The $3 Sweet Spot

I'm a cheap bastard. So when I started messing around with scratchers, I figured I'd be hitting the lowboys hard.

The math kinda makes sense. If I've got $10 to spare, I could blow it all on one ticket and have it fizzle out in a single pop. Or I could stretch it out by loading up on a bunch of $2 ones and make the good times last a wee bit longer.

That wouldn't leave me with a ton of options, but there are some pretty decent ones. I find the Flaming 7s really appealing. 2X Blitz ain't bad either. Crossword's alright too.

But it's kind of hard to resist the pricier ones.

A guy gets curious. So I started sampling them a bit.

And you know what? They're pretty great.

I gave the $20,000 Casino a shot even though a $20 wager is 

I put down ten bucks to get Mrs. Lucky Duck a 10X Blitz ticket. I passed it off as being a generous husband, but I was also trying to experience it vicariously through her. 

We also tried the new Monopoly scratchers when they dropped about a month ago, which included a $10 one. (Total bust, by the way.)

Buncha losers

And maybe I'd change my mind if I had more disposable income, but those don't feel like they're worth the price.

They're fine. And the promise of a bigger payout is obviously exciting. But the thrill of playing is almost outweighed by the bummer of losing that much money in one go.

The only exception is Crossword Supreme. Because for $10 it actually gives you a lot more scratch time, and I can appreciate the stretched out dopamine rush.

So many grids...

 

But now I've kind of settled into my sweet spot.

I'll do the occasional $5 ticket. Sometimes I'll throw in a $1 or $2 ticket to round out a purchase. And I'm sure I'll fall for the more expensive ones now and then.

But for the most part, I'm going for the $3 ones.

They're reasonably low risk. The odds are usually close to what you see on the $5 ones. I wouldn't be able to retire on the jackpots but they'd take a chunk out of my debt so that'd be great.

Mostly, they're a lot of fun. You get a lot of bang per buck.

There are just three in that category, but they're all great.

Bingo sends me hunting for 28 numbers, which I find really satisfying.

Crossword Deluxe only has 18 letters to search for, but it'll still keep me busy for a little bit.

And Winner's Circle involves scratching out rounded segments, which is kinda neat.

They're all fantastic. But if I ever pop over to Jean Coutu or Giant Tiger without a plan (or without someone telling me how to gamble), I'll default to the same thing every time: two Bingos and two Crossword Deluxes. One of each for me and one each for Mrs. Lucky Duck.

And since I had to go pick up the dog's meds this morning, I just happen to have my usual combo ready to go.

So let's see if there's a winner here. 

 

Let's Get (Slightly) Richer 

I did the Crossword Deluxe first.

Started off okay. The first two letters I uncovered were R and M - pretty decent ones all things considered. Got a U soon after. It's always nice to see a vowel, though it's no E.

At the fifth letter, I became convinced this ticket wouldn't be netting me 30 grand. Probably wouldn't even get me single grand.

But I kept going for the sheer enjoyment of it - and because I might break even, and it's always nice to break even. 

I ended up getting two primo letters: S and E. But it didn't matter, because I wasn't able to cobble together four words to get a win.

So, nothing there.

Which is fine, because the real excitement was the Bingo scratcher. Because this one had a brand new design.

And it's not just the Sex Pistols color scheme that's new. They changed the game too. 

You can still win in some of the usual ways - 1 line, 4 corners, or an X. But now you can also score by getting the "Postage Stamp," which is the 2x2 pink corner that's on each card.

Kinda neat. Never seen that in a real bingo game, so points for creativity. And really, it's incredible that anyone's found a way to innovate on a classic game like this. 

I knew that pink and green looked familiar.

So I scratched out all the Free spaces, then each of the numbers one by one. And like usual, I had a few close calls - lines that were just one space away from getting filled, and even a 3/4 postage stamp.

But nah, nothing on this one either.

A total bust - or at least it would be if I hadn't got the same set for Mrs. Lucky Duck. She had a lot more luck than I did, scoring $14 on her Bingo ticket (in the form of 1 line plus 4 corners, so neither of us got to taste a postage win yet).

So in the end, we came out of this $2 richer. Which is about what you can expect when you're playing in the $3 zone.  

 

Tally

Wagered This Session: $12

Profit This Session: $2

Total Profit Overall: $148.96 

 

Thanks for reading and feel free to support my nonsense.