Does a scratch-off's name tell you anything?
Lotteries reuse the same handful of words. "Cash" appears in 348 of 2,854 state lottery scratch-offs on sale in our data as of October 7, 2026, "Money" in 194, "Crossword" in 158, "7s" in 109, "Multiplier" in 108, and "Lucky" in 97. We checked whether any of those words tells a buyer something about the payout. Mostly it doesn't.
On raw averages, some words look like winners. Games with "Million" in the name return 77.5% of sales, and "Jumbo" games beat their price-point average by about three points. But "Million" games average $32 a ticket, and pricier games pay more no matter what they're called. Most "Jumbo" games are in Georgia, 21 of 40, and South Carolina, eight more. Compare each game only with others at the same price in the same state, and the gap shrinks to almost nothing.
| Word in name | Games | Payout vs. same price and state | Overall odds vs. same price and state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Riches | 26 | +0.37 points | slightly better |
| Money | 162 | +0.15 points | about the same |
| Jumbo | 40 | +0.14 points | slightly better |
| 7s | 87 | +0.11 points | slightly better |
| Cash | 288 | +0.02 points | slightly worse |
| Lucky | 89 | -0.06 points | about the same |
| Crossword | 122 | -0.06 points | slightly better |
| Multiplier | 90 | -0.21 points | slightly better |
| Cashword | 62 | -0.71 points | slightly better |
| Blowout | 38 | -0.77 points | much worse |
Of 34 common words we tested, none moved payout by more than 0.8 points, smaller than the normal spread among games at one price. The one word with a real signal is "Blowout," and it's about odds, not payout. Those games average overall odds about 3.2 numbers worse than their neighbors, because many pay only a few big amounts. "Win" in a name also comes with slightly worse odds, about 0.75 numbers.
Licensed names behave the same way. "Monopoly" games land within about a tenth of a point of their neighbors, in line with our earlier check of licensed tickets, and multiplier names were covered in our look at 10X and 50X games. The name is marketing. The prize table is the product.
How we did this. We split the names of active state lottery scratch-offs in our database on October 9, 2026 into words. For the comparison table we used 2,388 games with complete prize data, excluding Missouri and Iowa, whose published tables are partial, and compared each game's payout and overall odds with the average for its state and price, among groups of three or more games. Words had to appear in at least 20 games.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most common word in scratch-off names?
"Cash," which appears in 348 of the 2,854 state lottery scratch-offs on sale in our data as of October 9, 2026. "Money" is next with 194, followed by "Crossword," "7s," "Multiplier," and "Lucky."
Do scratch-offs with "Million" or "Jumbo" in the name pay more?
Only because of their price and state. Raw averages make them look better, but compared with games at the same price in the same state, no common name word moves payout by more than about one point.
Do "Blowout" scratch-offs have worse odds?
Yes. Compared with games at the same price in the same state, games with "Blowout" in the name have overall odds about 3.2 numbers worse, because many pay only a few large prizes. Their payout is close to average.
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.
