Instant Prize CrosswordCalifornia Scratch-Off Odds & Prizes Remaining
The California Lottery sells Instant Prize Crossword as a $20 ticket. Free tickets make up 41% of its winners. Prizes of $10,000 and up were printed on roughly 1 in 233,058 tickets.
Should I Buy This Ticket?
- Winning tickets come up at a 32% clip (1 in 3.10), above the norm.
- Each $1 spent here returns about $0.78 on average, comfortably above the typical scratch-off.
Current Prize Odds
ScratchCheck estimate · Updated October 9Prize Breakdown
| Prize | Odds | Total | Left | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $2,000,000 | 1 in 1,197,542 | 15 | 12 | 80% |
| $25,000 | 1 in 561,348 | 32 | 27 | 84% |
| $10,000 | 1 in 598,771 | 30 | 25 | 83% |
| $5,000 | 1 in 122,198 | 147 | 122 | 83% |
| $2,000 | 1 in 4,008 | 4,482 | 3,607 | 80% |
| $1,000 | 1 in 1,497 | 11,997 | 9,481 | 79% |
| $500 | 1 in 573 | 31,374 | 23,795 | 76% |
| $250 | 1 in 401 | 44,845 | 33,898 | 76% |
| $200 | 1 in 184 | 97,426 | 73,779 | 76% |
| $100 | 1 in 40 | 448,992 | 340,233 | 76% |
| $50 | 1 in 21 | 838,194 | 635,949 | 76% |
| $25 | 1 in 9 | 1,916,238 | 1,455,263 | 76% |
| $20 Free ticket | 1 in 8 | 2,395,084 | 1,823,678 | 76% |
Prize Pool Analysis
Ticket Statistics
Prize History
Top prizes left
Since its launch on July 28, 3 $2,000,000 top prizes have been reported claimed, leaving 12. The most recent was on October 1.
- October 1, 20261 claimed · 12 left
- August 17 to September 22, 20262 claimed · 13 left
How fast it's selling
Over the last 2 weeks, about 2.2% of this game's prizes were reported claimed each week, about 3 times the average for California's $20 games (0.7% a week).
From ScratchCheck's daily record of the lottery's published prize counts. Dates are when a claim first appeared in those counts, and small prizes are often cashed days after purchase, so claims trail actual sales.
ValueScore™ Breakdown
Game Details
- State
- California
- Game Number
- 1739
- Ticket Price
- $20
- Start Date
- 7/27/2026
- Payout %
- 78.4%
- Data Source
- Official
- Last Updated
- 10/9/2026
Compare
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Entertainment only. Outcomes are random and won't match a real session. Current-odds mode scales each tier by remaining prizes and tickets.
Frequently Asked Questions
Every $20 ticket in California
All 13 ranked →| Game | ValueScore | Odds | Payout | Top prize · left | Claimed per week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Golden State Riches | 86 | 1 in 2.89 | 79.2% | $5M · 6 | 0.7% |
| Instant Prize Crossword (this game) | 84 | 1 in 3.10 | 78.4% | $2M · 12 | 2.2% |
| $5,000,000 Extreme Cash | 83 | 1 in 3.00 | 77.4% | $5M · 4 | 3.1% |
| Set for Life (Game #1705) | 74 | 1 in 3.32 | 78.5% | $5M · 5 | 0.4% |
| 100X The Cash | 67 | 1 in 3.32 | 78.6% | $5M · 2 | 1.2% |
| Red Carpet Riches | 64 | 1 in 3.10 | 78.3% | $2M · 5 | 0.7% |
| Instant Prize Crossword (Game #1590) | 63 | 1 in 3.10 | 78.4% | $2M · 9 | 0.0% |
| MONOPOLY | 62 | 1 in 3.32 | 78.4% | $5M · 4 | 0.1% |
| Cash King | 62 | 1 in 3.00 | 77.2% | $5M · 2 | 0.1% |
| Show Me $5,000,000! | 59 | 1 in 3.32 | 78.4% | $5M · 2 | 0.1% |
Claimed per week: share of each game's printed prizes reported claimed per week over the last 4 weeks, from our daily records of the lottery's prize counts.