Chris$ - you're correct. Almost every state pulls games. It's the nature of the business & for some states, pulling games is a KEY way that they increase the profitability of their business. I see it in PA every week and my local retailer is annoyed with me always asking for the best games - they simply say 'that games closed'. In reality it means - he doesn't have that game for sale anymore. It doesn't mean someone else in PA doesn't still have that game for sale. And yes - more than likely, the big winning tickets are in a warehouse waiting to be destroyed - because the state made enough of a return on that game.
There is no law in any state to say they HAVE to sell every ticket. Remember, the lottery exists to MAKE money, not to distribute winnings.
But, you're incorrect about our formula. Mathematically our equations ARE correct. In fact, our formula is a relatively simple formula that's used in card counting at blackjack tables every day. The challenge with applying it to scratch off games is the difficulty in gathering all of the data from all the website pages to run the equation. That's where ScratchSmarter excels.
Now, to be fair to everyone, you're right in stating that this doesn't mean that every top game is available for purchase everywhere. The distribution of games from the printer & warehouse, and the number of retail locations are all MAJOR factors to instant games.
What our formula does is allow you to focus your $$ on the games that mathematically have significantly better odds of winning a top prize. (I personally just won't play a game unless its in the top 4 spots of our report.) If I can't find a game with a great "SmartFactor", I just won't play.
Unfortunately, the games with the very top rating from ScratchSmarter are ALSO the games that the lottery corporations tend to pull, because they've made their Return on Investment and they don't WANT to pay out the top prizes if they don't have to. So, it ends up being a race to find the very best games that the retailers still have for sale before the lotteries pull the games.
Now, to be fair to everyone, we have to expand this discussion, because even though a lot of states pull games early, almost every state allows the sales of tickets where there are no top prizes remaining (what we call "DEAD" Games). In other words, its a 'buyer beware' situation when buying scratch off tickets and we try to emphasize this fact more than any other when trying to educate people about playing scratch off tickets.
ScratchSmarter takes the prizes remaining data into account immediately in every one of our reports. Games with no top prizes remaining are marked RED (DO NOT PLAY) in our reports. Our goal is to keep our customers from wasting their money on games where they are guaranteed to NEVER win a top prize, because they've already been awarded.
So, when buying scratch off games, your options are:
1) don't play (and never win)
2) buy tickets with no analysis & let lady luck fall where she falls. People win with this strategy every week. But a lot more people lose with this strategy than win with it.
3) buy games based on basic information - using a single data point (like no prizes remaining / over all odds) - this is a good step towards not wasting your money but doesn't really help you chase the best games.
4) analyze with an advanced algorithm or formula- This strategy lets you focus your $$ on the games with the VERY BEST chances of winning a top prize.
Just know that, no matter what strategy you choose, the lotteries are out to make money and they will pull games, leave top prizes unawarded and sell tickets that don't have any top prizes. They'll do whatever then can, within the law, to make as much $$ as possible.
Scratch off players should be armed with as much information as possible to combat their tactics. You can improve you luck by doing some analysis, by stop buying "DEAD" games, and by putting on your running shoes to race to find the very best games before the get pulled.
Good luck.