History of scratch card games

Lottery games have existed for thousands of years, although it is difficult to trace their origin. We know that French lottery games first appeared in the sixteenth century. Scratch card games, which are a more specific category of lottery games, gained a foothold the beginning of the twentieth century. The durable paper they are composed of as well as their grid, the content of which can be revealed with a single coin, at the time represented a veritable revolution.

Scratch cards in history

Scratch cards, or scratch tickets, represent a new revolution in online games. But it is worth noting that this game has a rich and definite history. The first scratch card was invented during the 1970s in the United States, the pioneer of gambling and games of chance. Engineers there developed a ticket which yielded instant winnings and functioned using a method of drawing executed on a national scale, somewhat like principles of today's lottery. Shortly thereafter, the company AstroMed Inc., which was located in the state of Rhode Island, tried to market a scratch card bearing its brand name in the early 1990s. The same process was then reproduced in Europe and in France, since the Française des Jeux had the opportunity to publish an entire collection of unique scratch card games and make them available at news kiosks.

Scratch cards and charity

For a certain period, scratch cards were much used in the framework of humanitarian causes. The game was used by some governments to collect winnings and use them to finance works of charities and non-profit associations. In the United States, scratch card games have thus been cloaked in a charitable garb. Since then, scratch cards have been made the object of more profitable promotions and have encompassed a broad customer base across a global network.

Scratch cards and evolution

Scratch cards have been continuously upgraded to render them more innovative and attractive. The advent of color brought somewhat of a revival to the graphics and drawings of the first scratch cards. Since the beginning of the 21st century, things have accelerated even more quickly: virtual lotto and also online scratch cards have succeeded in convincing many devotees. In November 2005, the company Scratch2Cash finally launched the first website dedicated to online scratch games. The procedure has now been brought to life in a fully interactive way. One can play scratch card games simply from a computer via secure software. Furthermore, the Internet enables lotteries to offer tickets with colossal winnings, much greater than those of tickets traditionally purchased at newsstands.