Bits & Odds

New York Holiday Scratch-Offs: What to Buy and What to Skip (October 2026)

Updated · 3 holiday scratch-offs on sale

3 New York holiday scratch-offs are on sale as of October 25, 2026. The best of them by current payout is $5,000 HOLIDAY FRENZY/$5,000 GOLD ($10) at 70.0%, 1 in 3.55 for any prize. As a group they are ordinary: a median payout of 67.5% against 67.3% across all 109 games on sale.

New York holiday scratch-offs on sale, best payout first

  1. 1 $10

    $5,000 HOLIDAY FRENZY/$5,000 GOLD

    #1674
    70.0% payout now
    EV / ticket
    $7.00
    Any prize
    1 in 3.55
    Beats price
    1 in 6.88
    Top prizes
    35 of 513
    Best payout
  2. 2 $5

    $500 HOLIDAY BONUS

    #1675
    67.5% payout now
    EV / ticket
    $3.37
    Any prize
    1 in 3.37
    Beats price
    1 in 6.43
    Top prizes
    173 of 1,570
  3. 3 $2

    $100s FOR THE HOLIDAYS

    #1676
    64.0% payout now
    EV / ticket
    $1.28
    Any prize
    1 in 4.10
    Beats price
    1 in 7.66
    Top prizes
    300 of 1,478

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
New York holiday Scratch-Offs ranked by current payout
# Game Price Payout now EV / ticket Any-prize odds Cash odds Profit odds Top prize Top left 7-day
1. $5,000 HOLIDAY FRENZY/$5,000 GOLD #1674 $10 70.0% $7.00 1 in 3.55 1 in 3.55 1 in 6.88 $5,000 35 0.0 pts
2. $500 HOLIDAY BONUS #1675 $5 67.5% $3.37 1 in 3.37 1 in 3.37 1 in 6.43 $500 173 0.0 pts
3. $100s FOR THE HOLIDAYS #1676 $2 64.0% $1.28 1 in 4.10 1 in 4.10 1 in 7.66 $100 300 0.0 pts

Why holiday scratch-offs 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 New York right now the difference is small — 67.5% against 67.3% — 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 New York, and the top prizes still unclaimed list shows which games have their headline prize in play. Both are free and both are recomputed daily.

New York holiday scratch-offs: common questions

How many New York holiday scratch-offs are on sale right now?
3 as of October 25, 2026.
Are holiday scratch-offs a better bet than normal ones?
They are ordinary — 67.5% median payout against 67.3% for the state as a whole. Buy them because you want a festive ticket, not because the odds are better.
When do New York holiday scratch-offs go on sale?
New York has released its holiday range in October and November: the games we hold launched between November 4, 2025 and November 4, 2025. This page lists the new range the day the New York Lottery publishes it, because we re-read the official prize data every day.
Can I still claim a holiday scratch-off 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.
New York hub New games Ranked by payout Top prizes left

Source: New York Lottery official prize data, captured October 25, 2026. See sources and methodology.