Koza and Bower invented the scratch cards in the year 1974. John Koza was a computer specialist and Daniel Bower specialized in promoting retail marketing. Koza and Bower joined to form a gaming corporation that was scientific.
The Massachusetts Lottery Commission became the first client to the Scientific Games Corporation. During that time, the clients who brought the lottery had to wait for several days to be clarified on whether they won; however, Koza and Bower realized that people are looking for some quick results. This led them to develop the scratch card.
They covered the region that contained the winning number in the lottery with an opaque latex sheet that can be scratched off to see the number or image lying underneath.
Koza was well versed in the algorithmic patterns and therefore he defined the order of numbers to make them appear truly random. Bower being a specialist in marketing advertised the product in a way that it was truly appealing to the public.
The instant gratification in the scratch cards attracted the public and the sales of the corporation took off from $1 million to more than $2.7 per week. The discovery earned the two the fame of being a Charter member at the Lottery Industry Hall Of Fame.
The usage of scratch cards spread to different state lotteries including New York, Maryland, Michigan, and Illinois. Many states in the US began offering scratch card games.
Cal Tigner invented a plastic scratch card dispenser, which enabled easy dispensing of scratch cards for the public. He was honored with a charter membership to the Lottery Industry Hall Of Fame for the invention of the Take-A-Ticket machine.
Scratch cards have evolved for use very commonly these days mainly in fund raising events, banks and social organizations. Enabled by flash and java applications scratch cards are available online.