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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think scratchcards are a big con

92 replies

Sunshinegirls · 27/04/2017 23:09

I've never heard of anyone winning the big prize on a lottery scratch card.
I think there is no big prize just little teaser prizes to get you hooked.

OP posts:

Zaphodsotherhead · 30/04/2017 08:24

I work in a shop that sells them and I hate the bloody things. It always seems to be the people who can least afford the money who buy them (and some cost £10!). You don't even need to scratch them off - just the four digit number. The machine will tell you if it's a winner or not

thecatsarecrazy · 30/04/2017 08:27

I know of someone who won quite a bit, she spent the whole lot and now buys them every day hoping she will get another win. There are youtube videos of people scratching a whole packet say £100 worth and lucky if they get half that back

Mombie2016 · 30/04/2017 08:27

A close friend of mine won 100k on a £1 scratch card. I thought she was winding me up but she wasn't!

BarbaraofSeville · 30/04/2017 08:27

I agree Zaphos about the people with the least money spending so much on them - it must be a desperation thing.

I tend to just pick one up every once in a while while I am in a Post Office or similar and definitely notice that the shops in poor areas have by far the best selection.

Wishfulmakeupping · 30/04/2017 08:30

I buy them sometimes but I do know 2 people that have won on them
One won 2,500 and the other 5k.

DancingOnTheTable · 30/04/2017 08:34

I only buy them if I need to get cash out (only one ATM in our town and it's frequently empty/broken/off so it's easier to pop into a shop and spend £1 to get cash back)
I figured a scratch card or lottery ticket is a better use of a pound or two than chocolate.

Over the years I have lost count of the times I've won a pound or two, a few times I've won £5 or £10.
A couple of years ago I won £200 and last year I won £2k.

I think it does make a difference which cards you buy, I have won a lot more frequently on certain cards, others I've bought quite a few of but never won a penny on.

On average I probably get 3-5 a month.

icebearforpresident · 30/04/2017 08:45

My husband works in a shop as well zaphod and says the same thing. He has a guy come in everyday,buy a tenners worth and stands at the counter to scratch the bottom bit off to get the number and then gets them checked. DH says the most he has seen him win is about £100.

But the woman who comes in once in a blue moon and bought one by chance won £75k.

The most i've won is £75 but i never expect to win anything because the odds are crap. Would be nice though.

RedStripeIassie · 30/04/2017 08:53

dancing which cards are the good ones?!

StarlitTrees · 30/04/2017 08:55

Someone I went school with won £250k. She bought a house.

Mrsemcgregor · 30/04/2017 09:11

I won £77 on a lucky 7s card when I was 20. It felt like a real jackpot to me in my poor student days. Drinks in the Union were on me that night!

Robinkitty · 30/04/2017 09:22

I've seen someone win a lot, i was behind him in the queue, it started me off with a little addiction tbh.
I like to buy a scratch card and carry it around with me day dreaming and what I will spend the money on, always dissapointing when I don't win any thing, I want my money back!

BartholinsSister · 30/04/2017 09:23

Does it matter if the jackpot has been won? There's still the smaller prizes available. Plenty of people would be chuffed to win £50 from a £1 scratchcard.

They may not be so keen to buy one if they knew that's the most they could win.

LumpySpaceCow · 30/04/2017 09:56

My sister won 50k on one about 5 years ago! Started me on a bit of a scratchcard addiction though but the most I've ever won is 20 quid!

Tenerife2015 · 30/04/2017 10:00

My Taid won £5000 on a scratch card, I won £10 yesterday

PseudoBadger · 30/04/2017 10:10

We once got a win on every section of one card - £100

NotTheQueen · 30/04/2017 10:11

My nana used to 'do the lotto' which meant going up and getting her lotto ticket and spending a tenner on scratchies. She used to scratch them in the store while having a natter. She won 250k in 2005, plus the odd bit of small stuff. She gave us grandkids 1k each, her kids 10k each and banked the rest for retirement.
My parents won an old pre-lottery raffle style draw of 100k in the 80s, which was enough to buy five houses where we lived. I was only five, but I remember being woken up by noise - dad tearing apart from living room as he couldn't remember where he'd put the ticket. He never found it but because he'd written his full details on the stub, they still gave it to him. Turned out to be a bit of a disaster; he brought a business and became a workaholic, mother had multiple affairs. Finally split up after the fourth... she took Dad to the cleaners then the guy she was shagging fleeced her. I often wonder if they hadn't won, if the marriage would have survived

NotTheQueen · 30/04/2017 10:13

Sorry, forgot to say, when nana passed 18mths ago, the girls from the lottery kiosk came to her funeral service

Oysterbabe · 30/04/2017 10:16

My dad won 40k on the football pools about 5 years ago.

LordAnthony · 30/04/2017 13:47

My former history teacher won big on the pools. He had a new porch put on his house.

BarbaraofSeville · 30/04/2017 13:52

When I was at secondary school, two of the dinner ladies won about £50k on the Bingo, which was a fortune to them, being about 30 years ago (could easily have bought a house and a half share of that was almost exactly the same as what the 2 bed terrace I bought in my early 20s cost).

I think they were both in their 50s so retired. One of them bought a sports car with a private plate and for years after I often saw her driving around in it.

Original poster

Sunshinegirls · 01/05/2017 00:21

NotTheQueen. Wow.

OP posts:

MrsLJ2014 · 01/05/2017 09:15

My sibling won £10,000 a month for a year - just after they'd declared bankruptcy. Not fair!

CakeNinja · 01/05/2017 10:00

Don't know about anyone else but I really fancy buying a scratchie now! I've probably bought about 5 in my whole life but I'm tempted now

RockyBird · 01/05/2017 10:06

I used to buy them occasionally when they first came out. I can't remember winning any more than £1 or £2.

I did go into my local newsagents 20 odd years ago where the assistants were really excited because the previous customer had just won £50k. I wasn't planning on buying a scratchcard that day anyway so it would have never been me

The shop assistants both received flowers from the winner later.

Bluebubble123 · 01/05/2017 10:47

I buy one every week with my shopping order and I have won more times than not. £40 being the biggest win lots of £10 ,£2 or £1 wins. I only do it for a bit of fun.
Used to be in a syndicate at work we never won so stopped paying into that and buy a scratch card instead.

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