Arizona Holiday Scratchers: What to Buy and What to Skip (October 2026)
3 Arizona holiday scratchers are on sale as of October 25, 2026. The best of them by current payout is Festive $500s ($5) at 68.4%, 1 in 3.63 for any prize. As a group they are the worse buy: a median payout of 64.2% against 69.7% across all 58 games on sale. Festive packaging is not a better ticket.
Arizona holiday scratchers on sale, best payout first
- 1 $5
Festive $500s
#156168.4% payout now- EV / ticket
- $3.42
- Any prize
- 1 in 3.63
- Beats price
- 1 in 6.93
- Top prizes
- 5 of 6
Best payout New - 2 $3
Winter Wonders
#156064.2% payout now- EV / ticket
- $1.93
- Any prize
- 1 in 3.73
- Beats price
- 1 in 7.12
- Top prizes
- 4 of 6
New - 3 $1
Holiday Cheer
#155859.5% payout now- EV / ticket
- $0.59
- Any prize
- 1 in 4.25
- Beats price
- 1 in 8.54
- Top prizes
- 63 of 71
New
Payout is what the remaining prize pool returns per dollar; profit odds count only prizes larger than the ticket price. Definitions are on the methodology page.
Compare all 3 games in a table
| # Game | Price | Payout now | EV / ticket | Any-prize odds | Cash odds | Profit odds | Top prize | Top left | 7-day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Festive $500s New | $5 | 68.4% | $3.42 | 1 in 3.63 | 1 in 3.63 | 1 in 6.93 | $50,000 | 5 | -0.3 pts |
| 2. Winter Wonders New | $3 | 64.2% | $1.93 | 1 in 3.73 | 1 in 3.73 | 1 in 7.12 | $20,000 | 4 | +0.2 pts |
| 3. Holiday Cheer New | $1 | 59.5% | $0.59 | 1 in 4.25 | 1 in 4.25 | 1 in 8.54 | $500 | 63 | +0.3 pts |
Why holiday scratchers usually pay less
A holiday range is the most heavily promoted thing a state lottery sells. The tickets are bigger, the artwork is better, and they arrive at the one time of year when people who never buy a scratcher buy one as a gift. None of that changes the arithmetic. The prize pool is printed before the game ships, and the share of each dollar it returns is set at the same time. In Arizona right now that share is lower than the state's ordinary games: a median 64.2% against 69.7%. Buying the festive ticket costs you about 5.5% of every dollar. The one thing a new holiday game does guarantee is that its top prizes are still unclaimed, which is not true of a game that has been on the shelf since spring.
If you are buying a scratcher as a gift, the useful question is not which game is festive but which is still worth handing over. The payout ranking answers that for every game in Arizona, and the top prizes still unclaimed list shows which games have their headline prize in play. Both are free and both are recomputed daily.
Arizona holiday scratchers: common questions
- How many Arizona holiday scratchers are on sale right now?
- 3 as of October 25, 2026.
- Are holiday scratchers a better bet than normal ones?
- No. In Arizona today the holiday games return a median 64.2% against 69.7% across all 58 games on sale. They are marketed harder and pay less.
- When do Arizona holiday scratchers go on sale?
- Arizona has released its holiday range in October and November: the games we hold launched between September 29, 2026 and September 29, 2026. This page lists the new range the day the Arizona Lottery publishes it, because we re-read the official prize data every day.
- Can I still claim a holiday scratcher from last year?
- Only while the game is inside its claim window. A game stops selling months before claims close, so check the last claim date on the game's own page.
- Do unclaimed holiday prizes carry over?
- No. Every game is a fixed pool printed before it ships, and prizes that are never claimed are simply never paid. That is why a game late in its life can look generous on paper: the money is still in the pool, but so are the tickets.