Pick‑A‑Ticket is an app that is available on the App Store and on Google Play. We created the tool to be the fastest and most accurate. It helps you choose the best scratch-off game to buy. All while being convenient and easy enough to use while standing in line at the checkout.
This post is Part 3 of the 3-part "Playing the Lottery Smarter Series." It focuses on how a tool can ease some challenges from Parts 1 and 2. Part 1, Tips for Playing Lottery Scratch-Offs, covered what you can control when buying scratch-offs. Part 2, Scratch-Off Tactics That Lotteries Use, focused on how lotteries design and sell the games to you.
All Scratch-Offs Compared and Ranked
Pick‑A‑Ticket does all the complicated work for you and makes it easy to know which scratch-offs are the best. The top pick is right on our app's main page. If you can't find your ticket at your store, tap the "Unavailable" button to access the next best game. Or you can also browse the list of rankings by swiping to the right or left.
That's it; it's almost too simple! Yet, here are just some of the complicated tasks that Pick‑A‑Ticket has done for you to get to this list. First, we source the official and latest information available from each state lottery. Then we use the latest tech to run thousands of calculations. We also check several factors about each game. Finally, we double-check and confirm all our calculations for accuracy. Then, we publish the rankings in the Pick‑A‑Ticket app.
Optimized For the Best
Pick‑A‑Ticket defines the "best" scratch-offs as those most likely to pay out winnings to players today. This is versus the money players will spend on those games. To answer this question, we've been collecting and analyzing lottery data for years. It turns out that several factors, not just one (like "overall odds" or "top prize"), determine this.
Pick‑A‑Ticket's customers are the players who use the app. Not the lotteries or anyone else. We help you make informed decisions, yielding better scratch-off results than chance. And we're always refining Pick‑A‑Ticket's rankings to help your buying decision.
Pop Quiz:
Which is the best? That new $20 holiday game with 1-in-9 odds? It has every winner as either $100 or $200. Or the older $30 scratch-off with 1-in-3 odds? It has a $1 million top prize.
Answer:
Whichever Pick‑A‑Ticket has ranked higher today. We know how to calculate the difference between these two games using all the data. Also, the answer could change over time.
Set Your Spending Limit
Our top tip from Tips for Playing Lottery Scratch-Offs (Part 1) is to know and stick to your budget. Pick‑A‑Ticket offers a straightforward slider beneath the ranked games. Moving the slider down will hide all higher-priced scratch-offs from the list for the value you select. Move the slider all the way right to show all games. For those of us on a tight budget, Pick‑A‑Ticket will remember your last slider setting. It will automatically be set the next time you open the app. Saving you one less tap and drag when your hands may be full of the other items you're about to buy!
Latest Information
Different state lotteries release information to the public at different intervals. Some lotteries release info weekly, some daily, some twice a day, and others in near real-time. We try to stay as current as possible. We may run our calculations and publish a ranked list several times a day for the states that update their data often.
We always show you the date of our ranking at the bottom of each game, no matter the frequency. Also, the "Website" button takes you to the scratch-off info on the state lottery site. You can check the latest info before deciding to buy.
Finally, the current ranking list in the app is always refreshed. If your phone has a working data connection, you're seeing the latest information. We know how important it is to have the latest info for your decisions. So, we built Pick‑A‑Ticket to keep itself up to date. We assume your hands are full while you wait in line. So, there is no need to pull down or find that refresh button. Again, just one less tap you must do.
Accuracy
Before we publish an updated rankings list in the Pick‑A‑Ticket app, it must pass a tough quality check. The validations are so strict that we've found errors in the data from the state lotteries. It is rare, but we've notified these lotteries when this happens. As a result, we've seen them correct their data.
Our data is excellent, and our validations are superb. But nobody is perfect. Errors can and will happen. We're always improving our processes to be as error-free as possible.
Play Smarter
While it takes luck to be a lottery winner, using a tool like Pick‑A‑Ticket is definitely smarter than going it alone.
If you've read our posts on Tips for Playing Lottery Scratch-Offs (Part 1) and Scratch-Off Tactics That Lotteries Use (Part 2), then you're ready to make the most of your experience. Start your free 14-day trial today!
Good Luck!