How many $75,000 prizes are left in MEGA Crossword?

15 of 35 as of October 25, 2026. The chance that a ticket bought today is a top-prize winner is about 1 in 1,194,075.

What are the odds of winning anything on MEGA Crossword?

1 in 3.80 as of October 25, 2026, compared with 1 in 3.68 printed at launch. Cash-only odds are 1 in 3.80, and the odds of winning more than the $5 ticket price are 1 in 5.82.

Is MEGA Crossword worth buying?

Its current payout is 68.5% ($3.42 back per $5 ticket), rank #41 of 55 in California. The best $5 alternative as of October 25, 2026 is LOTERIA™ Extra! (#1688, $5) at 74.8%. No scratcher has a positive expected value; this is about losing less over time.

How many MEGA Crossword tickets are left?

We estimate 17,911,122 of roughly 41,059,942 printed tickets are unsold (58.0% sold), derived from the prizes claimed at each tier and their published odds.

When did MEGA Crossword launch and is it still on sale?

It launched on February 16, 2026. It is still on sale.

MEGA Crossword — $5 California Scratcher #1717

Data captured October 25, 2026, 03:29 UTC · launched February 16, 2026

MEGA Crossword California scratcher ticket

Official California Lottery page →

MEGA Crossword (#1717) is a $5 California scratcher launched on February 16, 2026. As of October 25, 2026 it ranks #41 of 55 active games on current payout (68.5%, $3.42 expected back per ticket) and #10 of 12 $5 games, #38 on any-prize odds (1 in 3.80) and #25 on top-prize odds (1 in 1,194,075). Since launch the payout has fallen 0.4 points (68.9% at launch) and your chance of winning something has fallen 3.2% (1 in 3.68 at launch). 15 of 35 top prizes of $75,000 remain, and we estimate 17,911,122 tickets are still unsold (58.0% sold). That is below average for California; the California ranking lists show better payouts, including at $5.

Current payout

68.5%

68.9% at launch

Expected value

$3.42

per $5 ticket

Any-prize odds

1 in 3.80

1 in 3.68 at launch

Cash odds

1 in 3.80

excludes free tickets

Profit odds

1 in 5.82

win more than $5

$600+ odds

1 in 24,671

claim-at-lottery prizes

Top prizes left

15 of 35

$75,000 each

Tickets remaining

42.0%

≈ 17,911,122 tickets

Last top prize claimed: October 15, 2026, 10 days ago.

Prizes remaining

Every prize level in MEGA Crossword, with the odds printed at launch, the odds today given what is left, and how much of each tier is still unclaimed. To set its odds of $1,000 or more (or any other prize size) against every other California game, see odds by prize size. Across all tiers, 4,711,494 of 11,154,183 prizes (42.2%) are still out there.

Prize	Odds at launch	Odds now	Total	Claimed	Remaining	% left
$75,000	1 in 1,218,848	1 in 1,194,075	35	20	15	42.9%
$5,000	1 in 80,795	1 in 74,630	528	288	240	45.5%
$1,000	1 in 39,427	1 in 38,028	1,082	611	471	43.5%
$500	1 in 3,077	1 in 3,172	13,862	8,215	5,647	40.7%
$100	1 in 600.0	1 in 615.6	71,150	42,053	29,097	40.9%
$50	1 in 315.0	1 in 322.6	135,546	80,031	55,515	41.0%
$30	1 in 200.0	1 in 204.2	213,342	125,641	87,701	41.1%
$25	1 in 160.0	1 in 163.7	266,915	157,530	109,385	41.0%
$20	1 in 40.0	1 in 40.6	1,066,570	625,346	441,224	41.4%
$15	1 in 21.0	1 in 21.4	2,025,976	1,190,064	835,912	41.3%
$10	1 in 12.0	1 in 11.8	3,626,455	2,111,941	1,514,514	41.8%
$5	1 in 11.0	1 in 11.0	3,732,722	2,100,949	1,631,773	43.7%
All prizes	1 in 3.68	1 in 3.80	11,154,183	6,442,689	4,711,494	42.2%

How MEGA Crossword has moved

Current payout (solid) and any-prize odds (dashed, inverted so up is better) since we began tracking MEGA Crossword. 49 daily readings.

Recent claims of $1,000 and up

October 24, 2026: 2 $5,000 prizes were claimed; 240 remain.
October 24, 2026: 2 $1,000 prizes were claimed; 471 remain.
October 23, 2026: 2 $1,000 prizes were claimed; 473 remain.
October 22, 2026: one $5,000 prize was claimed; 242 remain.
October 22, 2026: 5 $1,000 prizes were claimed; 475 remain.
October 21, 2026: one $5,000 prize was claimed; 243 remain.
October 21, 2026: 2 $1,000 prizes were claimed; 480 remain.
October 20, 2026: 5 $1,000 prizes were claimed; 482 remain.
October 17, 2026: 4 $5,000 prizes were claimed; 244 remain.
October 17, 2026: 7 $1,000 prizes were claimed; 487 remain.
October 16, 2026: one $5,000 prize was claimed; 248 remain.
October 16, 2026: 2 $1,000 prizes were claimed; 494 remain.

Derived from day-to-day changes in the official remaining-prize counts, so the date is when the lottery published the change.

MEGA Crossword: common questions

How many $75,000 prizes are left in MEGA Crossword?: 15 of 35 as of October 25, 2026. The chance that a ticket bought today is a top-prize winner is about 1 in 1,194,075.
What are the odds of winning anything on MEGA Crossword?: 1 in 3.80 as of October 25, 2026, compared with 1 in 3.68 printed at launch. Cash-only odds are 1 in 3.80, and the odds of winning more than the $5 ticket price are 1 in 5.82.
Is MEGA Crossword worth buying?: Its current payout is 68.5% ($3.42 back per $5 ticket), rank #41 of 55 in California. The best $5 alternative as of October 25, 2026 is LOTERIA™ Extra! (#1688, $5) at 74.8%. No scratcher has a positive expected value; this is about losing less over time.
How many MEGA Crossword tickets are left?: We estimate 17,911,122 of roughly 41,059,942 printed tickets are unsold (58.0% sold), derived from the prizes claimed at each tier and their published odds.
When did MEGA Crossword launch and is it still on sale?: It launched on February 16, 2026. It is still on sale.

Other $5 California scratchers

LOTERIA™ Extra! — 74.8% payout, 1 in 2.98 any prize
Poker Nights — 72.7% payout, 1 in 3.30 any prize
California Dreamin' — 72.6% payout, 1 in 3.93 any prize
JAWS — 72.3% payout, 1 in 3.66 any prize
LOTERIA™ Extra! — 70.7% payout, 1 in 3.51 any prize

California hub All $5 games Odds by prize size Methodology