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Average valueActiveSapphire Surprise · $5 · South Carolina Lottery
Sapphire Surprise: Average value. A $5 ticket pays back $3.63 on average.
▲ +1.6 pts vs launch#1 of 11 · $5 SC gamesUpdated Jun 17, 2026, 6:04 AM
▲ +1.6 pts vs launch#1 of 11 · $5 SC gamesUpdated Jun 17, 2026, 6:04 AM
Sapphire Surprise is a $5 scratch-off ticket from the South Carolina state lottery. Its current expected value is 72.6%, up 1.6 percentage points from the launch value of 71.0%. 2 of the original 4 $200,000 top prizes are still unclaimed. Approximately 72% of the 3.6M printed tickets have been sold.
72.6%
expected return
1 in 3.97
odds of any win
2 of 4
$200K top prizes left
72%
claimed · 2.6M of 3.6M printed
Odds, in plain terms
If you bought 100 tickets today
Based on the 248,925 winning tickets still unclaimed.
14 win more than $5
$10 – $200, an actual profit
11 win their money back
a $5 prize, so you break even
75 win nothing
the house edge, made visible
Prizes of $500 or more hit about 1 in 2,967 tickets, so they won't show up in a batch of 100.
Value map
Where the $3.63 comes from
The average payback per ticket, split by prize size. Small wins do most of the work.
Small wins $5 – $500
$3.15 · 63.1% of price
Mid prizes $1K – $200K
$0.48 · 9.5% of price
Most of the value pays out as
$5 – $500 wins
248,852 winning tickets remain in this range: 87% of total value, and the wins you'll actually see.
Claim progress
72% claimed, and the jackpots are still out there
Counting every ticket since launch, Dec 2025.
3.6M
tickets printed
2.6M
tickets claimed · 72%
988k
still out there
Prizes claimed over time
Claim chart needs more snapshot history
Jackpots are outlasting sales: good for buyers.
Jackpots left
50%
Tickets left
28%
50% of top prizes remain with only 28% of tickets left to claim them.
Where to buy
South Carolina Lottery
At retailers statewide, or online through Jackpocket. Affiliate link: Scratchstats may earn a commission.
Rank vs $5 SC peers
#1 of 11
By expected return. Higher is better for the player.
Figures from South Carolina Lottery published claim data, updated Jun 17, 2026, 6:04 AM.
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