Every state lottery website is different!

We have custom software code for every state’s website.

When states change their website, we have to fix our code. Sometimes it takes us a week or more to fix the code and catch the new games.

We are not perfect, but we do try to be. If you see a big miss on our reports, please let us know by emailing us at Info@ScratchSmarter.com. Be sure to tell us WHICH STATE and which game name and game number (if possible) are missing.

NOTE: please don’t worry too much about new games not being on our reports for a couple of weeks. EVERY NEW GAME starts with a SmartFactor of 1.0 because, there usually isn’t a big sale of tickets in the first couple of weeks, so there won’t be much of top prize odds changing in your favor.  In other words ALL new games will start at YELLOW with a SmartFactor around 1.0. Yes, this means that playing “NEW GAMES” is not a good strategy if you’re really trying to win a big prize!

Now that you’re through the top questions we get from new subscribers…..

Please be sure to check out our Scratch-off 101 details here:

https://www.scratchsmarter.com/scratch-off-101/

Then, review all of our Video Secrets:

https://www.scratchsmarter.com/scratch-off-secrets/

Finally, our FAQ section has most questions already answered here.

https://www.scratchsmarter.com/frequently-asked-questions/

“Est % Sold” is ScratchSmarter’s estimate of the total percentage of tickets sold.

For example: If a game’s original printing is 10,000,000 tickets, we can calculate every week how many of those 10,000,000 tickets have sold. (50% would mean there are 5,000,000 tickets sold and 5,000,000 remaining.  The higher the Est % of tickets sold number is, the more difficult it may be for you to find a game in your area.

Follow up question: Why don’t we show the actual number of tickets sold or the actual number of tickets remaining?

• The percentage remaining is more important than the “actual number” for calculating how odds change. And the EST % sold will give you an idea of how difficult it might be to find a game for sale in your area! The higher the % sold, the more difficult it will be to find that game.

NOTE:: If a game on our report has a very high SmartFactor and is >90% sold, you should be playing that game (if it is in your budget) because the lottery might pull that game soon!  They’re hoping to keep from having to pay out those top prizes and keep that profit for the state!

BUT PLEASE DO NOT START BUYING ENTIRE PACKS OF TICKETS! That is a sure way to lose a lot of money because the odds of winning are still not in your favor.   Follow the strategies we suggest in our Video Secrets for buying tickets!

Remember to play within your budget and let us know when you win! We give out some great rewards just for taking a picture of your winning tickets!  See our REWARDS PAGE HERE!

On to the next most common question: WHY are you missing a new game on your report?

Back to the top questions list!

Now you’re asking the right question!!

Unfortunately, we have no idea which retailers have which games in stock. The only state lottery that has a search function for retailers with “games in stock” is Wisconsin.

It doesn’t look like any other lotteries publish this information. Why?  Probably because its either too hard to keep up to date OR it exposes the lottery to their dirty trick of pulling games early.

PLEASE NOTE: WE STRONGLY SUGGEST THAT YOU DO NOT “CHASE THE BEST GAME” by running around to all of the retailers in your area to find the best game. You’ll go CRAZY running around looking for some of these games (BECAUSE THE LOTTERY PULLS THEM EARLY – Remember Video Secret #3).  Just play the very best games you can find when you want to play!  And remember, you’re Scratching Smarter now, so NEVER play a Yellow or a Red game on our reports – they’re just a waste of money because odds of winning big are ALWAYS better on GREEN GAMES!

You should, however, play from the retailers in your area who do have better games.   Look around, and,  over time, you’ll find that all the retailers are not the same. Some only have bad games and some consistently carry better games!

On to the NEXT most common question:  What is the “Est % Sold” number on the report?

Back to the top questions list!

We use the prizes remaining for the TOP 3 prize levels for our SmartFactor algorithm.  So, if there are several prizes remaining that are the second or third prize level, our algorithm calculates the updated odds and keep the game ranked higher.

Follow up question you might have: “My state doesn’t publish prizes remaining below the top prize – is ScratchSmarter making things up?”  No, we definitely don’t make up any data!

This is where our Freedom of Information request process kicks in.

We don’t just rely on the lotteries’ website for data. We send requests to many state lotteries for the detailed information on a regular basis to get more data when the state doesn’t publish everything we need on their website!   Since all state lotteries are run by the government, they’re all subject to Freedom of Information requests to provide more data.  (They don’t like it, but they have to give us the data when we file the requests the right way!)

You can read more about this on the webpage we’ve written up about your state. Go here and click on your state to read more!

Another follow up question you might have: Why do we use the top 3 prize levels?  Simple – a 2nd or 3rd level prize is still a BIG amount – usually over $1,000!  And seriously, who WOULDN’T want to win $1,000?!?

On to the next top question: Which retailers near me have the Best Games on your report? 

Back to the top questions list!