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Decent valueActiveULTIMATE CASH · $30 · New York Lottery
ULTIMATE CASH: Decent value. A $30 ticket pays back $22.25 on average.
▼ -1.7 pts vs launch#5 of 8 · $30 NY gamesUpdated Aug 1, 2026, 12:31 AM
▼ -1.7 pts vs launch#5 of 8 · $30 NY gamesUpdated Aug 1, 2026, 12:31 AM
ULTIMATE CASH is a $30 scratch-off ticket from the New York state lottery. Its current expected value is 74.2%, down 1.7 percentage points from the launch value of 75.8%. 1 of the original 3 $500K Annual Installments top prizes are still unclaimed. Approximately 52% of the 18.5M printed tickets have been sold.
74.2%
expected return
1 in 3.64
odds of any win
1 of 3
$10M jackpots left
52%
claimed · 9.6M of 18.5M printed
Odds, in plain terms
If you bought 100 tickets today
Based on the 2,443,930 winning tickets still unclaimed.
27 win more than $30
$50 – $400, an actual profit
0 win their money back
a $30 prize, so you break even
73 win nothing
the house edge, made visible
Prizes of $500 or more hit about 1 in 3,607 tickets, so they won't show up in a batch of 100.
Value map
Where the $22.25 comes from
The average payback per ticket, split by prize size. Small wins do most of the work.
Small wins $50 – $400
$20.33 · 67.8% of price
Mid prizes $2K – $20K
$0.79 · 2.6% of price
Jackpots $10M+
$1.12 · 3.7% of price
Realistic return, jackpots set aside
70.4%
Just 1 ticket out of 8.9M carry the $10M+ prizes. This is your expected return if none of them is yours.
Most of the value pays out as
$50 – $400 wins
2,441,468 winning tickets remain in this range: 91% of total value, and the wins you'll actually see.
Claim progress
52% of the print run claimed
Counting every ticket since launch, Apr 2025.
18.5M
tickets printed
9.6M
tickets claimed · 52%
8.9M
still out there
Prizes claimed over time
Claim chart needs more snapshot history
Sales are outpacing the jackpots: worse for buyers.
Jackpots left
33%
Tickets left
48%
33% of top prizes remain with 48% of tickets left to claim them.
Where to buy
New York Lottery
At retailers statewide, or online through Jackpocket. Affiliate link: Scratchstats may earn a commission.
Rank vs $30 NY peers
#5 of 8
By expected return. Higher is better for the player.
Figures from New York Lottery published claim data, updated Aug 1, 2026, 12:31 AM.
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