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Average valueActiveMerry Bright · $5 · South Dakota Lottery
Merry Bright: Average value. A $5 ticket pays back $3.44 on average.
▼ -0.4 pts vs launch#4 of 18 · $5 SD gamesUpdated Jun 17, 2026, 6:12 AM
▼ -0.4 pts vs launch#4 of 18 · $5 SD gamesUpdated Jun 17, 2026, 6:12 AM
Merry Bright is a $5 scratch-off ticket from the South Dakota state lottery. Its current expected value is 68.8%, down 0.4 percentage points from the launch value of 69.2%. 2 of the original 3 $10,000 top prizes are still unclaimed. Approximately 78% of the 0.2M printed tickets have been sold.
68.8%
expected return
1 in 4.11
odds of any win
2 of 3
$10K top prizes left
78%
claimed · 142k of 182k printed
Odds, in plain terms
If you bought 100 tickets today
Based on the 9,765 winning tickets still unclaimed.
13 win more than $5
$10 – $100, an actual profit
11 win their money back
a $5 prize, so you break even
76 win nothing
the house edge, made visible
Prizes of $500 or more hit about 1 in 6,691 tickets, so they won't show up in a batch of 100.
Value map
Where the $3.44 comes from
The average payback per ticket, split by prize size. Small wins do most of the work.
Small wins $5 – $500
$2.94 · 58.8% of price
Mid prizes $10K
$0.50 · 10.0% of price
Most of the value pays out as
$5 – $500 wins
9,763 winning tickets remain in this range: 86% of total value, and the wins you'll actually see.
Claim progress
78% claimed, and the jackpots are still out there
Counting every ticket since launch, Sep 2025.
182k
tickets printed
142k
tickets claimed · 78%
40k
still out there
Prizes claimed over time
Claim chart needs more snapshot history
Jackpots are outlasting sales: good for buyers.
Jackpots left
67%
Tickets left
22%
67% of top prizes remain with only 22% of tickets left to claim them.
Where to buy
South Dakota Lottery
At retailers statewide, or online through Jackpocket. Affiliate link: Scratchstats may earn a commission.
Rank vs $5 SD peers
#4 of 18
By expected return. Higher is better for the player.
Figures from South Dakota Lottery published claim data, updated Jun 17, 2026, 6:12 AM.
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