Scratch-off games are more popular than traditional lottery draw games in the United States.

Approximately 60-65% of all lottery sales in the U.S. are from instant scratch games. This trend has been growing steadily over the years.

But there's a little-known problem with lottery scratch-off tickets that you’ll never discover until you walk into the lottery store.

And it can be a big problem in a state like Colorado, where over 75% of lottery players are scratchie game players, reports 9NEWS.

And so when a scratch game gets hot, big USA retailers like King Soopers, Safeway, and others can run out of tickets.

That's because individual players will walk in and buy entire rolls of the popular game.

"Oftentimes they will go in and they will buy hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of tickets within that game," said lottery communication director Brooke Christopher.

And often, because of that pressure, all the top prizes will disappear early in a game.

"Sometimes it just happens. We put a game out in the market and for some reason, within the first month or month and a half, the top prizes are gone," Christopher told 9News.

That's why the lottery has the edge over scratch off ticket games.

Lottery top prizes are always available until they're won, and conveniently you know within minutes after the draw.

However, you can check whether scratch games are available, for example on the Colorado Lottery website. It will tell you which games still have big prizes.

Simply select "scratch games", then select “Top prizes remaining" and you'll get a number of pages showing all the current active games.

Just be aware that in the time between finding out the available games and buying a roll of tickets, someone else could have bought the prize-winning ticket.

So what’s the answer?

Which scratch-off wins the most? Is the lottery better?

Here's a quick breakdown of their unique offerings and what might appeal to potential players.

How Do You Play?

For the lottery, players choose a selection of numbers. If these numbers match the ones drawn during the lottery event, you can win various prizes. The biggest prize is reserved for those who get every single number right.

With scratch-off games, it's a bit different. Players purchase a card and scratch off a surface to reveal information underneath. If the symbols or numbers on your card match the winning patterns, you win a prize right there and then.

What's The Chance of Winning?

Trying to grab the top prize in a lottery is really challenging. Sometimes, the odds are extremely low, like 1 in tens of millions. Despite this, the appeal is in the enormous prize, which can be in the hundreds of millions or even more.

On the other hand, with scratch-off games, you generally have a higher probability of winning. The prizes, however, are usually not as large, but on occasion, you might stumble upon a game where you can win up to a million.

How Much Can You Win?

Lotteries are known for their massive prizes that can run into the multi millions. In contrast, scratch-off games hand out prizes that are often smaller. That said, certain premium scratch-off games might offer jackpots close to a million.

How Long Do You Wait to Know?

For lotteries, there's an element of suspense. The results are announced on scheduled days – it could be daily, weekly, or sometimes bi-weekly. This period of waiting adds to the excitement and anticipation. However, scratch-off games give you results instantly. The moment you scratch off that surface, you'll know if you're taking home a prize.

What Do They Look Like?

Scratch-off games come in a variety of designs, themes, and methods of play, making them quite diverse and appealing. Lotteries, in comparison, maintain a consistent look and feel, which many traditional players appreciate.

At the end of the day, whether you lean towards lotteries or scratch-offs, it all boils down to how well you match the numbers.