| # | Game | Price | Return / $1 | No jackpot | vs launch | Sold | Top prizes | Any prize |
|---|
No games match.
Return / $1 is the average value paid back per dollar spent on a ticket bought today; $1.00 or more means the unclaimed prizes are worth more than the unsold tickets. "No jackpot" leaves the top prize out. "vs launch" is the change in return since the game went on sale. "Top prizes" is top prizes left of printed. "Any prize" is the current chance of winning anything. † marks games where the top prize accounts for more than 15¢ of the return. Tap a game for the prize-by-prize breakdown.
Method
Every state lottery publishes, per game, how many prizes at each level were printed and how many are still unclaimed. The overall odds printed on the ticket (for example, 1 in 4.89) give the number of tickets per prize. From those:
- Tickets printed = prizes printed × overall odds.
- Share unsold = unclaimed ÷ printed, measured on the plentiful low prize levels. Prizes are spread evenly through the print run, so the share of small prizes still unclaimed tracks the share of tickets still unsold.
- Return per $1 = value of unclaimed prizes ÷ tickets unsold ÷ ticket price.
Annuity prizes count at their undiscounted total; "for life" prizes use the state's 20-year minimum. Free-ticket prizes count at the ticket price. "Unclaimed" includes sold winners not yet cashed, so new games read slightly high. Tickets stay on sale after the top prizes are gone; the state says so on every game page.
None of this is advice. On average every game here pays back less than it costs.