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Never in American history has it been so easy to gamble, legally at least. We’ve got casinos, sports betting, online poker, keno — but it was all made possible by state lotteries, which brought gambling out of the shadows and into the public square — into the government itself.

“Scratch & Win” follows the unlikely rise of America’s most successful lottery. We begin in 1970s Boston, with state bureaucrats going toe to toe with mafia bookmakers, and each other, as they struggle to launch the state's greatest innovation: the scratch ticket. But the story reaches all the way to the present moment. How do we feel about the gambling industry that lotteries helped summon into being? And should the state be in this business at all?

“Scratch & Win” is made by the Peabody Award-winning team behind “The Big Dig,” produced by GBH News and distributed by PRX.

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Episodes

  • NEWS-Scratch_and_Win-podcast-art-FINAL.jpg

    Part 1: The Instant Ticket

    It’s 1974, illegal bookies are everywhere and the brand new state lottery is struggling to compete. But a simple piece of paper is about to change the game forever: the nation’s first scratch ticket. 
    Scratch & Win
  • NEWS-Scratch_and_Win-podcast-art-FINAL.jpg

    Introducing: Scratch & Win

    "Scratch & Win" looks for answers in the unlikely story of America's most successful lottery, and the charismatic state treasurer who was determined to beat the mob at their own game.
    Scratch & Win
  • NEWS-Scratch_and_Win-podcast-art-FINAL.jpg

    A new series from the Big Dig team

    Heads up: in two weeks this feed will transform into a new show produced by the same team as the Big Dig. It's called Scratch & Win. Stay tuned.
    Scratch & Win