[eihli]

Employees could really game the system. On average there's 1 "big" prize (outside the GLEP prizes) every 4 packs. Any time you see a pack go from start to ~5 remaining without a big prize, buy every remaining ticket.

There's also guaranteed restrictions on the maximum number of losers in a row. So if you see ~6+ (depends on ticket) losers in a row, then buy the next few until you win. I've run simulations on those distributions and it's profitable. But it's a situation that only an employee could take advantage of. And it probably comes up rarely.

[jallen_dot_dev]

I'm a bit confused. How does the employee know that the previous 6 tickets were losers? It's not like all customers are scratching them off then and there in front of them?

[wahern]

> It's not like all customers are scratching them off then and there in front of them?

A good number of tickets (most tickets?) are purchased by habitual players who'll buy many tickets per sale, and many of those people will even scratch them off in the store:

> “Some customers come in up to three times a day to play, spending up to one hour to scratch-off tickets right in the store after spending $300 or more.”

https://www.cspdailynews.com/technologyservices/inside-marke...

If you don't see this happening often, you're not likely living in poor or low-income neighborhoods, not patronizing the local convenience stores, or at least not paying attention to the 1 or 2 individuals that you'll often see lingering near the counter.

[almost_usual]

Worked at a gas station for years when I was younger, this was a pretty common thing.

[jallen_dot_dev]

Didn't know that. I guess any patron could pull it off. Like watching a table and card counting.

[R0b0t1]

I've heard of this off and on for years, but seeing as I don't know anyone who has actually done it I think practically it's not too profitable. If he has everything in a sqlite db though, hmm..

[dolmen]

https://www.businessinsider.com/4-time-lottery-winner-not-ex...

[User23]

I knew a bartender who did exactly this with pull tabs.

[mschuster91]

Nope. Like throwing a coin, with scratch-off ticket packs actions don't have any effect on the following packs. They're mixed to prevent precisely attacks such as the one you describe.