B
Decent valueActiveInstant Prize Crossword · $20 · California Lottery
Instant Prize Crossword: Decent value. A $20 ticket pays back $15.68 on average.
▲ +0.0 pts vs launch#7 of 14 · $20 CA gamesUpdated Jul 28, 2026, 12:07 PM
▲ +0.0 pts vs launch#7 of 14 · $20 CA gamesUpdated Jul 28, 2026, 12:07 PM
Instant Prize Crossword is a $20 scratch-off ticket from the California state lottery. Its current expected value is 78.4%, up 0.0 percentage points from the launch value of 78.4%. 15 of the original 15 $2,000,000 top prizes are still unclaimed. Approximately 0% of the 18.0M printed tickets have been sold.
78.4%
expected return
1 in 3.10
odds of any win
15 of 15
$2M jackpots left
0%
claimed · 21k of 18M printed
Odds, in plain terms
If you bought 100 tickets today
Based on the 5,782,059 winning tickets still unclaimed.
19 win more than $20
$25 – $250, an actual profit
13 win their money back
a $20 prize, so you break even
68 win nothing
the house edge, made visible
Prizes of $500 or more hit about 1 in 374 tickets, so they won't show up in a batch of 100.
Value map
Where the $15.68 comes from
The average payback per ticket, split by prize size. Small wins do most of the work.
Small wins $20 – $500
$12.74 · 63.7% of price
Mid prizes $1K – $25K
$1.27 · 6.3% of price
Jackpots $2M+
$1.67 · 8.4% of price
Realistic return, jackpots set aside
70.0%
Just 15 tickets out of 18M 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
5,765,356 winning tickets remain in this range: 81% of total value, and the wins you'll actually see.
Claim progress
0% claimed, and the jackpots are still out there
Counting every ticket since launch, Jul 2026.
18M
tickets printed
21k
tickets claimed · 0%
18M
still out there
Prizes claimed over time
Claim chart needs more snapshot history
Jackpots are outlasting sales: good for buyers.
Jackpots left
100%
Tickets left
100%
100% of top prizes remain with only 100% 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
#7 of 14
By expected return. Higher is better for the player.
Figures from California Lottery published claim data, updated Jul 28, 2026, 12:07 PM.
S
Scratchstats