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Weak valueActiveCactus Crossword · $5 · Arizona Lottery
Cactus Crossword: Weak value. A $5 ticket pays back $3.11 on average.
▼ -6.6 pts vs launch#11 of 11 · $5 AZ gamesUpdated Jun 17, 2026, 6:01 AM
▼ -6.6 pts vs launch#11 of 11 · $5 AZ gamesUpdated Jun 17, 2026, 6:01 AM
Cactus Crossword is a $5 scratch-off ticket from the Arizona state lottery. Its current expected value is 62.2%, down 6.6 percentage points from the launch value of 68.8%. 2 of the original 24 $50,000 top prizes are still unclaimed. Approximately 81% of the 8.1M printed tickets have been sold.
62.2%
expected return
1 in 3.43
odds of any win
2 of 24
$50K top prizes left
81%
claimed · 6.5M of 8.1M printed
Odds, in plain terms
If you bought 100 tickets today
Based on the 454,288 winning tickets still unclaimed.
13 win more than $5
$10 – $100, an actual profit
16 win their money back
a $5 prize, so you break even
71 win nothing
the house edge, made visible
Prizes of $500 or more hit about 1 in 62,328 tickets, so they won't show up in a batch of 100.
Value map
Where the $3.11 comes from
The average payback per ticket, split by prize size. Small wins do most of the work.
Small wins $5 – $100
$3.01 · 60.2% of price
Mid prizes $3K – $50K
$0.10 · 2.0% of price
Most of the value pays out as
$5 – $100 wins
454,263 winning tickets remain in this range: 97% of total value, and the wins you'll actually see.
Claim progress
81% of the print run claimed
Counting every ticket since launch, Mar 2024.
8.1M
tickets printed
6.5M
tickets claimed · 81%
1.6M
still out there
Prizes claimed over time
Claim chart needs more snapshot history
Sales are outpacing the jackpots: worse for buyers.
Jackpots left
8%
Tickets left
19%
8% of top prizes remain with 19% of tickets left to claim them.
Where to buy
Arizona Lottery
At retailers statewide, or online through Jackpocket. Affiliate link: Scratchstats may earn a commission.
Rank vs $5 AZ peers
#11 of 11
By expected return. Higher is better for the player.
Figures from Arizona Lottery published claim data, updated Jun 17, 2026, 6:01 AM.
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