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Weak valueActiveGOLD HARD CASH · $5 · Virginia Lottery
GOLD HARD CASH: Weak value. A $5 ticket pays back $3.38 on average.
▼ -0.4 pts vs launch#15 of 27 · $5 VA games
▼ -0.4 pts vs launch#15 of 27 · $5 VA games
GOLD HARD CASH is a $5 scratch-off ticket from the Virginia state lottery. Its current expected value is 67.6%, down 0.4 percentage points from the launch value of 68.0%. 1 of the original 3 $100,000 top prizes are still unclaimed. Approximately 70% of the 3.2M printed tickets have been sold.
67.6%
expected return
1 in 4.76
odds of any win
1 of 3
$100K top prizes left
70%
claimed · 2.2M of 3.2M printed
Odds, in plain terms
If you bought 100 tickets today
Based on the 199,687 winning tickets still unclaimed.
21 win more than $5
$10 – $100, an actual profit
0 win their money back
a $5 prize, so you break even
79 win nothing
the house edge, made visible
Prizes of $500 or more hit about 1 in 1,558 tickets, so they won't show up in a batch of 100.
Value map
Where the $3.38 comes from
The average payback per ticket, split by prize size. Small wins do most of the work.
Small wins $10 – $500
$3.25 · 65.1% of price
Mid prizes $5K – $100K
$0.13 · 2.5% of price
Most of the value pays out as
$10 – $500 wins
199,683 winning tickets remain in this range: 96% of total value, and the wins you'll actually see.
Claim progress
70% claimed, and the jackpots are still out there
Counting every ticket since launch, Jan 2026.
3.2M
tickets printed
2.2M
tickets claimed · 70%
951k
still out there
Prizes claimed over time
Claim chart needs more snapshot history
Jackpots are outlasting sales: good for buyers.
Jackpots left
33%
Tickets left
30%
33% of top prizes remain with only 30% of tickets left to claim them.
Where to buy
Virginia Lottery
At retailers statewide, or online through Jackpocket. Affiliate link: Scratchstats may earn a commission.
Rank vs $5 VA peers
#15 of 27
By expected return. Higher is better for the player.
Figures from Virginia Lottery published claim data.
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