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Decent valueActiveCrossword Xtreme · $30 · California Lottery
Crossword Xtreme: Decent value. A $30 ticket pays back $23.59 on average.
▼ -1.4 pts vs launch#3 of 3 · $30 CA gamesUpdated Jul 28, 2026, 12:07 PM
▼ -1.4 pts vs launch#3 of 3 · $30 CA gamesUpdated Jul 28, 2026, 12:07 PM
Crossword Xtreme is a $30 scratch-off ticket from the California state lottery. Its current expected value is 78.6%, down 1.4 percentage points from the launch value of 80.0%. 2 of the original 4 $7,000,000 top prizes are still unclaimed. Approximately 29% of the 19.2M printed tickets have been sold.
78.6%
expected return
1 in 2.72
odds of any win
2 of 4
$7M jackpots left
29%
claimed · 5.5M of 19.2M printed
Odds, in plain terms
If you bought 100 tickets today
Based on the 5,027,424 winning tickets still unclaimed.
26 win more than $30
$40 – $250, an actual profit
10 win their money back
a $30 prize, so you break even
64 win nothing
the house edge, made visible
Prizes of $500 or more hit about 1 in 226 tickets, so they won't show up in a batch of 100.
Value map
Where the $23.59 comes from
The average payback per ticket, split by prize size. Small wins do most of the work.
Small wins $30 – $500
$20.59 · 68.6% of price
Mid prizes $1K – $500K
$1.98 · 6.6% of price
Jackpots $7M+
$1.02 · 3.4% of price
Realistic return, jackpots set aside
75.2%
Just 2 tickets out of 13.7M carry the $7M+ prizes. This is your expected return if none of them is yours.
Most of the value pays out as
$30 – $500 wins
5,012,442 winning tickets remain in this range: 87% of total value, and the wins you'll actually see.
Claim progress
29% of the print run claimed
Counting every ticket since launch, Apr 2026.
19.2M
tickets printed
5.5M
tickets claimed · 29%
13.7M
still out there
Prizes claimed over time
Claim chart needs more snapshot history
Sales are outpacing the jackpots: worse for buyers.
Jackpots left
50%
Tickets left
71%
50% of top prizes remain with 71% 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 $30 CA peers
#3 of 3
By expected return. Higher is better for the player.
Figures from California Lottery published claim data, updated Jul 28, 2026, 12:07 PM.
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