Bits & Odds

Georgia Holiday Scratchers: What to Buy and What to Skip (October 2026)

Updated today October 8, 2026 · 3 holiday scratchers on sale · 5 still claimable

3 Georgia holiday scratchers are on sale as of October 8, 2026. The best of them by current payout is $3,000 FESTIVE FRENZY ($30) at 78.7%, 1 in 2.67 for any prize. As a group they are ordinary: a median payout of 74.5% against 74.7% across all 79 games on sale.

Georgia holiday scratchers on sale, best payout first

  1. 1 $30

    $3,000 FESTIVE FRENZY

    #1812
    78.7% payout now
    EV / ticket
    $23.62
    Any prize
    1 in 2.67
    Beats price
    1 in 3.63
    Top prizes
    1 of 3
    Best payout
  2. 2 $5

    $500 Festive FRENZY

    #1809
    74.5% payout now
    EV / ticket
    $3.72
    Any prize
    1 in 2.77
    Beats price
    1 in 5.12
    Top prizes
    354 of 11,842
  3. 3 $10

    HOLIDAY JUMBO BUCKS 50X

    #1810
    74.2% payout now
    EV / ticket
    $7.42
    Any prize
    1 in 3.34
    Beats price
    1 in 5.09
    Top prizes
    1 of 3

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
Georgia holiday Scratchers ranked by current payout
# Game Price Payout now EV / ticket Any-prize odds Cash odds Profit odds Top prize Top left 7-day
1. $3,000 FESTIVE FRENZY #1812 $30 78.7% $23.62 1 in 2.67 1 in 3.64 1 in 3.63 $1,567,587 1 —
2. $500 Festive FRENZY #1809 $5 74.5% $3.72 1 in 2.77 1 in 4.75 1 in 5.12 $500 354 —
3. HOLIDAY JUMBO BUCKS 50X #1810 $10 74.2% $7.42 1 in 3.34 1 in 5.08 1 in 5.09 $750,000 1 —

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 Georgia right now the difference is small — 74.5% against 74.7% — so the festive games are neither a trap nor a bargain. 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 Georgia, and the top prizes still unclaimed list shows which games have their headline prize in play. Both are free and both are recomputed daily.

Last year's holiday scratchers — stopped selling, still claimable

These are out of the shops. If you were given one, or found one in a coat pocket, the claim window is what matters now.

Georgia holiday scratchers: common questions

How many Georgia holiday scratchers are on sale right now?
3 as of October 8, 2026, plus 5 that have stopped selling but can still be claimed.
Are holiday scratchers a better bet than normal ones?
They are ordinary — 74.5% median payout against 74.7% for the state as a whole. Buy them because you want a festive ticket, not because the odds are better.
When do Georgia holiday scratchers go on sale?
Georgia has released its holiday range in October and November: the games we hold launched between October 20, 2020 and October 15, 2024. This page lists the new range the day the Georgia Lottery publishes it, because we re-read the official prize data every day.
Can I still claim a holiday scratcher from last year?
5 Georgia holiday scratchers have stopped selling and are still claimable — check each game's last claim date below before you throw a ticket away.
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.
Georgia hub New games Ranked by payout Top prizes left

Source: Georgia Lottery official prize data, captured October 8, 2026. See sources and methodology.