Frequently Asked Questions about the Instant Scratchcard Game

What's the relationship between the main UK National Lottery and this instant scratchcard game ?
Apart from both of them being run by Camelot Group plc, the main UK National Lottery sets aside 5% of prize money, some of which is used to fund seasonal Super Draws and the rest is used to partially fund the instant scratchcard game, termed "Instants" by Camelot. Existing UK National Lottery terminals can be modified to allow them to verify "Instants" scratchcards, but no direct connection to Camelot is required for this security verification [presumably barcode-based], so retailers only participating in the "Instants" scheme do not require an on-line connection and hence can use a "dumber" variant on the usual UK National Lottery terminal.
Who manufactures the "Instants" scratchcards ?
Camelot looked to the US for this because companies there have had many years' experience of successfully running scratchcard games. They settled on Scientific Games of Atlanta, Georgia, who ship the scratchcards by container from the US and deliver them to Camelot's top security (but anonymous) warehouse in Northampton where scratchcards totalling up to £600 million are stacked. There's no point in trying to steal them from there - they are only activated after they are properly delivered.
When did the first "Instants" game start ?
20,000 retailers were equipped with scratchcards and [if they didn't already participate in the UK National Lottery] verification terminals on Tuesday 21st March 1995, which was the start date of the first "Instants" game. Camelot say that new "Instants" games will start "at regular intervals", but have declined to say how long a typical game will last. They wouldn't confirm whether they would announce any results of an "Instants" game, but certainly multiple "Instants" games would be active simultaneously of course. As of May 1995, there were about 6,500 "Instants" lottery terminals - this rose to 12,000 terminals by the end of 1996.
So how do you play an "Instants" game ?
You pay £1 (or £2 for certain games with higher jackpots) to an "Instants" retailer and they give you a scratchcard which has a covered area, plus security verification codes to avoid forgery. You scratch off the covered area to reveal several prize amounts. How the prize is won has varied from game to game - some involved matching 3 prizes to win that amount (once !). Others have involved comparing one number with another and winning a third value if the first is greater than the second. Sadly, there's no tie-in with the UK National Lottery (no concept of lottery balls, bonus numbers etc.), which might at least have added a bit more fun to it. As it is, it's no different from the myriad of other scratchcard games out there and it probably explains why Camelot keep varying the gameplay to stop boredom setting in.
I've won an "Instants" game ! What do I do ?
The claim procedure is not dissimilar to the UK National Lottery. You take your scratchcard to various locations depending on the prize amount:
- Up to £75: Any UK National Lottery/"Instants" retailer.
- Up to £200: Certain UK National Lottery/"Instants" retailers (at their discretion).
- Up to £10,000: UK National Lottery Post Offices or UK National Lottery Regional Centres.
- Over £10,000: UK National Lottery Regional Centres.
For prizes above £500, you must provide proof of identity and also fill in a Claim Form. As usual, you have to claim your prize within 180 days of the closing date of the game.

What are the "Instants" prizes ?
A tricky question this one because the prizes will vary with each "Instants" game but are, of course, set at the start of the game, rather than at the end like the UK National Lottery. Here's the table for the first game only:

     Prize          Number of         Total prizes         Odds of
      (£)            winners              (£)              winning
         1         30,240,000          30,240,000            10 to 1
         2         15,120,000          30,240,000            20 to 1
         5          5,292,000          26,460,000            57 to 1
        10          3,024,000          30,240,000           100 to 1
        20          1,512,000          30,240,000           200 to 1
        50            151,200           7,560,000         2,000 to 1
       200             25,200           5,040,000        12,000 to 1
     1,000                630             630,000       480,000 to 1
    50,000                126           6,300,000     2,400,000 to 1
                   ==========         ===========     ==============
    Totals         55,365,156         166,950,000         5.462 to 1

There will be a massive 302,400,000 scratchcards available for this first game and this means that 55.2% of the money spent on scratchcards is allocated to prize money (higher than the 45% on the UK National Lottery). Like the UK National Lottery, 28% of the £302.4m [assuming all scratchcards are sold !] will go to the National Lottery Distribution Fund. One wonders if it's a coincidence that the total number of winners looks suspiciously close to the total population of the UK...

