F
Poor valueActiveCrossword · $3 · Texas Lottery
Crossword: Poor value. A $3 ticket pays back $1.63 on average.
▼ -11.7 pts vs launch#4 of 4 · $3 TX gamesUpdated Jun 17, 2026, 6:50 AM
▼ -11.7 pts vs launch#4 of 4 · $3 TX gamesUpdated Jun 17, 2026, 6:50 AM
Crossword is a $3 scratch-off ticket from the Texas state lottery. Its current expected value is 54.3%, down 11.7 percentage points from the launch value of 66.0%. 1 of the original 18 $50,000 top prizes are still unclaimed. Approximately 89% of the 35.5M printed tickets have been sold.
54.3%
expected return
1 in 4.07
odds of any win
1 of 18
$50K top prizes left
89%
claimed · 31.6M of 35.5M printed
Odds, in plain terms
If you bought 100 tickets today
Based on the 958,243 winning tickets still unclaimed.
11 win more than $3
$5 – $100, an actual profit
14 win their money back
a $3 prize, so you break even
75 win nothing
the house edge, made visible
Prizes of $500 or more hit about 1 in 18,476 tickets, so they won't show up in a batch of 100.
Value map
Where the $1.63 comes from
The average payback per ticket, split by prize size. Small wins do most of the work.
Small wins $3 – $500
$1.61 · 53.7% of price
Mid prizes $5K – $50K
$0.02 · 0.7% of price
Most of the value pays out as
$3 – $500 wins
958,236 winning tickets remain in this range: 99% of total value, and the wins you'll actually see.
Claim progress
89% of the print run claimed
Counting every ticket since launch.
35.5M
tickets printed
31.6M
tickets claimed · 89%
3.9M
still out there
Prizes claimed over time
Claim chart needs more snapshot history
Sales are outpacing the jackpots: worse for buyers.
Jackpots left
6%
Tickets left
11%
6% of top prizes remain with 11% of tickets left to claim them.
Where to buy
Texas Lottery
At retailers statewide, or online through Jackpocket. Affiliate link: Scratchstats may earn a commission.
Rank vs $3 TX peers
#4 of 4
By expected return. Higher is better for the player.
Figures from Texas Lottery published claim data, updated Jun 17, 2026, 6:50 AM.
S
Scratchstats