What Time Can You Buy Lottery Scratcher Tickets in California? Anytime You Want!

As a passionate lottery player and expert on California‘s lottery offerings, I‘m thrilled to report that thanks to convenient vending machines located at retailers statewide, we can buy Scratchers tickets anytime of day, every day of the week!

Yup, you read that right – no more being limited by store opening hours or draw game cutoff times. Scratcher tickets are now available 24/7, so we can indulge our ticket buying addiction whenever the urge strikes!

California Lottery Scratchers vending machines operate non-stop, allowing us to purchase our favorite instant win games at a moment‘s notice, whether it‘s at 6 in the morning or 2am! Now we don‘t have to painfully wait until stores open to get our Scratcher fix. It‘s a complete game changer!

And with over 50 unique Scratcher games released by California Lottery each year featuring massive jackpot prizes up to $30 million, why would you want to wait? Let‘s dive into everything you need to know about buying lottery tickets in California.

Buying In-Person Versus Online

While Scratchers vending machines allow 24/7 access, if you prefer to buy tickets in-person, most lottery retailers are open the following hours:

• Gas Stations: Open 24 hours a day
• Convenience Stores: Typically 6am – Midnight
• Supermarkets: Around 6am – 10pm depending on chain
• Lottery Retailers: Varies, usually 8am – 8pm

I definitely take advantage of those late night gas station runs to get my Scratcher fix! Or sometimes, I‘ll hit up the self-serve vending machines outside many supermarkets which also operate 24/7.

You can also bypass stores completely and order Scratcher tickets online through the California Lottery website which I do occasionally for variety or hard-to-find games. Just place orders before 4pm PST Monday to Friday for same day shipping.

One advantage of buying in stores however is redeeming prizes up to $599 on the spot. So I tend to buy more in person rather than online.

Multi-State Draw Game Purchase Cutoff Times

While we have 24/7 access to Scratchers thanks to vending machines, there are still cutoff times before lottery draw schedules for purchasing multi-state draw game tickets:

• Mega Millions:
  • Drawn Tuesdays & Fridays at 8pm PST
  • Purchase cutoff 7:45pm (15mins before draw)
• Powerball:
  • Drawn Wednesdays & Saturdays at 7:59pm PST
  • Purchase cutoff 6:59pm (1 hour before draw)

I almost forgot about getting my tickets once and just made it in time before the cutoff! Major adrenaline rush! So my tip is to set reminders on your phone leading up to the multi-state game draw times and buy early to avoid risk.

Prize Claiming Deadlines and Procedures

Another key timing consideration is deadlines for claiming lottery prizes within California:

• Scratchers prizes expire 180 days from ticket purchase date
• Draw game prizes expire 180 days from winning draw date
• Jackpot prizes expire 1 year from draw date

I once misplaced a $1,000 winning ticket that was buried in a pile of losing ones and almost missed claiming it in time! So I immediately enter all losing Scratcher tickets into the California Lottery‘s 2nd Chance Program which gives you another shot winning prizes up to $100,000 in monthly promotions.

This way you don‘t have to worry about holding onto losers or tracking down winning tickets before they expire. Entering them into the Second Chance portal automatically enters the ticket details. I won $500 from a 2nd Chance entry once which was awesome!

Claiming Smaller Prizes

• Prizes Under $600: Can be redeemed at any California Lottery retailer
• Prizes $600-$5,000: Claim at District Office or by mail
• Prizes $5,001-$50,000: Schedule appointment at District Office
• Prizes Over $50,000: Must be claimed in-person at District Office

Larger jackpots I‘ve never won 🙁 But once I scored a $2,000 prize which I was so psyched about! Had to go to the Lottery District Office in-person to redeem which was cool seeing behind the scenes. Still hoping to take home that multi-million dollar jackpot one day! 🤞

Payment Methods Accepted in California

We can use various payment methods to exchange our cash for those Scratcher tickets!

• Cash
• Debit Cards
• Credit Cards (with Visa, Mastercard, Amex logos)

California has been ahead of the game allowing credit/debit unlike some more restrictive states. Apparently around 21 states now permit credit card lottery purchases after previously requiring cash-only.

When I first started playing years ago, credit or debit wasn‘t widely accepted. So I always have some emergency cash in the car ready to fuel late night lottery sprees in case of any payment issues!

Which California Lottery Game Has the Best Odds?

I‘m sure you want to know how you can smartly play to maximize your odds. Here‘s the breakdown:

Overall State Lottery Game Odds

• Fantasy 5 has the best odds to win any prize at 1 in just under 600,000
• But SuperLotto Plus has ever-growing huge jackpots!

I tend to think why not play it all? Across Scratchers and different draw games, we have so many chances to win serious prizes. $1 million would change my life let alone $20 or $30 million!

Scratcher Games Odds and Top Prizes

Odds definitely vary widely for California Scratcher games, which keeps it extra interesting!

Check out the $30 200X game with incredible chances to win:

• Overall Odds: 1 in 2.98
• Total Prizes: 5.4 million
• Top Prize: $10 million

Whenever a new high price point $20, $30 or $50 Scratcher launches, I study the games odds and remaining top prizes to calculate the best play strategy.

Currently these $50 games have huge jackpots left:

• $100 Million Extreme Cash
  • Odds: 1 in 2.91
  • Prizes Left: 15 top prizes of $10 million
• Golden Opportunity
  • Odds: 1 in 3.20
  • Prizes Left: 9 top prizes of $5 million

Out of the outlandishly amazing prizes they‘ve given away, a few huge personal favorites were:

• Nov 2022 – LA resident won the entire $20 million top prize on the Set for Life Millionaire Edition game
• Mar 2021 – Sacramento player scored $20 million on the Money Maker ticket
• Jan 2021 – $10 million on the Diamond Spectacular game

My mind literally explodes thinking I could randomly buy an instant multi-millionaire maker ticket! 🤯🤑 Just need lady luck on our side!

I‘ll finish this up shortly with some pro tips for fellow lottery lovers out there! 🎟️