Do not force free ticket to be played immediately
Your scratchers game offers a free ticket. However, you are forcing the player to play it immediately, which makes zero sense in real world application. Allow a user to hold a free ticket, and perhaps play it later, holding out for a higher jackpot. If you want the ticket to have an expiration date so they don't hold it forever, so be it.
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You aren’t forced to play it immediately. If you leave the scratcher game without scratching the ticket you can come back at any time and scratch the free ticket without buying a new one.