Scratch off lottery tickets, also known as instant win lottery tickets, have become extremely popular over the years. These tickets allow you to instantly reveal whether you’ve won a prize by scratching off a thin latex coating that covers the play area on the ticket. Underneath that coating are a series of symbols or numbers which determine if you are a winner.
One thing you may notice on scratch off tickets is a thick white line that runs along the bottom or sides of the play area. This line serves an important purpose for both players and lotteries.
What is the Thick White Line For?
The main reason lotteries add a thick white line to scratch tickets is to clearly define the area that needs to be scratched off to play the game. This provides a visual border so players know exactly where to scratch. Without it, players might accidentally scratch too far outside the play area and reveal aspects of the game that are meant to remain hidden.
The white line also serves to prevent fraud. It provides a clear indicator if part of the ticket has been tampered with or scratched off incorrectly. Lotteries can easily inspect tickets and look for signs that the white line has been disturbed or scratched through, which would suggest the ticket may have been compromised.
Different Line Styles
While a thick white line is standard, you may notice some small variations on different scratch card games. Some have a dashed or perforated line while others use a different color like blue or pink. These tweaks are primarily cosmetic and don’t change the function of delineating the play space.
Printing the Line
The white line is printed onto scratch tickets as part of the manufacturing process. Tickets are printed on large sheets that contain multiple tickets in a grid pattern. The white lines are added around each individual ticket during printing.
Specialized security inks are used to create a vivid white line that is resistant to tampering. This ink stands out clearly against the other colors and symbols on the ticket. After printing, the scratchable latex coating is applied on top to cover the play area.
Verifying Wins
The thick white line plays an important role when players redeem winning tickets. Lottery retailers and claims agents carefully inspect the line when tickets are cashed in. If the white border shows signs of tampering, the ticket may be deemed invalid even if it appears to be a winner.
This helps prevent situations where someone tries to alter a losing ticket and pass it off as a winner. The white line provides that layer of security to maintain the integrity of the game.
Scratching Tips
When playing scratchers, make sure to only scratch within the play area defined by the white borders. Try using a coin and scratch gently to avoid accidentally going over the line. Scratching too far into the white can make your ticket invalid.
If part of the white line has been scratched off when you purchase a ticket, ask the retailer for a replacement. This could be a sign that the ticket has already been compromised.
What to Do if the Line is Scratched
If you accidentally scratch into the white line while playing a ticket, don’t panic. Take the scratcher to a lottery claims center to have it validated. Minor scratches likely won’t invalidate the ticket. As long as the latex remains intact over the symbols, it should still be redeemable.
However major removal of the white line could lead to a ticket being rejected. Be very careful when scratching to avoid this. If you have a winning ticket where the line is significantly scratched, it’s best to claim it at lottery headquarters rather than a retailer.
Security Benefits
The white line may seem insignificant, but provides important security benefits for lotteries. It allows easy inspection of tickets to check for tampering and helps maintain integrity of games by preventing fraud.
There are many high tech security features added to scratch tickets like special inks, serial numbers and scanner codes. But the simple white line acts as an important first line of defense in verifying authenticity of winning tickets.
Evolution of the White Line
Early scratch off tickets from the 1970s and 80s often had very basic play areas with no border line printed on them. As instant games evolved and became more sophisticated, lotteries added new security elements like the white line to define the scratch space.
Improvements in printing technology also allowed lotteries to create thicker, brighter white lines that stood out clearly on tickets. This helped prevent players from accidentally scratching into the wrong area to reveal hidden data.
Regional Variations
Most scratch tickets around the world utilize some type of white line around play areas. But you may notice subtle differences depending on where the tickets are from.
Some European lotteries use a perforated line allowing the edges to be partially detached after scratching. Others print the border in light gray ink rather than stark white. In Asia, blue and pink are sometimes used as border colors instead.
These are mainly visual variations. The function of containing scratches within the defined play space remains the same across all scratch card games globally.
New Ticket Innovations
While traditional scratch tickets are still popular, lotteries continue to innovate with new ticket designs and play styles. Some new games feature multiple scratch spaces or utilize pull-tabs instead of scratching.
These innovative tickets may alter the white line in different ways. For example, a game may have dashed border lines that connect multiple play areas. Or pull-tab tickets might replace the line with perforated edges.
Even as ticket design evolves, the white line remains an integral part of defining the play space in most instant win games.
The Bottom Line
The humble white line printed around scratch off play areas provides an important service. It lets players clearly see where to scratch, while also helping lotteries verify ticket authenticity and prevent fraud.
While new security features like barcode scanners and holograms grab attention, don’t overlook the simple white border. For both players and lotteries, it plays a key role in maintaining the integrity of scratch card games.
