Play Online Scratch Cards UK

Scratch cards are a hugely popular gambling product in the UK, not least because they can be purchased quickly and easily. Whether you’re in the supermarket, petrol station or local convenience shop - you’ll likely have the option of purchasing a £1-£5 scratchcard, with the hope of winning big.

However - scratch cards online are now growing in popularity, with a range of online casinos allowing you to play at the click of a button. By reading our in-depth overview of what scratch cards online are and how they work, you’ll soon learn that they offer a number of benefits over their real-world counterparts.

In its most basic form, the overarching concept of a scratch card found online is exactly the same as a physical scratch card that you would buy on the high street. In other words, you will typically buy a scratch card that contains nine hidden boxes, which you then need to scratch off. In doing so, you hope to match at least three of the same symbols.

Instead of scratching a physical scratch card with a coin, the online version allows you to do this digitally. In order to cater towards fast-paced players, online casinos give you the option of scratching each box manually, or simply revealing all of the symbols on a single click!

As we briefly noted above, the online version comes with a number of notable benefits when making a comparison with traditional offline scratchcards.

Scratch cards game - Player choice

Firstly, when you visit your nearest store to buy a scratchcard, you will only be presented with a limited number of options. You might get to choose between nine different cards, some of which will come with different prices (usually between £1 and £5).

This doesn’t really give you much choice when it comes to the underlying rules of the game, as you can only pick what is available in front of you. On the contrary, online casinos will typically host scores of scratch card games for you to choose from.

More interactive

Secondly, when you play a physical scratchcard in the traditional form, all you are required to do it scratch the card off with a coin. In this sense, only two things can happen. You either win a prize, or you don’t.

This is in stark contrast to the online space, as some games come with 3D visualizations, super modern graphics, and ongoing sound effects. This is something that the offline space cannot rival.

Setting your stakes

As noted a moment ago, physical scratch cards will always come with a fixed purchase price. While some games cost just £1, others might cost £5. But what do you do if your favourite game costs £5, but you only want to risk £1? In reality, there is nothing you can do.

However, online casinos allow you to set your own betting parameters. This means that irrespective of the underlying scratchcard online game, you choose how little or how much you want to bet - as long as it is within the available parameters.

For example, most online casinos will allow you to buy online scratch cards from just 10p, all the way up to £500 or more!

Play scratch cards - Collecting your winnings

So, you’ve just bought a £2 scratch card while paying for your weekly petrol, and you decide to scratch it when you get home. In doing so, you win £2, meaning that you get your money back. However, you now need to travel to your nearest shop or store to be able to cash-in your mere £2 winnings. This is far from conveneint.

On the other hand, all winnings made from an online casino - no matter how big or small, will be instantly paid to your account balance. As such, there is no requirement to leave your house!

Playing instant win scratch cards online couldn’t be easier. Nevertheless, if you are still a newbie in the online version of the game, check out the step-by-step overview below on how to play scratch cards!

1. Choose a trusted online bingo site or casino
2. Head over to the scratchcard department
3. Pick your preferred scratchcard game
4. Enter your stake
5. Virtually scratch your card
6. Check to see if you have won!

It is important to note that unlike a real-world scratch card - which utilises a fixed payout system, the online version of the game uses a variable model. For example, let’s say that you play scratch cards online with a jackpot of ‘1,000x’.

This means that if you were to land the jackpot, your payout would be 1,000 times your stake. As such, if you played at £2 per game, you would win £2,000. On the other hand, if you played at just 50p per game, the same jackpot prize would yield £500.

There is no one size fits all answer to this question, as each scratchcard will have its own pros and cons. With that being said, your first port of call should be to check the underlying RTP (return to player) of the scratchcard in question. This is similar to how fruit machines operate, insofar that the higher the RTP, the more chance you have of winning.

Once again, this is different to the real-world version of the game, which uses a fixed-odds system to determine the minimum chance that you have of winning.

Once you have found an online scratchcard that offers a high RTP (aim for 96% or higher), you then need to assess what the jackpot pays. It is all good and well if you find a scratchcard with a high RTP, but you might be losing value if the jackpot is low.

Finally, you should also assess what the minimum and maximum stakes are. If you are a newbie and looking to play with smaller amounts until you get the hang of how online scratchcards work, you’re best off initially playing cheap scratch cards at stakes of no higher than £1.

Much like the rest of the online gambling space, scratch cards UK online are extremely safe. In fact, if you are based in the UK, your chosen casino platform will need to hold a license from the Gambling Commission.

Moreover, as online scratch cards UK are designed and developed by third-party software providers, the providers themselves need to be regulated by the Gambling Commission.

Finally, before a software provider is able to launch real scratch cards online, they must get certified for their fairness via a regulated Testing House.

Owing to the fact that there are now hundreds of regulated casino sites in the UK that will usually offer a scratchcard department of some sort, there isn’t a standalone operator to highlight.

With that being said, we at NewBingSites.net would suggest checking the casino site in question before registering, to see how extensive its scratchcard suite is. While some casinos will offer heaps and heaps of games, others might only offer a couple.

You also need to ask yourself whether you are looking to focus exclusively on scratchcards, or mix your online gambling endeavours with other casino games. For example, a lot of our readers like playing bingo games, slots, and table games like blackjack and roulette - alongside scratchcards. In other words, by pigeon-holing yourself with a scratchcard-rich casino, you might be missing out on other games.

Finally, you should check to see whether or not your chosen scratchcard casino offers a competitive welcome package. As most gambling websites will offer new players a bonus of some sort, it is crucial that you take full advantage of this.

We at NewBingoSites.net are often asked whether we know of any free online scratch cards that allow you to win money. In reality, this isn’t a bonus promotion that online casinos commonly provide, as they typically focus on matched deposit bonuses and free spins. However, what you can do is to use your matched deposit bonus on online scratchcards UK.

This will give you a much larger bankroll in comparison to what you initially deposited. For example, if you claim a 200% matched deposit bonus of £100, you will have a starting bankroll of £300 - even though you only funded your account with £100!

Alternatively, a number of online casinos will also allow you to trial their games out in ‘Demo Mode’. This operates in exactly the same way as the real money version of the game, albeit, you won’t be able to win anything. At the very least, this will allow you to get a feel for how digital scratchcards work, before risking your own money!