The Best Scratch Cards to Buy in the UK
At Lemons & Sevens, we’re playing dozens of the most popular scratch cards in the UK, so that we can lay out the best scratch cards for you before you spend a penny. Below, we’ve laid out the best scratch national lottery scratch cards to win on, whether you measure your wins by jackpot odds, by profit, or just the likelihood of scratching off a winner at all (including “break even” scratch cards).
So if you’re wondering what the odds are on your favourite scratch cards, or if you should even bother playing at all, you’ve found the right place. Our full list of the best scratch cards in the UK is below, plus a video from our YouTube channel where we take a look at some of our favourites and try to win.
If you’re interested only in cards of a particular price, you can check out our posts on £2 scratch cards, and £5 scratch cards. If not, here’s our list of all the best scratch cards you can buy in the UK.
National Lottery Scratch Cards in the UK
Scratch cards in the UK are all distributed by the National Lottery under the Gambling Commission’s Section 5 license. This means that all the scratch cards in the UK are audited for safety and fairness, so they’re not a scam. However, don’t be fooled, your chances of making a profit on them are still incredibly low. In fact, payout percentages for scratchcards are so low, that 70% RTP (Return To Player) is considered a high payback percentage.
You need to be aged 16 or above to buy scratch cards in the UK, which is remarkable considering that most gambling in the country has an age limit of at least 18.
Scratch cards are sold in Post Offices and corner shops in every part of the UK, and prizes up to £100 can be redeemed in these same shops (some retailers will redeem prizes up to £500).
Scratch card prizes can be redeemed:
In shops (Usually up to £100)
At the post office (Usually up to £500)
By post (For any amount)
At the regional national lottery centre (for large prizes over £500 only)
How to get the best chances of winning with a scratch card
Make sure you maintain your edge by picking the cards with the highest number of prizes left and the highest odds.
Be aware you can still buy tickets for games that have no jackpots left which will severely reduce your odds of winning any prizes. Generously, the National Lottery publishes information on the number of remaining top prizes, so if you plan to play any scratch cards you should check this page first in order to make the odds as favourable as possible. (Though, as we said, your chances of winning are still mind-blowingly low.)
Best Scratch Cards in the UK
The best national lottery scratch cards to win on depend on the measurement you choose for success. This can be:
Payback percentage
Jackpot odds
Likelihood of a winning card
Payback percentage is calculated as the likelihood that you will win some money on any given card. The ratio of the cost of the card vs. the amount you’re likely to win back. This is also known as “payout rate” which ranges from 60%-70% for most scratch cards.
Jackpot odds refers to your likelihood of winning the jackpot that a card offers. Your chances of winning the jackpot on any given card is usually astronomically low.
Your likelihood of a winning card, including cards you make a profit on and cards you break even on, are your chances of scratching off a card that wins any money at all. This usually ranges from 1 in 3 to 1 in 5.
The best scratch card to win on
As long as you’re happy with a low jackpot, the Fruity 500s (or Festive 500s) £5 scratch card is the best national lottery scratch card to win on by all measures. The jackpot, being only £500, means you have a high chance of winning the big bucks at just 1 in 1,646. (Though with those odds you’d still be looking at spending £8,230 before winning £500.)
If you’re hoping to win a life-changing amount of money on your scratchcard, you’ll typically find that the higher the cost of a scratch card, the more likely you are to win the jackpot, which makes sense really.
Gold Edition Scratch Card £250,000
Cost: £2
Odds: 69.5% / 1 in 3.99
The Gold Edition £250,000 scratchcard is a popular one and for good reason. It has one of the highest payout rates we have seen at this price (69.5%) and offers one of the best chances of getting a winning ticket at 3.99 to 1.
The Gold Edition scratchcard features 3 different games and a bonus game:
In game 1 you will win the stated prize if you can reveal a diamond, you have 6 chances and prizes range from £2 to £250,000.
Game 2 has just one image to reveal and is a winner if you find the National Lottery crossed fingers logo. Prizes here range from £2 to £100
Game 3 is a match 3 with 6 reveals. You will see 6 money values from £2 to £250,000 and if you reveal 3 of the same value, you will win that amount.
The bonus game has a single reveal and one possible prize of £10. Simply reveal the ‘10’ symbol and get an instant win of £10.
Your overall chance of winning the £250,000 jackpot on this scratchcard is 1 in 6,342,696.
£100 Loaded
Cost: £2
Odds: 65.98% / 1 in 3.95
£100 loaded has loads of £100 max prizes to be won. The jackpot may be low but the chances of getting it are much higher than any other scratchcard. Your chances of winning £100 in this card are 0.045% or around 1 in 2,270.
The chances of making a profit on this game excluding any break even cards are 1 in 6.
The ticket has 2 games, the main game and a bonus game.
The bonus game has a maximum prize of £40 if you reveal the National Lottery crossed fingers logo. There is a 1 in 792 chance of getting a ticket worth £40.
For the main game there are 8 rows of 2 symbols. You need to match the symbols on any of the rows to win the prize shown on that row.
