South Carolina Holiday Scratch-Offs: What to Buy and What to Skip (November 2026)
2 South Carolina holiday scratch-offs are on sale as of November 5, 2026. The best of them by current payout is Merry Multiplier ($10) at 75.1%, 1 in 3.58 for any prize. Unusually, they are the better buy this year: a median payout of 72.9% against 70.6% across all 37 games on sale.
South Carolina holiday scratch-offs on sale, best payout first
- 1 $10
Merry Multiplier
#170775.1% payout now- EV / ticket
- $7.51
- Any prize
- 1 in 3.58
- Beats price
- 1 in 6.13
- Top prizes
- 4 of 4
Best payout New - 2 $5
Holiday Surprise!
#170670.6% payout now- EV / ticket
- $3.53
- Any prize
- 1 in 3.96
- Beats price
- 1 in 6.95
- Top prizes
- 4 of 4
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 2 games in a table
| # Game | Price | Payout now | EV / ticket | Any-prize odds | Cash odds | Profit odds | Top prize | Top left | 7-day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Merry Multiplier New | $10 | 75.1% | $7.51 | 1 in 3.58 | 1 in 3.58 | 1 in 6.13 | $500,000 | 4 | — |
| 2. Holiday Surprise! New | $5 | 70.6% | $3.53 | 1 in 3.96 | 1 in 3.96 | 1 in 6.95 | $200,000 | 4 | — |
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. South Carolina is the exception this year: its holiday games return a median 72.9% against 70.6% 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 South Carolina, 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 scratch-offs — 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.
- Frosty Fortunes — $10, claim by November 17, 2026, 1 of 4 top prizes unclaimed
South Carolina holiday scratch-offs: common questions
- How many South Carolina holiday scratch-offs are on sale right now?
- 2 as of November 5, 2026, plus 1 that have stopped selling but can still be claimed.
- Are holiday scratch-offs a better bet than normal ones?
- This year, yes: 72.9% median payout against 70.6% for the state as a whole. That is unusual and it will not hold once prizes are claimed.
- When do South Carolina holiday scratch-offs go on sale?
- South Carolina has released its holiday range in October and November: the games we hold launched between November 4, 2025 and November 3, 2026. This page lists the new range the day the South Carolina Lottery publishes it, because we re-read the official prize data every day.
- Can I still claim a holiday scratch-off from last year?
- 1 South Carolina holiday scratch-offs 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.