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Weak valueActiveYear of the Snake · $2 · Virginia Lottery
Year of the Snake: Weak value. A $2 ticket pays back $1.27 on average.
▼ -2.5 pts vs launch#3 of 14 · $2 VA gamesUpdated Jun 12, 2026, 12:57 AM
▼ -2.5 pts vs launch#3 of 14 · $2 VA gamesUpdated Jun 12, 2026, 12:57 AM
Year of the Snake is a $2 scratch-off ticket from the Virginia state lottery. Its current expected value is 63.5%, down 2.5 percentage points from the launch value of 66.0%. 2 of the original 3 $20,000 top prizes are still unclaimed. Approximately 85% of the 2.9M printed tickets have been sold.
63.5%
expected return
1 in 4.25
odds of any win
2 of 3
$20K top prizes left
85%
claimed · 2.5M of 2.9M printed
Odds, in plain terms
If you bought 100 tickets today
Based on the 106,512 winning tickets still unclaimed.
11 win more than $2
$4 – $200, an actual profit
13 win their money back
a $2 prize, so you break even
76 win nothing
the house edge, made visible
Prizes of $500 or more hit about 1 in 226,338 tickets, so they won't show up in a batch of 100.
Value map
Where the $1.27 comes from
The average payback per ticket, split by prize size. Small wins do most of the work.
Small wins $2 – $500
$1.18 · 59.1% of price
Mid prizes $20K
$0.09 · 4.4% of price
Most of the value pays out as
$2 – $500 wins
106,510 winning tickets remain in this range: 93% of total value, and the wins you'll actually see.
Claim progress
85% claimed, and the jackpots are still out there
Counting every ticket since launch, Jan 2025.
2.9M
tickets printed
2.5M
tickets claimed · 85%
453k
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
15%
67% of top prizes remain with only 15% 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 $2 VA peers
#3 of 14
By expected return. Higher is better for the player.
Figures from Virginia Lottery published claim data, updated Jun 12, 2026, 12:57 AM.
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