Scratch & 50/50
Scratch Ticket Odds vs Payout: Two Different Numbers
Scratch ticket odds show how often a ticket wins any prize. The payout shows how much of the money spent comes back. The calculator above shows both on one real OLG prize table.
On Lucky 7s ($2), about 26 tickets in 100 win something: 11 of them only give the price back and 15 pay more. On average a ticket returns $1.26 – that is the payout.
- nothing 73.5%
- the price back 11.3%
- more than the price 15.1%
A prize equal to the price only gives your money back; a smaller “win” is still a loss. The payout counts every ticket printed, so one person’s result can be far from it either way.
Source: olg.ca: LUCKY 7s 2594 Fact Sheet EN.pdf (2026-10-29)
How it is calculated
Any prize = winning tickets ÷ tickets printed.
Winning tickets701,505
Tickets printed2,652,000
Payout = sum of all prizes ÷ tickets printed ÷ price.
Value of a ticket$1.26
At least one prize in n tickets from the same print run = 1 − product of (tickets without a prize − i) ÷ (tickets − i), for i from 0 to n − 1.
Same, if tickets were independent95.37%
From one print run95.37%
Odds vs payout
Overall odds
- Answers: how often does a ticket win something?
- Counts every prize row, small or large
- Tickets in the game ÷ total prizes
- Says nothing about the size of the prize
Prize payout
- Answers: how much of the money comes back?
- Share of all ticket sales paid back as cash prizes
- Depends on the prize amounts and how many of each prize the game has
- Does not show how many tickets win something
- Free-ticket prizes are not counted
How the payout is counted
Payout = all cash prizes in the game ÷ (ticket price × tickets received)
Example: For example, OLG INSTANT game 2594: 1 in 3.78 tickets wins a prize, but the tickets pay back 63.0% of what they cost.
Payout on three OLG games
| OLG INSTANT game | Prize payout |
|---|---|
| Game 2594 | 63.0% |
| Game 2584 | 65.0% |
| Game 2568 | 64.9% |
OLG calls the payout theoretical: counted at launch, assuming all tickets are sold and all prizes are claimed. Compare more games on scratch ticket payouts.
How to read a prize table
- Find the overall oddsThe line at the top tells how often a ticket wins any prize.
- Look at the winner countsEach row shows a prize and how many tickets in the game carry it.
- See where the winners areIn game 2594, the smallest prize, equal to the ticket price, has more winners than any other row.
- Find the payoutThis line shows how much of all sales the game pays back as cash.
- Turn odds into percentUse the odds converter to see any "1 in N" as a percent.
Many tickets in a row
At least one prize
95.4%For example, the chance that several tickets of game 2594 hold at least one prize – often just the ticket price. The calculator above sets the ticket count.
Average cash back
63.0%The theoretical payout is the same for the whole game; what a few tickets actually return can be far higher or lower.
A prize is not a profit
In game 2594, the smallest prize equals the ticket price, so winning it returns only what the ticket cost. See many tickets in the simulator.
Sources
- OLG – $250 Frenzy instant game 2584, player’s guide fact sheet (2026) · checked Oct 29, 2026
- OLG – 7X Multiplier instant game 2568, player’s guide fact sheet (2026) · checked Oct 29, 2026
- OLG – Lucky 7s instant game 2594, player’s guide fact sheet (2026) · checked Oct 29, 2026
Questions
What do scratch ticket odds mean?
The overall odds show how often a ticket wins any prize, including small ones. For example, OLG game 2594: 1 in 3.78 tickets wins a prize, but the tickets pay back 63.0% of what they cost. The odds say nothing about prize size.
Does a high chance of a prize mean a high payout?
No. Frequent prizes are mostly small. The payout shows the money side: on game 2594, 63.0% of ticket sales comes back as cash in theory, so the rest is the expected loss.
What is the payout percentage of a scratch ticket?
It is the share of all ticket sales paid back as cash prizes. On three OLG games it is 63.0%, 65.0% and 64.9%.
Do more scratch tickets change the odds of each ticket?
No. Each ticket keeps the published odds of the game, though OLG notes they can change with tickets distributed and prizes already claimed. More tickets make at least one prize more likely, but the total expected loss grows with each ticket.