If you are an instant win fan, then you are probably very familiar with scratchcards, they can be found behind the counter of a variety of shops, you scratch off sections, match symbols, and you win or you don’t win.The online casino market has developed something of a careful bond with the concept of scratchcards, with some, but certainly not all sites offering a few, but not many online casinos offering a particularly vast collection.
How do online scratchcards work?
In principle, online scratchcards are very similar to those you know from shops. These scratchcards have an average of a one in five chance of a win, and you know within seconds if you’ve won.Each range of cards released will have a total prize fund spread amongst the cards, including a small number of jackpot cards, usually one.Online scratchcards work much the same, but tend to be simpler. Where shop bought scratchcards can vary in their complexity, their online cousins tend to be of the most basic variety, you get a card, you scratch everything off it, and then you find out if you have won.
Benefits of online scratchcards
There’s a few ways that online scratchcards are the better choice. Firstly, from an environmental standpoint, playing a scratchcard game online does not generate the waste that scratching an actual card will.Also, online scratchcards are not released in ranges with limited prize funds, instead the return to player (RTP) is pre-set and the outcomes of the games are decided by a random number generator, so nothing is predetermined before you purchase a card online.Some people also prefer scratchcards because it is easier to keep an eye on your spending habits. If you are playing table and card games, then you are often not sure how much you are going to bet until you bet it, the same goes for slot machines. You may intend to spend no more than £20 say, but if you start winning then stop, or you are just enjoying spinning the reels, you may go past that limit.With a scratchcard, it is harder to get carried away by the momentum of the game, because there isn’t one, you pay maybe €2 for a scratchcard, you scratch it, and that’s it, you have to purchase a new card to play again, this extra step helps some keep their playing habits in check.
Downsides to scratchcards
Many people cannot abide scratchcards, professional casino players will rarely, if ever touch them because there is no skill involved.As is often the case with games that are entirely based on luck, the win percentage is low, in fact, in the case of scratchcards, it’s very low, between 85% and 90% usually, which is substantially lower than the percentage on most slot machines, which itself is seen as a low number.If you put skill games like blackjack and certain variations of poker at the top of the scale, where the pay-out percentage can be in excess of 99%, then scratchcards undoubtedly live at the opposite end of the spectrum.If you are a player who likes skill games, or even a player who likes there to be a decent chance for you to actually win something from an online casino game, then the chances are scratchcards will be of no interest to you.However, if you are the impatient type of gamer, someone who likes little bursts of risk and reward without long winded games, then scratchcards are the perfect choice, within seconds you can have bought a card, scratched it, won or lost, and then stopped playing.