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Strong valueActiveSet for Life · $20 · California Lottery
Set for Life: Strong value. A $20 ticket pays back $17.44 on average.
▲ +8.8 pts vs launch#1 of 14 · $20 CA gamesUpdated Aug 2, 2026, 12:06 AM
▲ +8.8 pts vs launch#1 of 14 · $20 CA gamesUpdated Aug 2, 2026, 12:06 AM
Set for Life is a $20 scratch-off ticket from the California state lottery. Its current expected value is 87.2%, up 8.8 percentage points from the launch value of 78.4%. 6 of the original 6 $5,000,000 top prizes are still unclaimed. Approximately 52% of the 18.0M printed tickets have been sold.
87.2%
expected return
1 in 3.32
odds of any win
6 of 6
$5M jackpots left
52%
claimed · 9.4M of 18M printed
Odds, in plain terms
If you bought 100 tickets today
Based on the 2,614,680 winning tickets still unclaimed.
20 win more than $20
$30 – $250, an actual profit
10 win their money back
a $20 prize, so you break even
70 win nothing
the house edge, made visible
Prizes of $500 or more hit about 1 in 237 tickets, so they won't show up in a batch of 100.
Value map
Where the $17.44 comes from
The average payback per ticket, split by prize size. Small wins do most of the work.
Small wins $20 – $500
$13.35 · 66.7% of price
Mid prizes $3K
$0.64 · 3.2% of price
Jackpots $5M+
$3.46 · 17.3% of price
Realistic return, jackpots set aside
69.9%
Just 6 tickets out of 8.7M carry the $5M+ prizes. This is your expected return if none of them is yours.
Most of the value pays out as
$20 – $500 wins
2,612,461 winning tickets remain in this range: 77% of total value, and the wins you'll actually see.
Claim progress
52% claimed, and the jackpots are still out there
Counting every ticket since launch, Nov 2025.
18M
tickets printed
9.4M
tickets claimed · 52%
8.7M
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
48%
100% of top prizes remain with only 48% 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
#1 of 14
By expected return. Higher is better for the player.
Figures from California Lottery published claim data, updated Aug 2, 2026, 12:06 AM.
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