Instant win scratch-off games or scratchies are one of the biggest revenue generators for lotteries. In the U.S. online gambling is still largely unavailable for the masses and most people have to rely on state lotteries to scratch and win. The state of Minnesota has just debuted an online scratch card last Thursday which makes it the first U.S. state lottery to offer these instant win games. The game is called “Spicy7’s” and already had sold over 300 tickets online by mid-afternoon on Thursday according to Lottery executive Ed Van Petten.
Spicy 7’s only costs $1 to enter and you can win up to $777. This is just the start for the Minnesota Lottery as they intend to add more online scratch-off games in the coming months. Until now all U.S. state lotteries limited the type of games offered online to Powerball and Mega Million. This new addition has got groups like Citizens Against Gambling Expansion up in arms as they accused lottery officials of “overreaching” as they should have sought legislative approval before expanding online gaming options.
Critics of the move are also asking the question if Van Petten intends to expand lottery plans to other casino games. This claim was empathically denied by Van Petten who said it was well within state law to sell lottery tickets and to decide the manner in which that is done.
While Spicy 7’s offers a small top prize of only $777, online scratch cards can easily rival lottery prizes and reach into the millions. Scratch offs like the £4 Million Blue scratch card are the reason why so many punters are sucked into playing these seemingly harmless games which is exactly the reason why critics are wary of offering them online with a touch of a button.