The online gambling industry has not only changed the way people gamble but also increased people’s access to a wide range of casino games. This has been taken a step further by the mobile casino industry, allowing people to access their favourite casino games anytime, anywhere, on the go. One game that was a late entrant but has rapidly become very popular at all the top UK casinos is the scratch card.
Scratch cards are fun, easy to play and offer cool payouts. There is an entire range of scratch cards available, from regular scratch cards with great graphics and animations to exciting theme-based scratch cards based on Hollywood blockbusters and comic book superheroes. There are also games with fantastic and wacky graphics, like Golden Ghouls and Hairy Fairies.
Top Casinos for Scratch Cards
Why Scratch Cards are So Popular?
Scratch cards are relatively new entrants to the online and mobile casino industries. In the short span of time they have been around they have skyrocketed to almost the top of the popularity charts, beating some of the veterans hands down. There are a number of reasons for this sudden rise of the game:
- There is an air of familiarity about them as they have already been existing in their land-based avatar for quite a while now.
- The games are fast and easy to play.
- They are not skill-based games; all you need to win is a good dose of luck.
- The games are attractive, with high quality graphics and animations backed by excellent sound effects.
- You find some of your favourite movie and comic-book characters in these games.
- There are cool bonuses that every casino offers for their scratch card games.
- Some of these games come with exciting jackpots and other lucrative prizes.
- There are also scratch card games available for free, as part of bonus packages. For instance, some casinos offer free scratch cards for no deposit play.
Scratch Card Casino Software Providers
The popularity of online scratch cards has seen a large number of software providers offering these games to casino operators. The software providers include not just the veterans of the industry but also some of the new ones that are rapidly making a name for themselves with their high quality game offerings.
Some of the top scratch card casino software providers include:
Microgaming
They offer a range of high quality scratch card games including:
- Beer Fest
- Bill and Ted
- Bingo Bonanza
- Bowled Over
- Cashapillar
- Game, Set and Scratch
- Six Shooter Looter
Playtech
Playtech offers a range of exciting scratch card games that include:
- Blackjack Scratch Card
- Beetle Bingo
NetEnt
Some of the NetEnt scratch cards include:
- Shoot 4 Gold
- Treasure Hunt
- Bubbles
- 7 Gold Scratch
- Lucky Double
NeoGames
Some of NeoGames’ top scratch cards include:
- Legends of Terra
- The Lost Maya
- Lucky Eggs
- The Fairy Tale
- Cash Farm
GameSys
GameSys has an extensive range of scratch card games, including:
- Deal or No Deal Scratch Card
- Bejeweled Scratch Card
- Cash Crop
How to Play Scratch Cards
Online scratch cards play more or less like their land-based counterparts except for a few minor differences:
- They are virtual, unlike the actual physical scratch cards you get at a land-based casino.
- At a land-based casino, you would use a pen, coin or any other sharp object to reveal the symbols on the card. In the online version you do this by clicking the mouse on the relevant parts of the screen.
Playing online scratch cards is fun and very easy. We outline the steps for you below:
- Click the game you want to play.
- Choose the amount you want to wager.
- Click on the different sections of the card to uncover the symbols.
- Your payout depends on the symbol combinations and the stake you made.
Types of Scratch Card Games
There are different types of scratch card games available at online casinos. The major ones are:
- Bingo scratch cards
- Casino scratch cards
- Jackpot scratch cards
- Lottery scratch cards
Bingo Scratch Cards
As the name suggests, bingo scratch cards come with a bingo theme. They resemble bingo games in terms of their graphics – they look like bingo cards, number boards and also finer details like the bingo ball dispensers. These are usually Flash-based cards, which means you can play them in instant play mode.
The game is based on bingo, with a slight difference: instead of an entire bingo card you get a line of 3 numbers that you have to match with the numbers from the balls that have been drawn.
There are different kinds of bingo scratch cards; we take a quick look at a few of them below:
- Bubble Bingo: You get up to 12 cards at a time and you could potentially win 3 prizes per card.
- The 60s: A 75-ball instant bingo scratch card game that allows you to buy a maximum of 4 tickets at a time. The ball dispenser throws out 30 numbered balls; you win if any of those numbers match the ones on your card. This game also comes with a £200,000 jackpot.
- Bingo Mania: This is another popular bingo scratch card that requires you to match 3 numbers with those on the 12 drawn balls. Each game has 6 cards, with 3 numbers per card. This game also comes with a £200,000 jackpot.
Other top bingo scratch cards include games like Beetle Bingo and Bingo Bonanza.
Casino Scratch Cards
As the name suggests, these scratch cards are themed on traditional casino games like slots, blackjack, video poker, craps and roulette. They are a big hit among fans, especially the slots-themed games, as they come with exceptionally high quality graphics and animations. All these games are Flash-based, which means you can play them directly from a browser.
