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Decent valueActiveInstant Prize Crossword · $20 · California Lottery
Instant Prize Crossword: Decent value. A $20 ticket pays back $15.85 on average.
▲ +0.8 pts vs launch#4 of 13 · $20 CA games
▲ +0.8 pts vs launch#4 of 13 · $20 CA games
Instant Prize Crossword is a $20 scratch-off ticket from the California state lottery. Its current expected value is 79.3%, up 0.8 percentage points from the launch value of 78.4%. 13 of the original 15 $2,000,000 top prizes are still unclaimed. Approximately 19% of the 18.0M printed tickets have been sold.
79.3%
expected return
1 in 3.10
odds of any win
13 of 15
$2M jackpots left
19%
claimed · 3.4M of 18M printed
Odds, in plain terms
If you bought 100 tickets today
Based on the 4,676,721 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 368 tickets, so they won't show up in a batch of 100.
Value map
Where the $15.85 comes from
The average payback per ticket, split by prize size. Small wins do most of the work.
Small wins $20 – $500
$12.73 · 63.6% of price
Mid prizes $1K – $25K
$1.33 · 6.7% of price
Jackpots $2M+
$1.79 · 9.0% of price
Realistic return, jackpots set aside
70.3%
Just 13 tickets out of 14.5M 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
4,662,636 winning tickets remain in this range: 80% of total value, and the wins you'll actually see.
Claim progress
19% claimed, and the jackpots are still out there
Counting every ticket since launch, Jul 2026.
18M
tickets printed
3.4M
tickets claimed · 19%
14.5M
still out there
Prizes claimed over time
Claim chart needs more snapshot history
Jackpots are outlasting sales: good for buyers.
Jackpots left
87%
Tickets left
81%
87% of top prizes remain with only 81% 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
#4 of 13
By expected return. Higher is better for the player.
Figures from California Lottery published claim data.
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