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Weak valueActiveMega Bucks · $5 · North Carolina Lottery
Mega Bucks: Weak value. A $5 ticket pays back $3.35 on average.
▼ -2.0 pts vs launch#13 of 20 · $5 NC games
▼ -2.0 pts vs launch#13 of 20 · $5 NC games
Mega Bucks is a $5 scratch-off ticket from the North Carolina state lottery. Its current expected value is 67.0%, down 2.0 percentage points from the launch value of 69.0%. 2 of the original 5 $200,000 top prizes are still unclaimed. Approximately 43% of the 7.3M printed tickets have been sold.
67.0%
expected return
1 in 4.50
odds of any win
2 of 5
$200K top prizes left
43%
claimed · 3.2M of 7.3M printed
Odds, in plain terms
If you bought 100 tickets today
Based on the 919,553 winning tickets still unclaimed.
14 win more than $5
$10 – $200, an actual profit
8 win their money back
a $5 prize, so you break even
78 win nothing
the house edge, made visible
Prizes of $500 or more hit about 1 in 29,359 tickets, so they won't show up in a batch of 100.
Value map
Where the $3.35 comes from
The average payback per ticket, split by prize size. Small wins do most of the work.
Small wins $5 – $500
$3.24 · 64.7% of price
Mid prizes $1K – $200K
$0.11 · 2.3% of price
Most of the value pays out as
$5 – $500 wins
919,513 winning tickets remain in this range: 97% of total value, and the wins you'll actually see.
Claim progress
43% of the print run claimed
Counting every ticket since launch, Jun 2026.
7.3M
tickets printed
3.2M
tickets claimed · 43%
4.1M
still out there
Prizes claimed over time
Claim chart needs more snapshot history
Sales are outpacing the jackpots: worse for buyers.
Jackpots left
40%
Tickets left
57%
40% of top prizes remain with 57% 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
#13 of 20
By expected return. Higher is better for the player.
Figures from North Carolina Lottery published claim data.
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