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Average valueActiveMEGA Crossword · $5 · California Lottery
MEGA Crossword: Average value. A $5 ticket pays back $3.42 on average.
▼ -0.6 pts vs launch#5 of 11 · $5 CA games
▼ -0.6 pts vs launch#5 of 11 · $5 CA games
MEGA Crossword is a $5 scratch-off ticket from the California state lottery. Its current expected value is 68.4%, down 0.6 percentage points from the launch value of 69.0%. 17 of the original 35 $75,000 top prizes are still unclaimed. Approximately 50% of the 42.6M printed tickets have been sold.
68.4%
expected return
1 in 3.82
odds of any win
17 of 35
$75K top prizes left
50%
claimed · 21.3M of 42.6M printed
Odds, in plain terms
If you bought 100 tickets today
Based on the 5,575,600 winning tickets still unclaimed.
17 win more than $5
$10 – $100, an actual profit
9 win their money back
a $5 prize, so you break even
74 win nothing
the house edge, made visible
Prizes of $500 or more hit about 1 in 2,804 tickets, so they won't show up in a batch of 100.
Value map
Where the $3.42 comes from
The average payback per ticket, split by prize size. Small wins do most of the work.
Small wins $5 – $500
$3.27 · 65.3% of price
Mid prizes $1K – $75K
$0.15 · 3.1% of price
Most of the value pays out as
$5 – $500 wins
5,574,735 winning tickets remain in this range: 95% of total value, and the wins you'll actually see.
Claim progress
50% of the print run claimed
Counting every ticket since launch, Feb 2026.
42.6M
tickets printed
21.3M
tickets claimed · 50%
21.3M
still out there
Prizes claimed over time
Claim chart needs more snapshot history
Sales are outpacing the jackpots: worse for buyers.
Jackpots left
49%
Tickets left
50%
49% of top prizes remain with 50% 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
#5 of 11
By expected return. Higher is better for the player.
Figures from California Lottery published claim data.
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