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It’s All About Scratch Cards in the Online Casino
Scratch cards are something we know from the cigar store or supermarket. Cute little cards that you can buy for a few cents, but with a chance to win thousands of dollars.
Almost everyone has purchased one or more of these at some time or other. Some people even buy a few every week. But the fact that you can also play scratch cards at an online casino is still unknown to many people. And yet, in recent years, playing scratch cards has become possible at more and more online casinos.
Before the larger and more popular casinos offered scratch cards, it took a long time. The most important reason for this is that it took a long time before developers of casino games were convinced that scratch cards in online casinos have a real future.
They started cautiously, and the offer of scratch cards in online casinos was minimal for a long time. But because players did play with scratch cards, new types of scratch cards gained momentum at a certain point.
There are now even casinos that have made scratch cards their primary business. There you can sometimes find hundreds of different types of scratch cards.
This article will tell you everything you need to know if you like playing scratch cards in online casinos and want to give it a try.
House Edge in Scratch Cards
Like any casino game, scratch cards have a percentage used as profit for the casino. This is called the house edge in most table games. In the case of scratch cards, we don’t talk about the house edge but about the Return To Player percentage, the RTP. This RTP is based on thousands of games and indicates how much of the player’s wager during those thousands of games are returned to the player in the form of winnings.
Physical scratch cards also have an RTP, but they are much lower than online ones. This is because physical scratch cards are more expensive to produce, and the costs are passed on, not in the price of the scratch card but in the amount that players receive in return.
With online scratch cards, the RTP usually varies between 93% and 97%, meaning that for every $100 you spend on a scratch card, you will receive $93 to $97 back, respectively. With physical scratch cards, this is much less. The RTP on physical scratch cards is usually around 65%, meaning that for every $100 you spend, you only get $65 back.
So playing online scratch cards offers you the advantage of a lower RTP, while you can win prizes just as high as you would with a physical scratch card.
Different Types of Scratch Cards
Initially, the first online scratch cards were simply copies of the physical tickets you could buy in shops. They usually had six slots on them, and a digital scratchpad hid the prizes. With a coin or simply clicking on the start button, the scratch layer could be removed, and the amounts and prizes would become visible. However, scratch cards come in all shapes, sizes, and themes.
There are scratch cards with 10 or 15 slots, and there are scratch cards where symbols replace the prizes. An accompanying paytable shows the value of each symbol.
So you’re not looking for three identical cash amounts but three matching symbols. It is also possible that you don’t need to find three symbols, but only two or even more than three. This is usually related to the number of boxes on the scratch card.
Low Costs, High Profits
Scratch cards are cheaper in online casinos than in supermarkets or cigar stores. This is because the RTP is higher and because the minimum bets are lower. A physical scratch card can usually be bought for $2.50 or more. You pay only $1 for the most advantageous scratch card with an online scratch card. This is a great advantage that will help you keep your average hourly loss down.
Now, playing with scratch cards in Australia in online casinos is faster than playing with physical scratch cards. With physical scratch cards, you always have to remove the scratch layer manually, which takes time. On average, you can scratch off about 50 scratch cards per hour, while online, you can play up to 200 scratch cards per hour.
So you’ll have to play at your leisure and make sure your bankroll doesn’t go down too quickly. Try playing more expensive scratch cards or multi-colored tickets when you make a profit.
It’s more fun and will probably make you play more relaxed.
Try Scratch Cards for Free
If you’re thinking of giving scratch cards a try at an online casino, it’s a good idea to try it for free first. This is possible because all games played at online casinos, except for live casino games, come with a practice mode.
In this mode, you play with a fictitious amount of money in the game, and, of course, you don’t get paid out any winnings when you win a prize. However, this is a great way to get a feel for how online scratch cards work.
It costs you nothing, and you can try out different scratch cards. If you like playing with free money, log in to one of our displayed casinos, deposit some money and try playing with scratch cards for real money.
Conclusion
Scratch cards might not be the first game you think of when playing at an online casino. It’s also not the most profitable game to play at an online casino.
It’s a rather expensive game with a house edge of 3% to 7%. In comparison, blackjack has a house edge of only 1%, and baccarat has a house edge of 1.04%. Video poker has an even lower house edge of 0.44% when playing Jacks or Better.
So think twice before getting too excited about playing scratch cards and not playing for too long.
Play a few a day, and who knows; you might be lucky enough to win a very high prize. Remember, there are no strategies in scratch cards, and, just like in a pokie machine, you’re dependent on the luck factor!