What about later "Instants" games ?
Here's a table of just the jackpot prizes for all the games:

 #  Sub-title            Colour     Jackpot   #J
66  Crazy Eights         N/A         £8,888   15
65  £100,000 Rainbow     Green     £100,000   10
64  Tons of Cash         N/A        £20,000    6
63  Lucky Number         Yellow     £10,000   20
62  Celebrate 2000       Blue        £2,000   11
61  Instants (Orange)    Orange    £100,000   10
60  Cracking Christmas   Red        £25,000   10 
59  Try Your Luck        Pink       £10,000   22
58  Bangers and Cash     Beige       £1,000   10
57  Money Match          Green      £50,000   10
56  Lucky Day            Green      £10,000   22
55  Squids In            Blue        £1,000   11
54  Cash Doubler         Green      £50,000   10 
53  £100,000 Gold        Blue      £100,000   10
52  Two For One          Red        £10,000   11 
51  Money Spinner 2nd    Green      £30,000   13
50  Lottery              Red        £50,000   10
49  Prize Pudding 2nd    Red        £25,000    6
48  Payout 2001          Blue      £240,000    8
47  Cash Bonanza         Black      £20,000   26  [plus 25*£10,000]
46  Instants £75K Blue 2 Blue       £75,000   14
45  Tickled Pink         Pink        £1,000   15
44  Money Mountain       Blue       £50,000   10
43  Bingo                Red        £80,000   12
42  Glory Goals          Green      £30,000   13  [closed Sat  5 Apr 1999]
41  Fortune 4 3rd Series Red        £80,000   10  [4 games]
40  Cash Cheque          Green      £20,000   14  [closed Sat  5 Apr 1999]
39  TV Dreams            Blue        £1,000 1792  [closed Sat 26 Sep 1998]
38  Instants £75K Yellow Yellow     £75,000   13  [closed Sat 15 Nov 1998]
37  Money Spinner        Green      £30,000   13  [closed Sat 15 Nov 1998]
36  Over The Moon        Blue        £1,000   99  [closed Sat 15 Nov 1998]
35  Prize Pudding        Red        £25,000    9  [closed Sat 30 Apr 1998]
34  Fortune 4 2nd Series Red        £80,000   12  [closed Sat 15 Nov 1998]
33  Fast Cash            Yellow     £20,000   25  [closed Sat 27 Jul 1998]
32  Instants £75K Green  Green      £75,000   14  [closed Sat 27 Jul 1998]
31  It's a Hat Trick     Green      £10,000    9  [closed Sat 27 Jul 1998]
30  Travellers Cheques   Blue       £10,000   18  [closed Sat 27 Jul 1998]
29  Fortune 4            Red        £80,000   11  [closed Sat 30 Apr 1998]
28  Funny Money          Red/Blue      £501  514  [closed Sat 27 Jul 1998]
27  Instants £75K Blue   Blue       £75,000   16  [closed Sat 30 Apr 1998]
26  Cash Bonanza         Red        £20,000   27  [closed Sat 30 Apr 1998]
25  Mystic Money         Red/Green  £10,000   49  [closed Sat 30 Apr 1998]
24  Instants (Orange)    Orange     £50,000   25  [closed Sat  8 Nov 1997]
23  Money Tree           Green      £15,000  N/A  [closed Sat 26 Jul 1997]
22  12 Days Of Christmas Green      £25,000   34  [closed Sat 20 Mar 1997]
21  Pigs Might Fly       Yellow      £1,000  512  [closed Sat 26 Jul 1997]
20  Scratch Of The Day   Green      £10,000  129  [closed Sat  8 Nov 1997]
19  Pigs Might Fly       Blue        £1,000  760  [closed Sat 20 Mar 1997] 
18  Summer 96 Sports     Blue       £50,000   11  [closed Sat 20 Mar 1997]
17  UK Treasures 2       Green      £10,000   64  [closed Sat  8 Nov 1997]
16  Instants (Turquoise) Turquoise  £50,000   45  [closed Sat 26 Jul 1997]
15  Double Your Money    Blue       £10,000   87  [closed Sat 26 Jul 1997]
14  Cash Vault           Blue       £50,000   36  [closed Sat 20 Mar 1997]
13  Instants (Yellow)    Yellow     £50,000   50  [closed Sat 20 Mar 1997]
12  Noughts & Crosses    Orange     £25,000  119  [closed Sat  8 Nov 1997]
11  Christmas Bonus      White     £100,000   76  [closed Sat 23 Nov 1996]
10  Christmas Cracker    Red        £10,000  315  [closed Sat 23 Nov 1996]
 9  Aces High            Red         £5,000  421
 8  UK Treasures         Blue       £10,000  123  [closed Sat 28 Sep 1996]
 7  Instants (Green)     Green      £50,000   53  [closed Sat 23 Mar 1996]
 6  Sports Challenge     Green      £10,000  124  [closed Sat 23 Nov 1996]
 5  Instants (Red)       Red        £50,000   48  [closed Sat 23 Mar 1996]
 4  Cash Dreams          Red        £25,000  131  [closed Sat 28 Sep 1996]
 3  Winning Sevens       Blue        £7,777  167  [closed Sat 28 Sep 1996]
 2  Instant Cash         Yellow     £25,000   42  [closed Sat 28 Sep 1996]
 1  Instants (Blue)      Blue       £50,000  126  [closed Sat 23 Dec 1995]

The 12 Days Of Christmas scratchcard was the subject of much confusion - Camelot changed their minds four times about how many jackpots there are for it. They eventually settled on 34 jackpots (I phoned Camelot 4 times and got an alternating answer each time). It didn't help that the initial run of Camelot's own Game Information leaflet said that there were 30 jackpots !

