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Decent valueActiveCalifornia Dreamin' · $5 · California Lottery
California Dreamin': Decent value. A $5 ticket pays back $3.78 on average.
▲ +5.2 pts vs launch#1 of 9 · $5 CA gamesUpdated Jun 18, 2026, 12:05 AM
▲ +5.2 pts vs launch#1 of 9 · $5 CA gamesUpdated Jun 18, 2026, 12:05 AM
California Dreamin' is a $5 scratch-off ticket from the California state lottery. Its current expected value is 75.6%, up 5.2 percentage points from the launch value of 70.4%. 5 of the original 12 $555,555 top prizes are still unclaimed. Approximately 79% of the 18.1M printed tickets have been sold.
75.6%
expected return
1 in 3.75
odds of any win
5 of 12
$556K top prizes left
79%
claimed · 14.2M of 18.1M printed
Odds, in plain terms
If you bought 100 tickets today
Based on the 1,056,957 winning tickets still unclaimed.
13 win more than $5
$10 – $100, an actual profit
14 win their money back
a $5 prize, so you break even
73 win nothing
the house edge, made visible
Prizes of $500 or more hit about 1 in 3,914 tickets, so they won't show up in a batch of 100.
Value map
Where the $3.78 comes from
The average payback per ticket, split by prize size. Small wins do most of the work.
Small wins $5 – $500
$3.06 · 61.1% of price
Mid prizes $1K – $556K
$0.72 · 14.5% of price
Most of the value pays out as
$5 – $500 wins
1,056,883 winning tickets remain in this range: 81% of total value, and the wins you'll actually see.
Claim progress
79% claimed, and the jackpots are still out there
Counting every ticket since launch, Jun 2025.
18.1M
tickets printed
14.2M
tickets claimed · 79%
3.9M
still out there
Prizes claimed over time
Claim chart needs more snapshot history
Jackpots are outlasting sales: good for buyers.
Jackpots left
42%
Tickets left
21%
42% of top prizes remain with only 21% of tickets left to claim them.
Where to buy
California Lottery
At retailers statewide, or online through Jackpocket. Affiliate link: Scratchstats may earn a commission.
Rank vs $5 CA peers
#1 of 9
By expected return. Higher is better for the player.
Figures from California Lottery published claim data, updated Jun 18, 2026, 12:05 AM.
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