POCONO TOWNSHIP -- Gus, the second most famous groundhog in Pennsylvania, likes to tell us to "keep on scratching," but actually scratching all those lottery tickets may be a thing of the past.
Scratching your way to a win is a big dream for instant lottery ticket players.
"You get that little rush. Oh my God, you know you put in $5, you might win $3 million like they did down the road," said Lois Ruffo.
After carefully scratching off their tickets, many people use electronic scanners in stores to check them.
"I use the checkers here because I actually live in New York and I have to check them in Pennsylvania," said Cindy Russo.
A new instant checker app is changing all that.
Now instant players can scan the codes on instant tickets right on their smartphones to see if they've picked a winner.
"I would do it. I know I would, especially if you're driving around, you're in your car. You can't check in your car. Now you can," Russo said.
If you scanned your scratch off and it wasn't a winner, you can now scan it again right into that same app and enter it for a second chance prize.
Some lottery players say they like checking for winners with the app.
"That [scratching] takes like 15 minutes. I just like to scratch the corner, scan the ticket, see if I've won," said Kyle Porter of Tannersville.
Others say they still like checking for winners the old fashioned way. They'll keep on scratching and just use the app as a back up.
"Just in case, always check them out just in case. Sometimes you scratch them and you don't know if you won or not," Russo said.
