then consider switching to online scratchcards run by private operators. In specialized lounges and some online casinos, most tickets have a one in two chance of winning you some money! This is especially true for virtual scratchcards developed by the Scandinavian developer Net Entertainment.
Not surprisingly, games like The Lost Pyramid™ (50 %), 7 Gold Scratch™ (35,6 %) and Lucky Double™ (33,5 %) have odds of winning that are twice as good as scratchcards sold at the local newsagent. And considering that these tickets only cost you 1 € each, frankly it would be silly not to jump at the chance to play them.
Here are the (foreign) operators offering games at the best RRP:
Here are some other articles that you’re sure to enjoy:
