You're better off with scratch tickets, but when I tell you why, you probably won't like my answer or perhaps won't believe me.

    You probably stopped playing PowerBall and Mega Millions because you saw just how little you were winning back compared to what you were spending.  Most people are going to win back less than 10% of what they spend on those big jackpot games.

    The Pick 5 style games aren't much different.  You will win back about the same - maybe a little less if you don't hit 3 numbers often enough, or if you never are lucky enough to hit 4.  (You're dreaming if you think you'll get 5, but you don't want to believe that, I know.)

    On scratch tickets, you'll win back closer to 50% of what you spend.  That's much better than any "lotto" style game like the Pick 5, but it still makes buying these tickets the worst bet on the planet.  If a casino ever offered a game that paid back just 50%, the casino would go out of business because nobody would ever play that game!

    OK, still scratchers are your best choice out of what you named.  Here's what you can figure - For every 4 to 8 thousand dollars you spend, you should expect to hit a nice $500 winner perhaps once if you're lucky.  Don't expect to hit $1,000 or $10,000 unless you're spending thousands of dollars per week and over a hundred thousand dollars per year.  Then maybe you'll occasionally find a 10K ticket.  As for a jackpot ticket, you're dreaming.  If you really want to dream like that, then just go back to buying ONE jackpot ticket like Mega Millions.  It's still the same dream, but it only costs you a dollar for the dream.