Instant-win scratch-off lotto games have been around since the late 1980s, spreading quickly from state-to-state in America, and now available around the world. Their popularity has something to do with their low price, something to do with the fact that they’re so easy to find and play, and no doubt something to do with the big jackpots they advertise.
Some people, particularly traditional casino gamblers used to slots, baccarat, and blackjack, are shocked to see online versions of lotto-style scratch cards popping up at online casinos around the world.
Usually housed in the “Specialty Games” section of a casino, these games vary in quality based on who designed them. This is true for any online game of chance or skill, but particularly for online scratch-offs, since most of them aren’t really worth your time.
How to Play Online Scratch-Off Lotto Games
After selecting the scratch-off game you wish to play (they have simple themes and rules and suffer from a lot of similarity anyway, so picking one isn’t a big deal), you have to pick “the size of your bet,” which in this case is the cost of the virtual ticket. Most online scratchers these days offer players the ability to bet multiple coins, spending anywhere from a few cents to a few hundred bucks per card.
After picking the cost of the card, the card will appear on your screen. Online scratch-off technology being what it is, there are just two standard variations you need to know about: single area and multi-area cards.
Just like in the real-world versions, some online scratchers have one are to uncover and don’t require player choice, while others ask the player only to reveal a certain number of spaces. Thus the names single and multi-area cards. Single-space games are rather dull, unless you’re a major lotto fanatic, since you basically sit there and watch the computer reveal whether you’ve won or not. There’s no interaction, much less strategy to this play.
The multiple scratch area cards at least require you to interact, and give you an experience more akin to the real-world lotto scratch-off game. The graphics will “wipe away” your selected areas to reveal whether or not you’ve won a prize. Yep, they work just like the real-world versions.
How to Win at Online Scratcher Lotto Games
On some cards, players can only win by revealing a certain symbol or combo of symbols. Generally, three of a matching symbol leads to a payout, and more matches mean a larger payout. Some games involve multipliers, wild symbols, or other bonus spaces.
It’s important to read the rules of any online scratch-off lotto game before you wager, just to make sure you understand how to win and what you stand to win.
So why play these seemingly-simplistic titles? The same reason anyone places any online wager – for entertainment and for a chance to win money. It’s a kind of high-risk, high-entertainment investment that some people happen to really enjoy.
Game play is similar to a slot machine, and we all know how popular those are. The entertainment value comes from the instant gratification (both of winning and losing), and if nothing else, this is a very “green” way to enjoy traditional scratch-off play, which must consume entire forests of paper every year.
Examples of Online Scratch Card Titles
Several online casino game designers have released scratch-off titles, many of them well-known parts of the casino industry. Microgaming has a large number of scratcher-style games in their library, though most Microgaming-powered sites only host ten or a dozen. Among their titles is this odd licensed-title based on a bad old 80s comedy.
Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey Scratch Card
The top prize for this game is 2,500 times the cost of the card – read: the size of your wager. Since players can bet as much as $10 per card, that’s a big top jackpot of $25,000 on a single scratch. The game is based on a terrible sequel to the 80s cult classic Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, but only in the sense that the graphics on the card are designed after characters from the movie, as are the game symbols.
My big problem with this game is its repetitive gameplay. It’s too simple, it has little replay value. This is kind of a shock coming from Microgaming, whose games I usually really enjoy. Still, if you like scratchers, this most certainly is one. It’s just not one of the best.
5 Diamond Blackjack
Realtime Gaming doesn’t make the prettiest or most functional games in the online casino industry, but they are ever-present, and they have a decently-sized library. This scratch card, vaguely based on the rules of the casino classic blackjack, is their best scratch-off option, though it’s become less-common in recent years.
The card is designed to look like a classic blackjack table, showing one area where the dealer’s hand lies open and five different spaces for the player’s possible cards. Cards are dealt, and the rules of blackjack are followed, as the player can opt to “draw” another card by selecting to virtually scratch it and uncover the amount.
Each winning hand has a multiplier, between 2x and 8x, and is triggered randomly for each win. Every time the player beats the dealer, his win is at least doubled. Should the player total 21, natural or otherwise, the multiplier itself is automatically doubled.
Take note that, for this scratch card by RTG, Aces always count as 11, never one. 5 Diamond Blackjack is unique in that it contains a progressive prize that is randomly triggered by the appearance of Diamond symbols, which greatly multiplies a winning hand.
This is one of the more complex and robust scratchers in the Web-based lotto game industry, and it’s a surprise that RTG released it. If you find a casino that hosts the game, and you like lotto-style gaming, you have to give this one a few rounds of play.
7 Gold Scratch
NetEntertainment, also known as NetEnt, is one of a few casino game designers with a really solid reputation. Their games are among the best quality in the industry, consistently attractive, fun, and offering high entertainment and replay value.
Unfortunately, that’s not totally the case with 7 Gold Scratch. The graphics are above-average, in terms of online lotto-style titles, but the game itself is too simple. After four rounds, I was sick of the game and waiting for a rather small jackpot of 2,000x my wager. I expected more out of this otherwise-renowned game designer.
Some players will never understand the appeal of an online scratch-off title. Others understand it completely, but are still on the look-out for a game with interesting rules, awesome graphics, and decent jackpots. Unfortunately, the quality of Web-based lottery games has not yet caught up with a growing appeal.
The more complex these games get, the larger their audiences will get, and then the more varied the games will get. Think of the online slot machine explosion and how much that technology has improved over the years. That is what’s around the corner in the world of online scratch cards.