In plain English: how ScratchPulse™ compares Illinois scratch tickets
Best Value: compares estimated remaining prize value against ticket cost.Best Odds: compares estimated chance of winning the selected prize size, from any prize to top prize odds.Important: rankings are informational estimates, not predictions. Most scratch tickets have negative expected value, and no result is guaranteed.
ScratchPulse™ compares Illinois scratch tickets based on what appears to be left today, not only the odds printed when a game first launched.
Illinois Lottery publishes an active instant-ticket catalog and an unclaimed instant-prize table. ScratchPulse uses the active catalog as the public source of truth for current Illinois games, then enriches those games with remaining prize counts from the unclaimed prize table.
How Illinois tickets remaining are estimated
For Illinois games, ScratchPulse starts with active catalog data such as ticket price, game number, launch date, and starting overall odds. It then uses Illinois Lottery's unclaimed instant-prize table to compare each prize tier's original total prizes with its current unclaimed prizes.
Common lower and mid-level prize tiers are especially useful because they usually have many more prizes than the top prize tiers. When many common prizes have already been claimed, that usually suggests more tickets have been sold. When most common prizes remain, that usually suggests the game is still earlier in its life cycle.
estimated tickets printed = total starting winning prizes × starting overall oddsprize tier remaining ratio = unclaimed prizes ÷ total prizes for that tierestimated remaining ticket ratio = blended estimate from useful common prize tiersestimated tickets left = estimated tickets printed × estimated remaining ticket ratio
This is an estimate, not an official Illinois Lottery tickets-left count. It is designed to make Illinois tickets comparable in Best Value and Best Odds views even though exact unsold ticket counts are not posted for each game.
Best Value methodology
Best Value compares the estimated prize value of a ticket against its cost. It looks beyond the advertised top prize and focuses on the remaining prize pool, estimated tickets left, and ticket price.
An Illinois ticket can rank well in Best Value when its remaining prize pool appears strong relative to the estimated number of tickets still available and the price of each ticket.
raw estimated value per ticket = reported remaining prize pool ÷ estimated tickets leftestimated counted prizes per tier = cautious estimate of prizes likely still available in the unsold ticket supplyestimated adjusted prize pool = sum of estimated counted prizes × prize amountestimated return = estimated adjusted value per ticket ÷ ticket priceestimated value vs cost = estimated adjusted value per ticket − ticket price
This does not mean a ticket is expected to profit for any individual player. It is a comparison estimate based on public prize data and estimated remaining tickets.
Why ScratchPulse adjusts prize counts
Public prize data can lag behind real-world ticket sales and prize claims. A prize may still appear as unclaimed even if the winning ticket has already been sold and simply has not been redeemed yet.
This matters for Illinois because the estimated tickets-left number is inferred from prize depletion rather than directly reported as a percent sold. Late claims, unusual claiming patterns, and very new or very late-stage games can make a ticket look stronger or weaker than it really is.
ScratchPulse compares reported unclaimed prizes with each game's original prize distribution and estimated tickets left. When a game shows more reported prizes than would reasonably be expected in the estimated unsold ticket supply, ScratchPulse uses a more cautious counted-prize estimate to reduce late-reporting distortion.
What estimated adjusted value means
Estimated adjusted value is ScratchPulse's cautious estimate of how much remaining prize value exists per ticket after accounting for ticket price, reported unclaimed prizes, estimated tickets left, and reporting uncertainty.
Instead of only using the full reported remaining prize pool, ScratchPulse estimates counted prizes in each prize tier. For Illinois, that estimate depends on the inferred remaining-ticket ratio because exact tickets left are not directly posted.
This number is useful for comparing tickets against each other. It is not a guaranteed return, investment calculation, or prediction of what any individual ticket will win.
Best Odds methodology
Best Odds lets users compare tickets by the prize size they care about, such as any prize, $100+, $1K+, $10K+, $25K+, or the top prize. Instead of ranking by total prize value, it estimates how many tickets may remain for each counted prize in the selected prize group.
An Illinois ticket can rank well in Best Odds when it has more estimated counted prizes for the selected prize size relative to the estimated number of tickets left.
estimated prize odds = estimated tickets left ÷ estimated counted prizes for the selected prize sizelower estimated prize odds rank better
Best Odds does not consider the full prize pool the same way Best Value does. A ticket can have strong odds for one prize size but still be weaker for overall estimated value.
How Illinois active games are selected
ScratchPulse uses the Illinois Lottery active instant-ticket catalog as the public game list. Games that only appear in the unclaimed-prize table but are no longer listed in the active catalog are excluded from public Illinois rankings.
This helps avoid showing older unclaimed-prize leftovers as if they were current catalog games. Those games may still have claimable prizes, but ScratchPulse focuses its public rankings on active Illinois instant tickets.
Why scratch ticket odds can change
Scratch tickets are not static after launch. As tickets are sold and prizes are claimed, the remaining prize pool and estimated tickets left can shift, making some games look stronger or weaker over time.
How to use these rankings
ScratchPulse is best used as a comparison tool. It can help you compare currently tracked Illinois tickets, understand remaining prize profiles, and avoid games that appear weaker.
What ScratchPulse cannot know
ScratchPulse cannot know the exact tickets sitting at each retailer, whether an unclaimed winning ticket has already been sold, or whether a recent claim has not yet appeared in public data.
Best Value vs Best Odds
Best Value looks at overall estimated prize value compared with ticket cost. Best Odds focuses on the estimated chance of hitting the selected prize size. The best ticket in one mode may not be the best ticket in the other.
Why Illinois estimates may differ from other states
Illinois public scratch ticket data is useful, but it is not structured exactly like every other state. ScratchPulse combines active catalog pages, detail-page odds, and the unclaimed instant-prize table to build Illinois estimates.
Because of that, Illinois Estimated Return and Best Odds should be understood as ScratchPulse estimates based on the best public data available, not official remaining-ticket counts from Illinois Lottery.
Data source and limitations
ScratchPulse uses Illinois Lottery active instant-ticket catalog data, detail-page odds, and unclaimed instant-prize data plus estimates for tickets remaining, best-odds views, adjusted value, and estimated return. Reported prize data may not perfectly reflect what is available at every store right now.
ScratchPulse™ is not affiliated with Illinois Lottery. You can compare posted scratch ticket information on the Illinois Lottery Instant Tickets page.