Bits & Odds

Rhode Island Holiday Instant Games: What to Buy and What to Skip (October 2026)

Updated · 4 holiday instant games on sale · 3 still claimable

4 Rhode Island holiday instant games are on sale as of October 14, 2026. The best of them by current payout is HOLIDAY GOLD ($10) at 70.1%, 1 in 3.48 for any prize. Unusually, they are the better buy this year: a median payout of 70.1% against 67.5% across all 50 games on sale.

Rhode Island holiday instant games on sale, best payout first

  1. 1 $10

    HOLIDAY GOLD

    #1509
    70.1% payout now
    EV / ticket
    $7.01
    Any prize
    1 in 3.48
    Beats price
    1 in 5.11
    Top prizes
    64 of 64
    Best payout New
  2. 2 $5

    HOLIDAY WISHES (#1508)

    #1508
    70.1% payout now
    EV / ticket
    $3.50
    Any prize
    1 in 3.49
    Beats price
    1 in 5.91
    Top prizes
    9 of 9
    New
  3. 3 $1

    HOLIDAY CASH

    #1506
    70.1% payout now
    EV / ticket
    $0.70
    Any prize
    1 in 4.54
    Beats price
    1 in 7.67
    Top prizes
    49 of 49
    New
  4. 4 $2

    HOLIDAY BUCKS

    #1507
    70.0% payout now
    EV / ticket
    $1.40
    Any prize
    1 in 3.82
    Beats price
    1 in 5.91
    Top prizes
    36 of 36
    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 4 games in a table
Rhode Island holiday Instant Games ranked by current payout
# Game Price Payout now EV / ticket Any-prize odds Cash odds Profit odds Top prize Top left 7-day
1. HOLIDAY GOLD #1509 New $10 70.1% $7.01 1 in 3.48 1 in 3.48 1 in 5.11 $2,000 64 —
2. HOLIDAY WISHES #1508 New $5 70.1% $3.50 1 in 3.49 1 in 3.49 1 in 5.91 $1,000 9 —
3. HOLIDAY CASH #1506 New $1 70.1% $0.70 1 in 4.54 1 in 4.54 1 in 7.67 $250 49 —
4. HOLIDAY BUCKS #1507 New $2 70.0% $1.40 1 in 3.82 1 in 3.82 1 in 5.91 $500 36 —

Why holiday instant games 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. Rhode Island is the exception this year: its holiday games return a median 70.1% against 67.5% for the state as a whole. 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 Rhode Island, 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 instant games — 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.

Rhode Island holiday instant games: common questions

How many Rhode Island holiday instant games are on sale right now?
4 as of October 14, 2026, plus 3 that have stopped selling but can still be claimed.
Are holiday instant games a better bet than normal ones?
This year, yes: 70.1% median payout against 67.5% for the state as a whole. That is unusual and it will not hold once prizes are claimed.
When do Rhode Island holiday instant games go on sale?
Rhode Island has released its holiday range in October and November: the games we hold launched between October 5, 2024 and October 10, 2026. This page lists the new range the day the Rhode Island Lottery publishes it, because we re-read the official prize data every day.
Can I still claim a holiday instant game from last year?
3 Rhode Island holiday instant games 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.
Rhode Island hub New games Ranked by payout Top prizes left

Source: Rhode Island Lottery official prize data, captured October 14, 2026. See sources and methodology.