Weighing up "Can I play scratch cards online?" takes one look at the draw. Keno, bingo and scratch cards are the number games that sit closest to a lottery. Each one draws or reveals numbers at random, pays by a fixed table and asks nothing of the player beyond a choice of numbers or a ticket. What they pay, whether they can be rigged and how they work online explains why they are popular and why they cost more than they seem.
Online scratch cards work differently from printed ones: each card is generated at the moment it is bought, from a random number generator with a published return. Anyone can play scratch cards online where the site is licensed, and winnings go straight to the account. Printed winning cards can usually be cashed at any retailer that sells that lottery's tickets up to a set amount, but not anywhere else, and larger prizes are claimed from the lottery directly.
Bingo is gambling wherever cards are bought for money and prizes are paid in money, even when it is played as a social game. A bingo game does pay, but prizes come from the pool of card sales minus the operator's share, so the more players join a session the larger the prizes and the longer the odds. Online bingo games cannot be rigged where the draw is certified, although unlicensed rooms offer no check of that kind.
No keno numbers hit the most over time; each draw is independent, and any number that has come up often recently is just as likely as any other in the next draw. Players asking what numbers they should pick are really choosing how many: picking more spots changes the pay table and the odds, while which spots are chosen makes no difference. Birthdays and lucky numbers are as good as any, and as bad.
Smaller prizes are usually paid at any retailer selling that lottery's tickets up to a set amount, while larger wins are claimed from the lottery itself.
Which numbers are chosen makes no difference; how many spots are picked changes the pay table and the odds, and birthdays are as good as any.
An online card is generated at the moment of purchase by a random number generator with a published return, and winnings go straight to the account.
Bingo prizes are paid from card sales minus the operator's share, so more players in a session mean bigger prizes and longer odds for each card.
Licensed draws come from a certified generator or a filmed ball machine, so the operator cannot rig them; unlicensed rooms offer no such check.