Arizona's holiday scratchers are out, led by a $20 game with a 94.3 ValueScore

The Arizona Lottery released its holiday scratchers on sale Tuesday, September 29, three months before Christmas. There are six new games, one at each price from $1 to $20.

None of the six breaks from Arizona's usual pricing. Each pays back the state average for its price or within about half a point below it. Five of them now rate first at their respective price points, and the sixth game is third.

Perfect Gift ($20)

At 94.3, Perfect Gift rates second of the 57 games Arizona sells, behind only Show Me The Bens. It is a small run, 1,312,530 tickets, with six $250,000 top prizes, so the odds of one are 1 in 218,755. Its overall odds, 1 in 2.81, mean most buyers of a few tickets will hit something, though 39.8% of the wins are just the $20 back. A prize of $1,000 or more comes up about once in 7,600 tickets. The 74.2% payout sits a little below the 74.8% average for Arizona's $20 games.

$100 Grand Crossword ($10)

This one is built on quantity. The lottery printed about 8.1 million tickets and 28 top prizes of $100,000, so the odds of the top prize are 1 in 289,262, better than several cheaper games in this set. The trade-off is at the bottom of the table, where just over half of all winning tickets pay back only the $10. It leads Arizona's 17 active $10 games at 79.6. An earlier game with the same name, number 1524, is a separate ticket.

Festive $500s ($5)

The name suggests a $500 ceiling, but the top prize is $50,000, six of them in a run of 2,517,300 tickets. The $500s are the signature prize though with 3,162 of them, or about one per 796 tickets. Almost half of the winners, 47.4%, simply get the $5 back. At 61.4 it ranks third of Arizona's 12 active $5 games.

Winter Wonders ($3)

Winter Wonders offers six $20,000 top prizes in 1,958,000 tickets, which puts them at 1 in 326,333. It matches the 63.9% average for Arizona's $3 games exactly and now rates first of the six at that price. Just under half of its winning tickets, 47.4%, return the $3 and nothing more.

Xmasaurus ($2)

The $2 Xmasaurus has eight $10,000 top prizes in a run of 2,517,150, at odds of 1 in 314,644. Its payout, 61.9%, is a tenth of a point under the $2 average, and it now tops Arizona's seven $2 games. A $2 refund accounts for 46.6% of its winners, and a $100 or better prize turns up about once in 2,500 tickets.

Holiday Cheer ($1)

The dollar ticket caps out at $500 but has 71 of those prizes spread across about 4 million tickets, one per 56,514 tickets. Half of its winners get their dollar back. The rest of Arizona's lineup is ranked on the Arizona ValueScore™ list, and new Arizona scratchers are tracked as they launch.

Sources

Arizona Lottery: Perfect Gift (1563)

Arizona Lottery: $100 Grand Crossword (1562)

Arizona Lottery: Festive $500s (1561)

Arizona Lottery: Scratchers