Hitting a major lottery jackpot is a dream for many of us, though there's still something to be said about the thrill of winning a few bucks from a scratch-off. If the fates allow, you can even win hundreds of dollars off a single ticket. But while you may think it all comes down to the luck of the draw, you'd be mistaken. A gas station worker in California says there are a few things you can do to better your odds of picking a winner. Read on to find out the secrets to winning money from scratch-off tickets.
RELATED: 5 Secrets About Playing the Lottery, According to Experts.
1. Consider the value of the ticket you're buying.
Big Scratch-Off Ticket Glitch Caused Winners to Be Told They Lost—How It HappenedMalachi Jacobs / ShutterstockGas station worker Alexander Rosas (@alexcal760) shared his advice for selecting scratch-offs in a 2024 TikTok video (with the caveat that these are just observations he's made while working at both a liquor store and a gas station).
Scratch-off tickets are sold at different price points, with more affordable options at the $1, $2, and $3 marks. In terms of the $1 tickets, Rosas says they're essentially a waste.
"Think about it. Each packet comes with about 200 [tickets]," he says. "Out of those 200, maybe one will pay you 50 bucks, but usually, the majority of them don't win. They'll win a dollar [or] two."
From what he's seen, Rosas says the maximum you'll win from a $1 ticket is $10 to $15 "unless you're like really, really, really lucky."
"I know someone's gonna say, 'Oh, well, my friend won $1,500 off one of those dollar [tickets].' Like I said, that's like one in a couple million chance of winning, but everybody, it's your money, waste it how you want," he concludes.
2. Never buy $2 tickets.
Gas Station Worker Reveals Secrets to Winning Money From Scratch-Off TicketsShutterstock
Rosas also says that he'd never recommend or personally buy these tickets, either: "Two-dollar tickets I've seen are probably the ones that lose the most."
If you have your heart set on these, however, Rosas recommends the crossword and bingo scratch-offs.
"Those are pretty good," he says. "The most I've seen it pay out [was] $20, $25, but usually, they're just more for like fun."
3. Buy from the same book of tickets—but never buy a whole roll.
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If you really want to win some money and not leave as much up to the fates, Rosas suggests buying multiple tickets from the same roll, as opposed to picking a bunch of individual tickets.
"Don't buy one here, one there," he says. "I highly recommend, if you're going to buy some, buy some of the same one, the same book, buy multiple of those. Don't scatter and make your chances of winning lower by scattering."
However, Rosas adds that it's "not worth it" to buy a whole roll of scratch-offs.
He uses the example of a couple who frequently buy the whole roll of scratch-offs from him. They may spend $400 to purchase it, but then they come back and only win about $230 to $250.
"They're always losing about $180, $160," he says.
4. Ask the cashier for the number of the ticket you're buying.
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Rosas also says it's worth asking the cashier for the number of the ticket you're buying.
"I personally do not recommend the first four off a brand new roll," he shares. "They usually don't win."
In his experience, winning tickets are usually followed by the ticket that wins the advertised prize money.
"That's what I've seen a lot of times—not all the time, but a lot of times, where if it gives you a ticket, the next one will be the money one," he explains, noting that on the back of the scratch-offs, it'll also tell you your odds of winning.
5. Be selective with $5 tickets.
Avoid the Cheap TicketsShutterstock When it comes to $5 tickets, Rosas says you should avoid the poker-themed tickets, although he doesn't provide the exact name. Instead, go for holiday tickets.
"[With] the holiday ones—I guess they're giving out more, and it only lasts a couple of weeks, so usually they like to give out more winnings because it's only gonna be from this period to this period," he explains.
Other $5 tickets worth grabbing are those that say you can win an amount like $500 or $1,000, or even $100 or $200. He uses the specific example of the $500 Loaded! scratch-off ticket.
"Those are pretty good because they're pretty much saying, you can either win the $500, the $1,000, or win nothing at all," Rosas notes. "Off of those ones, I've seen people with the $500, I've seen people win the $100, I've seen people win the $200. Usually, those are the best ones I recommend."
Another one he suggests skipping is the Lotería ticket, as people will buy up to 10 tickets and only come back with one winner.
6. If you can, go for the $10 tickets.
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In a separate TikTok video, Rosas shares that he's seen the $10 scratch-off tickets win the most often and the most consistently, often paying out between $20 and $500.
"Those are the best ones with the least amount of loss and the max amount of wins," he states.
At this price point, he's still a fan of the crossword-themed lottery tickets, as well as those that advertise $1,000 or $2,000 prizes.
If you're willing to take even more risk and go for the $20 tickets, Rosas' advice is to only buy a ticket that's between numbers 15 and 25 and on a roll. In his experience, those are more often the winners.
For an even bigger risk, you can go for a $30 ticket, but you may want to stick with the "multipliers."
"For some reason, with the $30 dollar ones, the good ones are the multipliers," he says. "So for the $20 ones, I don't recommend the multipliers ... I don't know what it is about the multipliers on the $20 ones, they don't hit."
7. Avoid shiny tickets.
1. Consider the value of the ticket you're buying.ShutterstockYes, we mean this literally: don't purchase shiny, metallic tickets, which are usually sold for $30.
"Usually those super shiny ones, they're just for show, just so you could be like, 'Oh, this one looks really good and shiny,' and [then] you don't win," Rosas explains.
