Washington Lottery’s Scratch-and-Sniff Tickets Are Bacon Winners

An old saying in business is that customers don’t know what they want until you show it to them. Bacon-scented lottery tickets could be the latest thing Washington Lottery customers didn’t know they wanted.

No, the lottery hasn’t started converting strips of bacon into scratch-off games. What the lottery did come up with, however, could be the next best thing.

No pigs were harmed in the making of these bacon lottery tickets

Scratch-and-sniff technology is the gimmick for the lottery’s new Bring Home the Bacon game. Each ticket runs $5 and the game is now available at participating lottery retailers in WA.

The top prize is $50,000, but like most scratch-off games, there are many smaller cash prizes. For the carnivore in all of us, there is a consolation prize.

Scratching the game cards will emit an aroma similar to that of bacon. The trick is due to scented ink used in the cards’ printing process.

The lottery made more than 2.1 million cards for the game, which has overall odds of 1 in 3.31. Just like in Oregon, customers can purchase lottery tickets at a variety of retailers such as convenience stores and grocery stores.

Fortunately for Oregonians, anyone of legal age can purchase lotto tickets in Washington, regardless of their legal state of residence. In case you have a winner, you may want to scratch and sniff your ticket before you head home.

Prize claiming procedures in Washington

Like other aspects of life, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the lottery. Bring Home the Bacon was originally intended to help promote county fairs around the state, which now face possible cancellation.

The lottery released the game regardless. If you win less than $600, you can claim your prize at any lottery retailer in WA. Other procedures haven’t gone unaltered, however.

If your prize is above that $600 threshold, you are limited to a couple of options. You can either mail your winning ticket in for redemption or hold it until the lottery opens its offices to the public again. Right now, there’s no timeline for that.

While the WA Lottery may not boast a sports betting product, as only tribal casinos can offer legal wagering, scratch-off tickets are quite popular. Last year, sales of such tickets approached $524 million.

Should you win the grand prize, you could afford to buy a lot of bacon. With a scratch-and-sniff element that invokes the memory of bacon, even losing could be a pleasant experience.