Fortune 4 (4 games), Christmas Bonus (2 games), TV Dreams (3 games) and Bingo (3 games) are the only scratchcards to date to have more than one game on the card and they all cost £2 each instead of the usual £1. Note that TV Dreams also had a tie-in with a 16-week run of the Saturday TV show starting on 28th March 1998 - people had a chance to appear and win up to £100,000.

Curiously, Camelot internally numbers the scratchcard games using an additional letter suffix for similar games, which is extremely confusing IMHO and I have not replicated their internal numbering system here. All the games have millions of pointless £1 and £2 prizes on offer - well, whoop-de-doo.

Can a scratchcard game ever close ?
Yes. An "Instants" scratchcard game will close if either 98% of the scratchcards for that game have been sold or all the jackpot prizes for that game have been claimed (whichever comes first). Camelot have refused to release information on the number of jackpots claimed for each game so far, so it's difficult to know how close the games are to closing. Even after closure, a scratchcard winner still has 180 days to claim their prize. Note that very little publicity seems to be given to a scratchcard game closing: stores don't display the info and most of the press doesn't announce it either.
How have "Instants" sales been doing ?
When they were first introduced, their novelty ensured sales in excess of £40m, peaking during the month of May 1995. As it became clear that the prizes were insulting and that many games would drag on for over a year and run simultaneously, the initial appeal wore off. There was a spectacular fortnight during June 1995 where sales dropped from £41m down to £32m and they've never been above £40m since. The slide during the rest of 1995 was gradual but continued apace so that even the £30m sales mark seemed like a lost memory (last achieved in July 1995).
Worse was to come as attention switched to the first ever double rollover in the online lottery (rapidly followed by a second double rollover). and scratchcard sales suffered terribly during the Christmas 1995 and New Year 1996 period, dropping below £25m and never recovering to that level during 1996. May 1996 was the last time that £20m weekly sales were seen and the slide continued through 1997 to settle at around £14m-15m weekly sales. You can see the exact sales for each week for yourself on the scratchcard sales page.
OK, what's your own low-down on this "Instants" game then ?
My personal advice is: don't bother with it. The prizes, at least in the games so far, are ludicrously allocated - who but a mad person would want to win back their stake of £1 and not gain a penny ? Surely all they'd do then is go and buy a second scratchcard with their returned stake, defeating the purpose of buying the first scratchcard ?
Even more seriously warped than this is the lack of high-end prizes - 88% of prize money for the initial game go on prizes no larger than £20 !!! The lack of one or two really big jackpot prizes to lure punters in is most surprising - something in the region of £500,000 (or even, occasionally as a Super Draw-style treat, £1m) is desperately needed. Remember that there's over 300 million scratchcards per game, which is equivalent to about 5 weeks of UK National Lottery sales, during which there's like to be some 5 or 6 (multi-)millionaires and yet the maximum "Instants" prize (in the first game) is only £50,000 - 0.02% of the scratchcard sales !
When I phoned Camelot about this distorted prize structure, they claimed it was a "result of a huge amount of research", which I find very hard to believe. Perhaps the ridiculous hype about the size of the UK National Lottery jackpots [which aren't in the league of the US Powerball jackpots anyway] panicked Camelot into limiting the first game jackpots to a paltry £50,000 and stuffing all the prize money into the small payouts. Two serious mistakes which I hope Camelot rectify with later "Instants" games, because I'm certainly not buying a scratchcard until they do.
In conclusion, I'd say that whoever is advising Camelot of the scratchcard prize structure clearly deserves a "toilet ducking" and I'll personally flush the handle. Despite this, some of the people I know actually defend the prize structure, claiming there's more chance of winning, but I think the big attraction for most people is the size of the high-end prizes and only offer £1,000 as a Game 19 jackpot prize (less than the average "third prize" [5-match] in the online lottery) is a probably a big turn-off for most people.
What about other companies' scratchcard games ?
There are plenty of them around, including Littlewoods and the "Lukcy (sic) Lotto Instant Dream Card" (in fact Littlewoods have now bought up the latter !). They are tending to offer jackpot prizes of £50,000 and have seen sales increase since "Instants" started. This is probably a combination of customer confusion [most scratchcards look similar, so customers will just pick up the first one they see that has a big jackpot prize] and the fact that these rival scratchcard games are offering the same (or better) jackpot prizes as the "Instants" games.

Frequently Asked Questions about the Instant Scratchcard Game

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