- Blackjack-themed scratch cards: They deal the cards for you and the dealer and require you to scratch them off to reveal your hand. You win if you beat the dealer’s hand. These games have prizes as high as £100,000.
- Roulette-themed scratch cards: They are just like the game of roulette. You spin the roulette wheel to generate numbers, and then try to match them with the numbers on your cards. You get up to 5 games to win the prize mentioned. Prizes usually range between £1 and £50, though some games offer prizes as high as £10,000.
- Video poker-themed scratch cards: These include games like Jacks or Better Scratch Cards. Some of them allow you to play up to 25 hands at a time, and all of them have simple rules. In some of them you also get the Gamble feature to try and double your winnings.
- Slots-themed scratch card games: These are among the most popular, as they come with themes that players can instantly identify. They also come with instant wins and even progressive jackpots.
Lottery Scratch Cards
These are scratch card games that look like regular lottery games. The advantage is they are instant win games; you scratch off and reveal the numbers to win. They are fun to play and there are quite a few of them. Some of the popular ones are:
- Jungle Joy: You choose 4 of the 9 square to scratch off. You win if you are able to reveal the same jungle animal on at least 3 squares. The game comes with a £200,000 jackpot.
- Super 3 Wow: This is another cool scratch card game featuring 3 cards in a game. Each of the 3 cards comes with a massive £1 million jackpot.
Jackpot Scratch Cards
Choosing the right scratch card game to play is very important, especially when you consider the fact that some of them come with lucrative instant jackpots. These jackpots are usually huge and have the potential to change your life once and for all should you hit one of them. The incentive that they offer takes your gaming experience to a whole different level.
There are a number of these jackpots available at some of the top UK online casinos. They are easy to play and can be played for low bets as well. Imagine playing one of these jackpots for a pound or two and ending up a millionaire! Some of the top jackpot scratch cards include:
- Beat the Bank
- Arabian Delights
- Wintry Wonderland
- Beachside Bonanza
Other exciting games include Macau Nights, which has a £1 million jackpot and Winners Club Scratch, which has a unique 4-tier progressive jackpot.
About Scratch Card Bonuses
There are a range of bonuses available at online casinos; most of them – welcome bonuses, deposit bonuses and others – can be used to play scratch cards. Two of the main bonuses involving scratch cards are:
- No deposit scratch card bonus
- Free scratch card bonus
No Deposit Scratch Card Bonus
As the name suggests, this bonus is available even before you deposit funds into your casino account. You register an account with the casino and get a quota of no deposit scratch card games to play. You basically play for free, and also get to keep a portion of your winnings. The number of scratch cards available under this bonus is not huge, but fairly substantial to ensure some decent wins. For instance, a casino could give you 30 no deposit scratch card games.
Free Scratch Card Bonus
The free scratch card bonus is usually offered together with a deposit match bonus. You deposit funds into your account and the casino gives you a certain number of free scratch card games. This bonus may be available on the first deposit or on the first few deposits, depending on the casino you are playing at. All winnings from this bonus are yours to keep. For instance, a casino may offer you a welcome bonus of 100% up to £200 and 200 free scratch cards across your first 3 deposits.
Regardless of the scratch card bonus available one thing you must remember: these bonuses, like all other casino bonuses, come with their own terms and conditions. You must fulfill these terms and conditions to be able to use the bonus properly and also redeem any winnings from it. Among all the terms and conditions applicable, one of the most vital is the wagering requirement.
Refer to our article on wagering requirements for more information about this condition.
Scratch Card FAQs
Scratch cards are among the newest entrants to the online gambling industry. They were earlier available at land-based locations. Scratch cards were first invented in the 1970s by a group of American computer scientists. In 1974, Scientific Games Corp. did develop an instant lottery scratch card that was computer generated. However, the company that got the patent for scratch off tickets in the US was Astro-Med Inc. in 1987.
One of the benefits of being a late entrant to the casino industry is the luxury of offering products using advanced technology, and this is true about scratch cards as well. They are developed in Flash and now HTML5, which means you do not have to download them to your computer; you can play directly from a browser.
Scratch card games usually offer high odds. Some of them offer odds as high as 1 to 3. However, the payout percentages are marginally lower than some of the other games like slots.
Yes, every online casino offering scratch cards offers a range of bonuses. You can use most of these bonuses to play your favourite scratch cards at the casino. There are no deposit bonuses, deposit bonuses and more on offer at these casinos for playing scratch cards. Be sure to fulfill the terms and conditions attached to the bonus; only then will you be able to use it completely and also withdraw/redeem your winnings.