Scratch cards are the perfect way to unwind when you need to relax and don’t want to sacrifice the chance of big winnings. Here at Plaza Royal, you will find an extensive collection of scratch cards with an enjoyable range of themes. If you are looking to relax, then try our scratch cards today and you may uncover some huge wins.
About Playing Scratch Cards
Today there are millions of scratch cards sold in shops around the world. People love the moment of anticipation they get as they scratch away at the panels with their coins to see if they have hit a big win.
The games’ simplicity have make them hugely successful and it doesn’t hurt that they are so easy to come by. You can find scratch cards being sold in supermarkets, newsagents, post offices, tobacco shops, and more. It really is the most straightforward way to gamble, which has made them popular with all types of people rather than a particular demographic.
In recent years, people have started playing online scratch cards. These are even more engaging and accessible than their physical world counterparts. Furthermore, thanks to the wonders of modern technology, online scratch cards are able to have far wider ranging themes than physical ones, and thanks to animations, sound effects, and the occasional bonus feature, they provide even more excitement.
Considering how widespread scratch cards are today, it is amazing that they are actually a fairly recent invention. This is because both computer and printing technology had to progress to a point where it was possibly to manufacturer them easily, securely, and not at such a high cost that they became unprofitable.
John Koza and Daniel Bower produced the first proper scratch card. Appropriately, Koza had a degree in computer science while Bawer was an expert in marketing. They became interested in exploring the possibilities of printing randomised patterns of numbers or symbols that were generated by computers and then covering these patterns with a latex-style substance that could then be easily scratched off. The two formed a company called Scientific Games in 1974 and went on to produce the first prototypes of the kind of printed scratch cards you can find today. Incidentally, Scientific Game has since grown into a titan of the gambling industry and here at Plaza Royal you will find many of its excellent quality slots and other games.
Furthermore, the two also had an idea about who to sell the new form of games to. They realised that the US states that relied heavily on lottery revenues would welcome the addition of scratch cards to their offering.
Massachusetts was the first state to start selling scratch cards and they were an immediate hit with the gambling public. It was not long before scratch cards were generating an average of $2.7 million on a weekly basis. Therefore, it was no surprise when other states began approaching Scientific Games Corporation to ask them to start producing scratch cards for their own lotteries.
However, whereas today you can pick up scratch cards in a huge range of shops, initially you could only buy them through official booths and other sellers. Furthermore, you would have to request a scratch card at the counter. This changed in 1985 when the businessman Cal Tigner had the idea of creating clear plastic containers that could securely hold and display a number of rolls of the brightly coloured and appealing cards.
These plastic containers were then placed near the cashiers so that customers could see them and then request the cards that they wanted. Unsurprisingly, this lead to an increase in impulse purchases as people were paying for their shopping. It wasn’t long before the plastic containers became must have items for businesses and Tigner’s company was soon selling around 200,000 units a year.
Remarkably, very little has changed about physical scratch cards since they were first produced in 1974. While printing techniques have developed and the cards have undergone a few design changes, today they are in many ways exactly the same as they were right at the beginning.
When online gambling began to take off in the late 1990s/early 2000s, it was not long before online scratch cards, such as the ones available here, started to appear. While players cannot scratch at their screens, they can click on the panels to reveal the hidden symbols. Furthermore, it also gives players instant and more convenient access to a huge range of scratch cards, which is just not replicable in the physical world. Better yet, online scratch cards are also mobile friendly, so fans of the game are able to enjoy them with ease whenever they so desire.
What Makes Scratch Cards Fun?
Many people mistakenly believe that scratch cards are so simple, they must be fairly boring. However, the real joy of scratch cards lies in their simplicity. Players can find out in a matter of seconds whether or not they have won and without the need to worry about strategies or making any complicated decisions along the way. Furthermore, in many instances players are able to receive their prizes straight away, which makes the experience even more gratifying.
In addition, while scratch cards may not offer the huge payouts that games such as progressive slots do, they still give players the chance of enormous winnings. In the physical world, there have been prizes of $10 million and £4 million won from scratch cards in the US and UK respectively. Online, it is quite common to find scratch cards that give players the chance to win prizes worth up to 50,000 times their bet, or even more.
It is all of this that makes scratch cards so enjoyable and the perfect solution for gamblers looking to relax. If you are the kind of player who enjoys utilising clever strategies when playing Blackjack, there will come a time when you just feel too tired to concentrate properly. Next time that happens, try your luck with a scratch card instead and you may find yourself pleasantly surprised.
The Advantages of Online Scratch Cards
As mentioned, online scratch cards became popular almost as soon as online casinos were invented. This is hardly surprising considering the many advantages that online scratch cards have over their real world counterparts. To begin with, you will not have to go out to find a shop in order to buy one. You can purchase an online scratch card in seconds via your computer or mobile phone. Secondly, when you have bought it, there is no need to worry about trying to find a coin to remove the panels with, you either click with your mouse or tap on your phone.
Beyond these practical considerations, the real advantage is the sheer amount of choice you can find online. In your local shop, there may be a range of scratch cards available, but they are usually very similar to one another. Online, you will find incredibly diverse scratch cards all in the same place. For example, they may have themes that take you around the world, travel through time, immerse you in nature, provide sporting excitement, and so on. Furthermore, online scratch cards are far more engaging as there are enjoyable animations and sound effects that bring the themes to life but do not make the games any more difficult to play.
As an added benefit, some online scratch cards also have special bonus features. While these may not be strictly in the spirit of traditional scratch cards, they can be a huge amount of fun. For instance, there may be a small side game that brings the theme to life and gives you the chance to win payout multipliers. Essentially, an online scratch card provides a far more engaging and immersive experience than a physical one, even if it doesn’t give you the chance to actually scratch away at the panels.
Strategies for Playing Online Scratch Cards
Scratch cards are pure games of luck. Once you have bought a card, there is absolutely nothing you can do to improve your chances of winning. However, there are still a few things that you can do to increase your enjoyment and help you keep playing for longer.
If you are also a slots player then you have probably heard of Return to Player (RTP). The RTP of a game is a theoretical percentage of the money bet on it that is returned to players over time. For example, if a game has an RTP of 95% then €95 of every €100 bet on it will eventually be returned to players. However, you must remember that this is calculated over a huge number of games, which means that there is no guarantee that you will receive that percentage of your money back. The flip side of this of course is that some players will win more than 100% of the money they bet, and this is why it is gambling and why gambling is exciting.
All games at online casinos have theoretical RTPs and you can normally find them in a game’s help information. It is always worth looking at the RTPs and comparing them, you may find one that has a particularly high RTP, and this of course is a good game to play.
As with any form of online gambling, you should always be careful with your bankroll. However, this is especially true of scratch cards as they are very fast paced games and it is possible to play a huge number of them in a relatively short period of time. Therefore, you should think realistically about how long you want to play for and how many cards you think you can play in that time. Then, when you calculate how much to bet per card, simply divide your bankroll for the session by that number of cards. That way, hopefully you will end the session without having exceeded your bankroll and with a bit of luck, with some winnings.
While this is not exactly a strategy, it will ensure that you can play for as long as you wish and that it will remain fun at all times.
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