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Weak valueActiveBirthday Surprise · $2 · New Jersey Lottery
Birthday Surprise: Weak value. A $2 ticket pays back $1.31 on average.
▼ -1.0 pts vs launch#1 of 6 · $2 NJ gamesUpdated Jun 18, 2026, 12:26 AM
▼ -1.0 pts vs launch#1 of 6 · $2 NJ gamesUpdated Jun 18, 2026, 12:26 AM
Birthday Surprise is a $2 scratch-off ticket from the New Jersey state lottery. Its current expected value is 65.5%, down 1.0 percentage points from the launch value of 66.5%. 2 of the original 3 $10,000 top prizes are still unclaimed. Approximately 49% of the 3.5M printed tickets have been sold.
65.5%
expected return
1 in 4.53
odds of any win
2 of 3
$10K top prizes left
49%
claimed · 1.7M of 3.5M printed
Odds, in plain terms
If you bought 100 tickets today
Based on the 401,908 winning tickets still unclaimed.
12 win more than $2
$4 – $100, an actual profit
10 win their money back
a $2 prize, so you break even
78 win nothing
the house edge, made visible
Prizes of $500 or more hit about 1 in 22,743 tickets, so they won't show up in a batch of 100.
Value map
Where the $1.31 comes from
The average payback per ticket, split by prize size. Small wins do most of the work.
Small wins $2 – $500
$1.29 · 64.6% of price
Mid prizes $1K – $10K
$0.02 · 0.9% of price
Most of the value pays out as
$2 – $500 wins
401,892 winning tickets remain in this range: 99% of total value, and the wins you'll actually see.
Claim progress
49% claimed, and the jackpots are still out there
Counting every ticket since launch, Jul 2025.
3.5M
tickets printed
1.7M
tickets claimed · 49%
1.8M
still out there
Prizes claimed over time
Claim chart needs more snapshot history
Jackpots are outlasting sales: good for buyers.
Jackpots left
67%
Tickets left
51%
67% of top prizes remain with only 51% of tickets left to claim them.
Where to buy
New Jersey Lottery
At retailers statewide, or online through Jackpocket. Affiliate link: Scratchstats may earn a commission.
Rank vs $2 NJ peers
#1 of 6
By expected return. Higher is better for the player.
Figures from New Jersey Lottery published claim data, updated Jun 18, 2026, 12:26 AM.
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