What Is ValueScore? How ScratchCheck Ranks Scratch-Offs 0 to 100

ValueScore™is a single number from 0 to 100 that tells you how good a scratch-off game is right now. It exists because judging a scratch-off properly means weighing several things at once, the return per dollar, how good the prizes are, how often the game pays anything, and how much of the prize pool is still left, and almost nobody does that math at the counter. ValueScore does it for every active game and boils it down to one comparable score.

The Problem It Solves

A scratch-off has at least four numbers worth caring about, and they often disagree. One game has great odds of winning something but tiny prizes. Another has a huge top prize but terrible overall odds, and half its jackpots are already claimed. A third looks average on every line but is quietly the best value on the shelf. Comparing them by eye is slow and error-prone, and the printed odds do not even reflect what is left in the pool today. ValueScore collapses all of that into one figure so you can rank games at a glance.

The Four Ingredients

Expected value (40 percent). The biggest input. This is how much a game returns to players per dollar spent, based on its prize structure and odds. A higher expected value means you lose less over the long run. It carries the most weight because it is the closest thing to a measure of raw value.

Prize quality (25 percent). Not all returns are equal. A game that pays its return through a few large, meaningful prizes is scored differently from one that returns the same amount in tiny break-even wins. Prize quality rewards games with prizes worth actually chasing.

Win frequency (20 percent). How often the game pays anything at all. Tighter overall odds mean more frequent wins, which matters for the experience of playing even when most wins are small. This factor favors games that keep you in the game.

Inventory health (15 percent). This is the piece printed odds can never tell you. It reflects how many prizes, especially top prizes, are still unclaimed relative to how many tickets remain. A game whose best prizes are gone takes a hit here, which is exactly what should happen, since you should not pay full price for a drained pool.

Why It Changes Over Time

ValueScore is not a launch-day label that sticks forever. It is recomputed as fresh prize data comes in, so the score tracks the live state of each game. When a game’s top prizes get claimed, its inventory health drops and its ValueScore falls with it. A game that was an 88 at launch can slide into the 60s once its jackpots are gone, even though its printed odds never changed. That movement is the whole point: the score reflects whether the game is a good buy today, not whether it looked good months ago.

How to Read the Number

Treat ValueScore as a relative ranking tool, not a promise. A higher score means a better-value game compared to its peers, but every scratch-off still carries a negative expected value by design, because the lottery keeps a cut to fund state programs. ValueScore does not turn a losing bet into a winning one. What it does is point you to the least-bad, highest-value option available, so the money you choose to spend on entertainment goes further than it would on a game picked at random.

A useful habit is to compare scores within the same price tier and state, since a $30 game and a $1 game are not really substitutes. Among games you would actually consider, the higher ValueScore is the smarter buy.

TLDR

ValueScore is one 0-to-100 number that combines expected value, prize quality, win frequency, and inventory health, so you can compare scratch-offs without doing the math yourself, and it updates as prizes are claimed so it always reflects the current game. See every active game ranked on the ValueScore rankings, browse your state on the state pages, or read the full methodology on the how it works page.