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Decent valueActiveInstant Prize Crossword · $20 · California Lottery
Instant Prize Crossword: Decent value. A $20 ticket pays back $15.50 on average.
▼ -0.8 pts vs launch#10 of 13 · $20 CA gamesUpdated Jun 18, 2026, 12:05 AM
▼ -0.8 pts vs launch#10 of 13 · $20 CA gamesUpdated Jun 18, 2026, 12:05 AM
Instant Prize Crossword is a $20 scratch-off ticket from the California state lottery. Its current expected value is 77.5%, down 0.8 percentage points from the launch value of 78.3%. 9 of the original 27 $2,000,000 top prizes are still unclaimed. Approximately 64% of the 33.3M printed tickets have been sold.
77.5%
expected return
1 in 3.10
odds of any win
9 of 27
$2M jackpots left
64%
claimed · 21.2M of 33.3M printed
Odds, in plain terms
If you bought 100 tickets today
Based on the 3,895,830 winning tickets still unclaimed.
18 win more than $20
$25 – $250, an actual profit
13 win their money back
a $20 prize, so you break even
69 win nothing
the house edge, made visible
Prizes of $500 or more hit about 1 in 366 tickets, so they won't show up in a batch of 100.
Value map
Where the $15.50 comes from
The average payback per ticket, split by prize size. Small wins do most of the work.
Small wins $20 – $500
$12.71 · 63.5% of price
Mid prizes $1K – $25K
$1.31 · 6.5% of price
Jackpots $2M+
$1.49 · 7.4% of price
Realistic return, jackpots set aside
70.1%
Just 9 tickets out of 12.1M carry the $2M+ prizes. This is your expected return if none of them is yours.
Most of the value pays out as
$20 – $500 wins
3,884,221 winning tickets remain in this range: 82% of total value, and the wins you'll actually see.
Claim progress
64% of the print run claimed
Counting every ticket since launch, Sep 2023.
33.3M
tickets printed
21.2M
tickets claimed · 64%
12.1M
still out there
Prizes claimed over time
Claim chart needs more snapshot history
Sales are outpacing the jackpots: worse for buyers.
Jackpots left
33%
Tickets left
36%
33% of top prizes remain with 36% 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 $20 CA peers
#10 of 13
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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