Instant $500s — $10 Massachusetts Scratch Ticket #408
Instant $500s (#408) is a $10 Massachusetts scratch ticket launched on August 1, 2023. As of October 25, 2026 it ranks #75 of 129 active games on current payout (75.8%, $7.58 expected back per ticket) and #30 of 35 $10 games, #2 on any-prize odds (1 in 2.67) and #2 on top-prize odds (1 in 407). Since launch the payout has fallen 4.4 points (80.2% at launch) and your chance of winning something has risen 29.4% (1 in 3.45 at launch). 483 of 72016 top prizes of $500 remain, and we estimate 196,802 tickets are still unsold (98.8% sold). Its current figures fail our plausibility check (the caution below), so whatever its place in the list, we do not count it among the best Massachusetts scratch tickets to buy. A caution on the current figures: the any-prize odds have moved from 1 in 3.45 to 1 in 2.67, further than a game's odds really move. Its prize tiers disagree about how many tickets are left (between 0.11 million and 0.31 million), usually because small prizes are claimed late, and the current odds and payout lean on that disagreement. The printed odds are the safer guide, and our summaries do not name this game the best of anything (how we estimate).
Prizes remaining
Every prize level in Instant $500s, 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 Massachusetts game, see odds by prize size. Across all tiers, 73,690 of 4,666,256 prizes (1.6%) are still out there.
| Prize | Odds at launch | Odds now | Total | Claimed | Remaining | % left |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $500 | 1 in 224.0 | 1 in 407.5 | 72,016 | 71,533 | 483 | 0.7% |
| $100 | 1 in 67.3 | 1 in 96.9 | 239,680 | 237,650 | 2,030 | 0.8% |
| $50 | 1 in 100.0 | 1 in 119.1 | 161,280 | 159,627 | 1,653 | 1.0% |
| $25 | 1 in 100.0 | 1 in 103.2 | 161,280 | 159,373 | 1,907 | 1.2% |
| $20 | 1 in 12.5 | 1 in 10.9 | 1,290,240 | 1,272,156 | 18,084 | 1.4% |
| $15 | 1 in 20.0 | 1 in 16.6 | 806,400 | 794,559 | 11,841 | 1.5% |
| $10 | 1 in 8.33 | 1 in 5.22 | 1,935,360 | 1,897,668 | 37,692 | 1.9% |
| All prizes | 1 in 3.45 | 1 in 2.67 | 4,666,256 | 4,592,566 | 73,690 | 1.6% |
How Instant $500s has moved
Instant $500s: common questions
- How many $500 prizes are left in Instant $500s?
- 483 of 72016 as of October 25, 2026. The chance that a ticket bought today is a top-prize winner is about 1 in 407.
- What are the odds of winning anything on Instant $500s?
- 1 in 2.67 as of October 25, 2026, compared with 1 in 3.45 printed at launch. Cash-only odds are 1 in 2.67, and the odds of winning more than the $10 ticket price are 1 in 5.47.
- Is Instant $500s worth buying?
- Its current payout is 75.8% ($7.58 back per $10 ticket), rank #75 of 129 in Massachusetts. That figure fails our plausibility check (see the caution above), so read it as approximate and not as a reason to buy. The best $10 alternative as of October 25, 2026 is $50, $100 and $500 BLOWOUT (#451, $10) at 92.5%. No scratcher has a positive expected value; this is about losing less over time.
- How many Instant $500s tickets are left?
- We estimate 196,802 of roughly 16,121,549 printed tickets are unsold (98.8% sold), derived from the prizes claimed at each tier and their published odds.
- When did Instant $500s launch and is it still on sale?
- It launched on August 1, 2023. It is still on sale.
Other $10 Massachusetts scratch tickets
- MERRY & BRIGHT BLOWOUT — 97.9% payout, 1 in 6.68 any prize
- Fabulous Fortune — 97.3% payout, 1 in 7.47 any prize
- MERRY-MINT BLOWOUT — 93.9% payout, 1 in 7.01 any prize
- $4,000,000 GOLD 50X — 93.3% payout, 1 in 3.70 any prize
- $50, $100 and $500 BLOWOUT — 92.5% payout, 1 in 7.27 any prize