Best scratch-off tickets to buy, by state
Independent rankings of the best U.S. scratch-off tickets to buy, by state. Figures come from official lottery remaining-prize feeds. Not a lottery. We do not sell tickets.
Scratch Better ProSee every Great pick. Skip the traps.Great and Skip unlock in the iOS app — watch an ad or go Pro.Get the app →How Scratch Better ranks scratch-off tickets
Most people pick a scratch-off by the art on the box or the size of the top prize. Those are the wrong signals. A game with a huge jackpot can already have that prize claimed. A cheap ticket can still have most of its advertised prizes sitting in the field. Scratch Better exists so you can check the official remaining-prize file before you spend cash.
We ingest each participating state lottery’s published remaining-prize table and the printed overall odds for every active game. From that feed we build a ranked list you can open on this site or in the iOS app. 34 states currently have a live ingest. A card marked Live was refreshed in the last day. Delayed means the lottery file is older than 24 hours — still useful, but confirm the count on the official site before you buy.
What this website shows
Open any state to see the best scratch-off tickets to buy on the public list: game name, price, official overall odds, top prize, and leftover top-prize counts when the lottery prints them. You can filter by price, sort by remaining prizes, or open a single game for the full leftover ladder. County heatmaps, where the state publishes county activity, stay on the Maps tab. None of those pages are the official lottery. Each one links out so you can double-check the source.
What unlocks in the iOS app
The website is the catalog. The Scratch Better iOS app is where the ranked picks live — the relative label for each game, the expected-value view, ticket-insight odds, and the unlocked hottest counties on a heatmap. The app is free to download. Watch a rewarded ad or subscribe to Pro. This website does not take a wager. Pro you already bought on iPhone signs in on Get the app.
How to pick scratch-off tickets to buy
Start with your state. Scratch-off games do not travel: a New York ticket is not a Texas ticket, and leftover counts reset every time the lottery updates the file. On the state page, read overall odds as the printed chance any prize hits on a full print run — not the chance the top prize is still out. Then read remaining top prizes. A game with strong printed odds and zero top prizes left is a different bet than the same game on launch day.
Price is not a shortcut. Higher-price scratch-offs often publish better overall odds because more of the ticket cost goes into the prize fund, but a $30 game can still be picked clean. A $1 game can still have most of its advertised prizes unclaimed. Use the price chips on each state page when you already know what you want to spend, then compare leftover counts inside that row. If two games cost the same, prefer the one whose official file still shows prizes in the tiers you actually care about.
Nothing here is a guaranteed edge. Lotteries keep a hold. Tickets are random. Remaining-prize files can lag a redemption by a day. Scratch Better ranks games against each other from the file we ingested. We do not know which physical ticket in a store is a winner, and we do not tell you to play. If you play, stay of legal age and treat the spend as entertainment.
Best scratch-offs by price
Where the numbers come from
Every figure on this site comes from a state lottery's own published data. Scratch Better is not affiliated with any of them, so confirm counts on the official site before you buy.
- Arizona: arizonalottery.com
- California: calottery.com
- Colorado: coloradolottery.com
- Connecticut: ctlottery.org
- Florida: flalottery.com
- Georgia: galottery.com
- Idaho: idaholottery.com
- Indiana: hoosierlottery.com
- Iowa: ialottery.com
- Kentucky: kylottery.com
- Louisiana: louisianalottery.com
- Maryland: mdlottery.com
- Massachusetts: masslottery.com
- Michigan: michiganlottery.com
- Minnesota: mnlottery.com
- Mississippi: mslottery.com
- Missouri: molottery.com
- Nebraska: nelottery.com
- New Hampshire: nhlottery.com
- New Jersey: njlottery.com
- New Mexico: nmlottery.com
- New York: nylottery.ny.gov
- North Carolina: nclottery.com
- Ohio: ohiolottery.com
- Oklahoma: oklottery.com
- Oregon: oregonlottery.org
- Pennsylvania: palottery.pa.gov
- Rhode Island: rilot.com
- South Carolina: sceducationlottery.com
- Texas: texaslottery.com
- Virginia: valottery.com
- Washington: walottery.com
- West Virginia: wvlottery.com
- Wisconsin: wilottery.com
Questions
How does Scratch Better rank scratch-off tickets?
We ingest remaining-prize counts and published overall odds from official state lottery feeds, then rank active games against each other. The ranked list of names, prices, odds, and top prizes is on this site. The relative label for each game unlocks in the free iOS app.
Is Scratch Better the official lottery?
No. Scratch Better is an independent ranking app. We do not run any lottery and we do not sell tickets. Confirm every prize count on the official lottery site linked from each state page.
What does this website show for free?
Each state page lists active scratch-off tickets with price, official overall odds, top prize, and leftover top-prize counts when the lottery publishes them. County heatmaps, where a state reports them, show a free teaser with the hottest counties locked.
Why get the Scratch Better iOS app?
The app is where the ranked picks, expected-value view, ticket insights, and unlocked county maps live. Download it free on the App Store. Watch a rewarded ad or go Pro.
Do you sell lottery tickets?
No. Scratch Better never sells tickets and never takes a wager. Buy only from licensed retailers, and only if you are of legal age in your state.
Scratch Better is not affiliated with any state lottery and does not sell tickets. Rankings are relative, not a guaranteed edge.