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Poor valueActiveWIN $250 · $5 · New York Lottery
WIN $250: Poor value. A $5 ticket pays back $2.69 on average.
▼ -12.2 pts vs launch#15 of 15 · $5 NY gamesUpdated Jun 16, 2026, 6:31 PM
▼ -12.2 pts vs launch#15 of 15 · $5 NY gamesUpdated Jun 16, 2026, 6:31 PM
WIN $250 is a $5 scratch-off ticket from the New York state lottery. Its current expected value is 53.8%, down 12.2 percentage points from the launch value of 66.0%. 497 of the original 18,340 $250 top prizes are still unclaimed. Approximately 95% of the 9.1M printed tickets have been sold.
53.8%
expected return
1 in 4.38
odds of any win
497 of 18,340
$250 top prizes left
95%
claimed · 8.7M of 9.1M printed
Odds, in plain terms
If you bought 100 tickets today
Based on the 105,070 winning tickets still unclaimed.
13 win more than $5
$10 – $250, an actual profit
11 win their money back
a $5 prize, so you break even
76 win nothing
the house edge, made visible
Value map
Where the $2.69 comes from
The average payback per ticket, split by prize size. Small wins do most of the work.
Small wins $5 – $250
$2.69 · 53.8% of price
Most of the value pays out as
$5 – $250 wins
105,070 winning tickets remain in this range: 100% of total value, and the wins you'll actually see.
Claim progress
95% of the print run claimed
Counting every ticket since launch, Mar 2024.
9.1M
tickets printed
8.7M
tickets claimed · 95%
452k
still out there
Prizes claimed over time
Claim chart needs more snapshot history
Sales are outpacing the jackpots: worse for buyers.
Jackpots left
3%
Tickets left
5%
3% of top prizes remain with 5% 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 $5 NY peers
#15 of 15
By expected return. Higher is better for the player.
Figures from New York Lottery published claim data, updated Jun 16, 2026, 6:31 PM.
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