North Carolina LotteryScratch-OffsOverall Odds

The top remaining scratch off prizes, ranked from largest to smallest top prize, are as follows. For a complete list of remaining prizes for all games, visit our North Carolina Lottery Remaining Prizes page.

Overall Odds off winning refer to the odds of winning ANY prize, including breakeven prizes or free tickets. Some players mistakenly believe buying one more ticket than the Overall Odds will guarantee a winner. For example, Overall Odds of 1 in 3.5, does not mean purchasing four tickets will guarantee one of them to be a winner. The Overall Odds are the odds of winning any prize, on average, over the course of the entire game.

You can find the Overall Odds on the back of your scratch off ticket. Lottery players also often check the REAL Odds™️, a LottoEdge exclusive, which is similar to Overall Odds. With REAL Odds™️, we remove all breakeven prizes and recalculate the true odds of winning a prize greater than the cost of the ticket.

Remember the lottery is a game of chance. Winning involves a combination of planning and luck. However, players can use strategy to improve their chances of winning. We recommend players:

1. Have a Plan – Know which prize(s) you are aiming for today. Don’t ever just play to “win anything.” Have a plan in place and remember the smaller the prize target, the better the odds.
2. Set a Budget – Have a budget in mind to keep from overspending. It will also help determine the ticket price to play and how many tickets you are able to purchase.
3. Play Smart – Select games with the best odds in line with your prize goals and budget.

Players will often ask this question and are usually asking which game has the best Overall Odds. That is because they don’t realize prize level data is available and prize level odds can vary greatly from game to game. Depending on your unique playing style, the “BEST” game to play is going to vary player to player.

Every player has a different prize amount they would be happy to win as well as budget. Smart players target the smallest prize that will make an impact as they know the odds to win smaller prizes will be much better than hitting a grand prize.

Players differ on what they mean when they ask which scratch off wins the most. Let’s breakdown two common meanings:

Overall Odds – The Overall Odds refer to the most frequent “wins”; however, most of these games are packed with small, breakeven prizes. Players may see more wins, but often those wins are winning their money back or a free ticket.

Prize Payout – With a higher Prize Payout, more of ticket sales are paid out as prizes. Often higher priced games will payout more prize money than the less expensive games.

PRO TIP – Players should focus on the prizes they want to win and use all available data to gain an edge. For example, knowing when the odds to win have greatly improved can help player better time their purchases.

In North Carolina, scratch off prizes must be claimed within 90 calendar days of the game’s announced end date. The specific end date for each game can be found on the NC Lottery’s website.

Under $600 – Prizes under $600 can be claimed any any NCEL retailer, Regional Claims Center, NC Lottery Headquarters or by mail.

$600 to $99,999 – Prizes of $600 and up $99,999 can be claimed at a Lottery Regional Claims Center, NC Lottery Headquarters or by mail.

$100,000 and Up – Prizes of $100,000 and up can only be claimed at NC Lottery Headquarters.

North Carolina scratch games released in the last 30 days are highlighted with a “NEW GAME!” tag on all our scratch off rankings.

PRO TIP – Many lottery players believe new scratch games are hotter than older games and have more winners. The reality is, new game releases tend to have more ticket sold because they are the newest, flashiest game. This increase in initial ticket sales will naturally result in more winners until ticket sales level out.

We always respond to this player question with a question – “Best odds to win what?”

The game with the best odds to win will depend on the prizes you are aiming to hit. Are you playing to win enough for a new outfit, or are you looking for some serious retirement kind of money? Each lottery game, whether scratch-off or draw games, has different prize odds, making some games more favorable for winning certain prizes than others.

We understand that every player has unique winning goals and playing styles. That’s why we analyze every prize in every game to provide you over 20 scratch game rankings to help you find which scratch game has the best odds for the prizes YOU want. Additionally we provide drawing game prize odds for all your favorite NC Lottery games.

The number of tickets on a roll of scratch offs will vary depending on the game’s ticket price. Typically, rolls will have anywhere from 20 to 300 tickets with the total cost of the roll varying from $300 to $600.

For current information, ask your local NCEL retailer.