Lucky Bonus
Cost: £2
Odds: 64.04% / 1 in 4.04
The lucky bonus jackpot prize is £80,000. However, that’s not all you can win on this scratch card. There's also 3,955 x £100 prizes to be won, with an individual chance of 1 in 1,447.
Your chance of getting the £80,000 bonus is 1 in 2,210,760.
The chances of making any kind of profit on this card excluding any break even cards is 1 in 5.
There are 3 games featured in the lucky bonus scratchcard. 2 Bonus games and the main game.
In the bonus games you need to reveal the National Lottery crossed fingers symbol to win the prize amount shown beneath it, this could be up to £20 and £100 respectively for the two games.
In the main game you need to match 3 symbols corresponding to the Prize Table in the bottom left of the card. Prizes range from £2 up to £80,000 for this game.
Money Spinner
Cost: £2
Odds: 65.46% / 1 in 4.05
The Money Spinner scratchcard has a jackpot prize of £50,000. The chances of achieving this jackpot are 1 in 3,819,072.
In addition there are 34 prizes of £1,000 and 5,000 (5 x 5,000, 29 x 1,000) for which you have a 1 in 561,628 chance of winning.
The chances of making any kind of profit on this card excluding break even cards is 1 in 6.
The Money Spinner scratchcard only features 1 game but you get 7 chances to win.
Simply match the 3 symbols in any of the 7 game areas to win the prize shown in that area.
Then once you have revealed your winning section scratch off the double spot to see if you have won twice that amount.
Cash Match
Cost: £1
Odds: 61.45% / 1 in 4.45
Cash Match is a very simple single game card - but you can’t really argue with that for the price.
Simply scratch off the middle section for your winning symbol and then try to match it with one of the 4 symbols labelled ‘Your Symbol’ on the scratch card.
Prizes range from £1 to a jackpot of £10,000. You have a 1 in 4,643,100 chance of winning the £10,000 jackpot. For prizes of £50 to £500 you have an overall chance of 1 in 4,627 to win.
The chances of making any kind of profit on this card excluding break even cards is 1 in 8.
£100,000 Multiplier
Cost: £1
Odds: 63.01%/ 1 in 4.28
The £100,000 Multiplier is a simple game as with all £1 cards. There is a single match 3 game, simply match 3 symbols to win the amount shown, then scratch off the multiplier to see if you have won up to 10x the amount.
Prizes range from £1 up to a jackpot of £100,000 which you have a 1 in 5,441,910 chance of winning. For any prize £10 or greater you have a 1 in 69 chance of winning.
The chances of making any kind of profit on this card excluding break even cards is 1 in 7.2.
Ruby 7s Doubler
Cost: £2
Odds: 65.46% / 1 in 4
Main Game: Ruby 7s Doubler is a simple match 3 game with 8 rows and a double feature. If you match 3 7s on any row you will win the prize shown and you will get double if the sevens are all red. The jackpot for this card is £70,000
Bonus Game: The bonus game is a single reveal panel which will win if you find the National Lottery crossed fingers logo.
Your chances of making a profit on this card excluding any break even cards is 1 in 6.31
The odds of you winning the £70,000 Jackpot on this card is 1 in 3,854,800.
Festive £500s
Cost: £5
Odds: 70.99% / 1 in 3.15
Festive £500s is a Christmas themed game with a Jackpot prize of £500. These 100x Jackpot cards at the £5 level give you the best chances of finding a winner. For that reason Festive £500s and Fruity £500 get our pick as the best value scratchcards in the UK.
The Festive £500 scratchcard features 3 different games, 1 main game and 2 bonus games.
Main Game: In the main game you will win the stated prize if you can match any of ‘Your numbers’ to the ‘winning numbers’. Prizes range from £5 to £500 and there is even a win all feature which means you will win every prize in the main game section of the card if you can uncover it.
Bonus Game: As with many National Lottery cards in the bonus game you have to reveal the National Lottery Crossed Fingers Logo to win the prize shown below it.
Extra Bonus Game: Exactly the same as the bonus game.
Your chances of making a profit on the card excluding any breakeven cards is 1 in 6.5.
Your overall chance of winning £500 on this scratch card is 1 in 1,646.
Bonus Cashword
Cost: £3
Odds: 66.99% / 1 in 3.54
This card is quite unique in that the bonus game and the main game are linked. First you must scratch off the top section marked ‘Your Letters’. Once you have done this you can begin to scratch off any matching letters in the bonus or main game sections.
There are 4 bonus words worth £5, £10 and £20 each, these are instant wins so if you match the full word you have already won.
In the main section you need to match at least 3 words and will win more money as you match more words. 12 words will win you the £300,000 jackpot.
Your chances of making a profit on this card excluding any break even cards is 1 in 5.3.
Your chances of winning the jackpot on this card are 1 in 4,980,840.
Are scratch cards worth it?
Scratch cards are fun and relatively inexpensive, if what you’re looking for is a fun way to spend an evening gambling at home (or if you’re 17 and can’t go to the casino yet). However, the chances of making a profit playing scratch cards - let alone getting a big win - are so astronomically low that you’d be better off playing almost any other game, financially speaking.
If you are looking for more info, you can subscribe to our YouTube channel where we regularly post new scratch card videos.
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