Getting started ...

I purchased my first State lottery ticket in Seattle, Washington, back in the mid-1980's, and have enjoyed the pastime off and on ever since as a mild form of entertainment that results in an occasional burst of excitement.

The other day I won $50 on a $2 New Jersey scratch ticket:

It's a kick to win once in awhile. And being the intrepid gambler that I am, I decided to try to parlay my small win into something larger. After all this was better than going to the movies ... besides, movies have become so boring for me that I can't sit through them ... for other reasons as well.

So, what the heck, I thought I would do a little research on what's available out there to roll the dice—figuratively with scratch tickets, not the real bones—on a chance for even more money ... which is well-known way to wind up broke if I am not careful. But then knowing the flirtation with compulsion as in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder that comes with gambling for money makes it real.

Searching on the internet, I quickly came across the NJ Lottery website:

http://www.state.nj.us/lottery/home.shtml

and found its page on scratch tickets which they call "instant games:"

http://www.state.nj.us/lottery/instant/2-0_instant_games.shtml

And then I started browsing through the various and sundry websites with information and advice for the scratch ticket player. Fro example here's one:

http://www.wikihow.com/Win-More-Scratch-Offs

But I didn't find what I was looking for. Some of it I found, but not all. So I this blog ...