Best $1 to $5 scratch-offs for winning odds and payout, ranked
State lotteries sell 1,633 scratch-offs priced from $1 to $5, across 44 lotteries, and they come with a tradeoff. Of those, 180 win at least 1 in 3.6 times, and 369 of the 1,451 with full prize data return 70% or more of sales as prizes. Only 50 games do both.
| Price | Games | Typical payout | Typical overall odds | Best overall odds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $1 | 263 | 61.7% | 1 in 4.69 | 1 in 2.87 |
| $2 | 425 | 65.1% | 1 in 4.36 | 1 in 3.38 |
| $3 | 210 | 65.0% | 1 in 3.82 | 1 in 3.11 |
| $5 | 735 | 69.0% | 1 in 3.95 | 1 in 2.94 |
The best odds at each price belong to these games. Several have few top prizes left. That doesn't change the overall odds, but it takes the biggest wins off the table.
| Price | Game | Overall odds | Payout | Top prize | Top prizes left |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $1 | Cherry 8s Doubler (Idaho) | 1 in 2.87 | 67.9% | $888 | 1 of 3 |
| $2 | Super 7s (Pennsylvania) | 1 in 3.38 | 70.5% | $17,000 | 3 of 7 |
| $3 | Bullseye Cash (Iowa) | 1 in 3.11 | 62.7% | $30,000 | 3 of 7 |
| $3 | Double Up Slingo (Idaho) | 1 in 3.16 | 65.3% | $30,000 | 2 of 2 |
| $5 | Lucky 7s (Georgia) | 1 in 2.94 | 72.6% | $477,777 | 2 of 3 |
| $5 | $100 Blowout (Pennsylvania) | 1 in 3.01 | 75.1% | $100 | 8,094 of 61,600 |
A ticket that wins often usually pays small prizes, often just the price back, so good odds and a high payout don't travel together. At each price from $1 to $5, the correlation between a game's overall odds and its payout is between 0.04 and 0.11, close to none. We looked at that pattern in more detail in a piece on odds and payout. The highest payouts at each price come from a different set of games.
| Price | Game | Payout | Overall odds | Top prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $1 | Holiday Cash (Ohio) | 75.0% | 1 in 3.99 | $500 |
| $2 | Win For Life (New York) | 78.8% | 1 in 3.97 | $1,000 a week for life |
| $3 | Jumbo Bucks Crossword (Georgia) | 73.1% | 1 in 4.08 | $100,000 |
| $5 | Electric Cash (Illinois) | 80.8% | 1 in 4.28 | $400,000 |
Of the 50 games that clear both bars, 46 cost $5, three cost $2, and one costs $3. Ranked by our ValueScore™, the top of that list includes Rhode Island's Holiday Wishes (1 in 3.49, 70.1%, 88.9), D.C.'s DC 5 Scratcher (1 in 3.20, 71.2%, 77.7), and Idaho's Chef's Kiss (1 in 3.39, 70.1%, 74.3), each with all its top prizes left. Pennsylvania's Wild Side pays 74.5% at 1 in 3.45, with 9 of 10 top prizes remaining.
The state matters, too. Among states with at least eight games from $1 to $5, Massachusetts pays back the most, 74.8% on average across 56 games, followed by Georgia at 71.9% and Pennsylvania at 70.8%. New Mexico averages 59.5%, Montana 60.5%, and Wisconsin 61.0%. Even the best cheap tickets usually trail pricier ones, a gap that holds in almost every state. The top-rated $5 game in each state is in our state-by-state list.
How we did this. The data covers active state lottery scratch-offs priced $1, $2, $3, and $5 in our database on October 15, 2026. Typical figures are medians. Payout is the share of sales a game returns as prizes over its print run; 182 games without full prize tables are left out of payout figures. Payout rankings exclude Louisiana, Indiana, and D.C., which count free-ticket prizes as zero. Correlations compare overall odds with payout among games at the same price.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which cheap scratch-off has the best odds?
At $1, Idaho's Cherry 8s Doubler wins 1 in 2.87 times. At $5, Georgia's Lucky 7s wins 1 in 2.94 and returns 72.6% of sales, with two of its three top prizes left, as of October 15, 2026.
Which $1 to $5 scratch-offs pay back the most?
Illinois' $5 Electric Cash returns 80.8% of sales as prizes, and New York's $2 Win For Life returns 78.8%. Ohio's $1 Holiday Cash leads the $1 tickets at 75.0%, as of October 15, 2026.
Do better odds mean a better payout on a scratch-off?
Not at these prices. Across 1,451 games costing $1 to $5, the link between overall odds and payout is close to zero. Odds count how often a ticket wins anything, while payout measures how much of each dollar comes back.
Phil Nageotte is a writer covering scratch-off odds, expected value, prize data, and more. He joined ScratchCheck in 2026 after years of tracking lottery payouts in spreadsheets of his own.
