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Weak valueActiveMEGA BUCKS · $5 · North Carolina Lottery
MEGA BUCKS: Weak value. A $5 ticket pays back $3.23 on average.
▼ -4.4 pts vs launch#16 of 17 · $5 NC gamesUpdated Jun 17, 2026, 6:36 AM
▼ -4.4 pts vs launch#16 of 17 · $5 NC gamesUpdated Jun 17, 2026, 6:36 AM
MEGA BUCKS is a $5 scratch-off ticket from the North Carolina state lottery. Its current expected value is 64.6%, down 4.4 percentage points from the launch value of 69.0%. 2 of the original 9 $200,000 top prizes are still unclaimed. Approximately 88% of the 11.1M printed tickets have been sold.
64.6%
expected return
1 in 4.35
odds of any win
2 of 9
$200K top prizes left
88%
claimed · 9.8M of 11.1M printed
Odds, in plain terms
If you bought 100 tickets today
Based on the 305,972 winning tickets still unclaimed.
13 win more than $5
$10 – $100, an actual profit
10 win their money back
a $5 prize, so you break even
77 win nothing
the house edge, made visible
Prizes of $500 or more hit about 1 in 22,028 tickets, so they won't show up in a batch of 100.
Value map
Where the $3.23 comes from
The average payback per ticket, split by prize size. Small wins do most of the work.
Small wins $5 – $500
$2.91 · 58.2% of price
Mid prizes $1K – $200K
$0.32 · 6.4% of price
Most of the value pays out as
$5 – $500 wins
305,956 winning tickets remain in this range: 90% of total value, and the wins you'll actually see.
Claim progress
88% claimed, and the jackpots are still out there
Counting every ticket since launch, Aug 2024.
11.1M
tickets printed
9.8M
tickets claimed · 88%
1.3M
still out there
Prizes claimed over time
Claim chart needs more snapshot history
Jackpots are outlasting sales: good for buyers.
Jackpots left
22%
Tickets left
12%
22% of top prizes remain with only 12% of tickets left to claim them.
Where to buy
North Carolina Lottery
At retailers statewide, or online through Jackpocket. Affiliate link: Scratchstats may earn a commission.
Rank vs $5 NC peers
#16 of 17
By expected return. Higher is better for the player.
Figures from North Carolina Lottery published claim data, updated Jun 17, 2026, 6:36 AM.
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