(SINGAPORE) The next time you head over to your neighbourhood betting outlet to buy a scratch-and-win ticket, consider this: The chances of you winning even a single cent on Singapore Pools' popular Scratchit! game card could, in fact, be zero.

A disclaimer posted on publicity posters and the website for the game and on the back of every ticket reads: 'Important - Some or all prizes of this series of game may have already been won prior to the purchase of ticket.'

The possibility that one could be buying a lottery ticket with no hope of winning anything because all the prize-winning tickets were already sold surprised some punters whom The Business Times spoke to at betting outlets this week.

Madam Teo H S, 43, felt it would be good for the outlets to display updated information on how many prizes have been claimed so far. 'If many of the big prizes are already gone, then I might spend less on the tickets. The prize information notices are useful to help us decide whether or not to buy,' she said.

Scratchit! has been one of Singapore Pools' most popular games in recent months. Pass by any of their 309 betting outlets and branches and chances are high you'll see many punters holding strips of such tickets and furiously scratching away - each hoping to strike the big prize.

Winning is easy. Each $1 ticket offers one the chance to win up to $10,000 in cash instantly. The $2 ticket is also a hit with Singaporeans as it has a $25,000 grand prize. This week saw the launch of the first $5 ticket with $60,000 on offer.

To win, one has to scratch off a set of matching symbols on the ticket to win the dollar amount shown.

When contacted, a Singapore Pools spokesperson said that it was not possible for the operator to know if all the top prizes in a particular series of tickets have been won until the punters themselves come forward to claim them.

'In the interest of transparency, we have to inform our customers that at the time of purchase, some or all prizes may already have been won prior to his purchase. Our Scratchit! Game Rules are carried on our website and at our outlets, while the advisory is carried on our game poster and on the back of every ticket,' said the spokesperson.

As an added measure, Singapore Pools has an existing internal policy where it will stop the sales of the remaining Scratchit! tickets once the last top prize of that series has been won and claimed.

Though this has never been done before, Singapore Pools has recalled remaining tickets of a series before due to declining interest.

'This information is then communicated to customers through the usual channels,' said the spokesperson.

While its official website does not list the prizes that have already been claimed so far, it does give the breakdown of the different prize amounts available for every fixed number of Scratchit! tickets printed.

One of the current series on offer, 'Race Queen', has two top prizes of $10,000 each, followed by three $2,000 prizes. Other amounts range from $1 to $1,000.

This works out to $284,900 in prize money that can be won for every $500,000 worth of tickets sold. The net surplus is donated to community causes through its parent organisation, the Tote Board.

Such is the popularity of Scratchit! with punters young and old that it's not uncommon to visit a betting outlet only to find out that it has already sold out its entire stock for the day.

'So easy to play. Sometimes can even win $50 just like that,' said taxi driver Albert Tan, 52, who was seen buying $10 worth of tickets.

Like many others, he was irate when told that it was possible that all of the prizes could have already been claimed.

The first Scratchit! game was launched in November 2004 and ended the following July, during which a one-off run of seven million tickets was printed.

Then, Singapore Pools chief executive Tan Soo Nam described it as a 'soft game' with an 'extremely low' risk of problem gambling. It was also meant to draw some money away from illegal operators that offer similar online scratch and traditional jackpots.

Earlier this month in the United States, there was an uproar when it was revealed that some states were selling lottery tickets long after all the prizes have been claimed. Various newspaper reports disclosed that about half of the 42 states that have lotteries keep selling tickets after the top prizes are gone.

The states say the practice is fair because lottery tickets and websites disclose the practice. Also, there are other prizes available.

A university professor who bought a US$5 lottery ticket is even suing the state of Virginia for breach of contract after public records showed that, a month before he bought his ticket, the top prize had already been won.