B
Decent valueActiveMystery Crossword · $10 · California Lottery
Mystery Crossword: Decent value. A $10 ticket pays back $7.75 on average.
▲ +0.5 pts vs launch#3 of 11 · $10 CA games
▲ +0.5 pts vs launch#3 of 11 · $10 CA games
Mystery Crossword is a $10 scratch-off ticket from the California state lottery. Its current expected value is 77.5%, up 0.5 percentage points from the launch value of 77.0%. 23 of the original 25 $750,000 top prizes are still unclaimed. Approximately 16% of the 29.8M printed tickets have been sold.
77.5%
expected return
1 in 3.47
odds of any win
23 of 25
$750K top prizes left
16%
claimed · 4.6M of 29.8M printed
Odds, in plain terms
If you bought 100 tickets today
Based on the 7,319,231 winning tickets still unclaimed.
13 win more than $10
$20 – $400, an actual profit
16 win their money back
a $10 prize, so you break even
71 win nothing
the house edge, made visible
Prizes of $500 or more hit about 1 in 7,102 tickets, so they won't show up in a batch of 100.
Value map
Where the $7.75 comes from
The average payback per ticket, split by prize size. Small wins do most of the work.
Small wins $10 – $400
$6.91 · 69.1% of price
Mid prizes $1K – $750K
$0.84 · 8.4% of price
Most of the value pays out as
$10 – $400 wins
7,315,686 winning tickets remain in this range: 89% of total value, and the wins you'll actually see.
Claim progress
16% claimed, and the jackpots are still out there
Counting every ticket since launch, Aug 2026.
29.8M
tickets printed
4.6M
tickets claimed · 16%
25.2M
still out there
Prizes claimed over time
Claim chart needs more snapshot history
Jackpots are outlasting sales: good for buyers.
Jackpots left
92%
Tickets left
84%
92% of top prizes remain with only 84% 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 $10 CA peers
#3 of 11
By expected return. Higher is better for the player.
Figures from California Lottery published claim data.
S
Scratchstats