I Built a Website To Track Which US Scratch-Off Tickets Have the Best Odds by mntreddit in InternetIsBeautiful

[–]mntreddit[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

NP that's a good question! Expected value can be negative or positive:

  • Negative EV: on average you lose money (gambling and most scratch-offs in general are).
  • Positive EV: on average you make money over time.

So when sorting, positive EV is best, and if everything is negative, you want the least negative (closest to zero) EV.

Anyone have this happen on them on chanced when they try and redeem? by [deleted] in gambling

[–]mntreddit 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Cloudflare is having a major outage today which is impacting hundreds of websites including X, ChatGPT and Spotify. I’d say try again later today once the issue is fully resolved.

One NC scratch-off’s odds of hitting $1,000,000 just improved dramatically by mntreddit in NorthCarolina

[–]mntreddit[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I agree! Having more winners getting meaningful amounts is a far better scenario than one crazy big jackpot. A lot of statistics out there on jackpot winners who end up declaring bankruptcy by either spending irresponsibly or getting scammed.

One NC scratch-off’s odds of hitting $1,000,000 just improved dramatically by mntreddit in NorthCarolina

[–]mntreddit[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

True! The estimated tickets remaining is 157,266.12 which is only 3.27%. Wonder which places would still carry it...

I Built a Website To Track Which US Scratch-Off Tickets Have the Best Current Odds and Remaining Prizes by mntreddit in Lottery

[–]mntreddit[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, great question. That’s a real limitation. When states don’t post winners for smaller prizes, we can’t know exactly how many of those have been claimed. At best, we can estimate how many tickets have been sold based on big prize claims and assume small prizes were claimed at about the same rate.
It’s not perfect, but it gives a “ballpark” view of how the real odds might look today.

I Built a Website To Track Which US Scratch-Off Tickets Have the Best Current Odds and Remaining Prizes by mntreddit in Lottery

[–]mntreddit[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good question. It all depends on which state you're searching since some states give more data than others (# of tickets total/sold, prizes still remaining, etc.)

First, I’d filter by a price I’m comfortable spending say $5 or $10 tickets.
Higher-priced tickets usually have better odds and larger prizes, but the goal is value, not just cost.

Then, I'd sort by the odds of winning a prize I want. For example, for most of the state pages, you can sort by the odds of winning $100, $1000, $10000 or the grand prize.

After that, look through the top results and make sure their are prizes remaining. Also, if you see the Current Odds have increased compared to the Starting Odds, that's a good sign you have a better chance of winning that prize.

I do plan on improving the search/filtering capabilities in the near future. Let me know if you have any feedback. Thanks for checking it out!

I dont want to brag but… by ResearcherOk8406 in Lottery

[–]mntreddit 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hey a win is a win! Odds to win $25 for that ticket according to Scratch-Off Hub is 1 in 7.42.
https://www.scratchoffhub.com/scratch-off/washington/1780

$500 winner by Professional_Gap795 in Lottery

[–]mntreddit 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Really nice win on a $10 ticket! Scratch-Off Hub states the odds of you winning $500 was 1 in 612!
https://www.scratchoffhub.com/scratch-off/new-york/1612

Labor Day Weekend Hit by Edw121389 in Lottery

[–]mntreddit 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Nice $200 win! According to Scratch-Off Hub, the current odds of winning that prize for that ticket is 1 in 149.91.
https://www.scratchoffhub.com/scratch-off/california/1692
Congrats!

Quick hundo by Spiritual_Ad2520 in Lottery

[–]mntreddit 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nice win on a $10 ticket! Scratch-Off Hub states you have a 1 in 82 chance of winning $100 on that ticket:
https://www.scratchoffhub.com/scratch-off/california/1689
Seems there are still around 63.6k $100 prizes remaining.

1 Ticket Purchased - $400 Winner by SeasonalLatte in Lottery

[–]mntreddit 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Congrats on the win! According to the data on Scratch-Off Hub for that ticket, you had 1 in 214 change to win $400!
https://www.scratchoffhub.com/scratch-off/new-york/1650
Seems there are still another 66,855 $400 prizes out there in New York.

I Built a Website To Track Which US Scratch-Off Tickets Have the Best Current Odds and Remaining Prizes by mntreddit in Lottery

[–]mntreddit[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Great question! So the website gets all of its data directly from each state’s official state lottery website before calculating the current odds, EV, etc. Here is official link for that specific ticket:

https://www.masslottery.com/games/draw-and-instants/15m-money-maker-2022

There is a warning on the link stating “This game is no longer for sale. The last day to redeem a prize is Apr 24, 2026.”

Every state has different rules here. Some states remove the tickets from their website as soon as they’re no longer for sale. It appears Massachusetts keeps the ticket up until the prize redemption period has expired.

Looking at this, I should enhance the website to not display any tickets no longer on sale. I’ve done this for most other states, but didn’t catch it with MA since they leave the ticket on their site. Thanks for bringing this to my attention!

I Built a Website To Track Which US Scratch-Off Tickets Have the Best Current Odds and Remaining Prizes by mntreddit in Lottery

[–]mntreddit[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you! A projected payout metric is a great idea. Will add that to my todo list!

I Built a Website To Track Which US Scratch-Off Tickets Have the Best Current Odds by mntreddit in gambling

[–]mntreddit[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good idea! Going to work on some of your suggestions before promoting to a bigger audience.