Best Colorado Scratch Off Tickets: Odds, Remaining Prizes & More
Find the best scratch-off tickets to buy in Colorado right now. We rank all 84 active Colorado Lottery scratch-off games by ROI, odds, and remaining prizes — updated daily from official sources. Use the tabs below to filter by best value, best odds, newest releases, or games to avoid.
Best picks by budget
Best published odds
Best published odds among $10 tickets
Best published odds among $5 tickets
All games
Sorted by Best Odds
How We Calculate Value & ROI
Every game on this page shows the top prize, how many top prizes are left and the published odds. Here’s what each one means, and why Colorado games don’t show an ROI.
- Top prize — the game’s largest advertised prize, as published by the Colorado Lottery.
- Top prizes left — how many of those the Colorado Lottery has not yet recorded as claimed. An unclaimed prize may already be sitting on a ticket someone has bought, so this doesn’t guarantee one is still on a shelf.
- Published odds — the Colorado Lottery’s original “1 in X” chance of winning any prize, which includes winning back just the ticket price. These are the odds set when the game was printed, not a recalculation of the odds among unsold tickets.
Why there’s no ROI for Colorado
ROI is the estimated average gain or loss against what you spend: −20% means roughly 80¢ back per $1. To work it out we need a game’s whole prize table: what every tier pays, how many of each prize were printed, and how many are still unclaimed. We add up the value of every prize still out there and divide it by our estimate of the tickets still unsold.
The Colorado Lottery publishes how many top prizes are left on each game, but not how many of the smaller prizes are still unclaimed. Without that, any ROI we showed would mostly reflect the missing data rather than the game, so we leave it off instead of publishing a number we can’t stand behind.
For Colorado, top prizes left is the most useful figure on the page. A game whose top prizes are nearly all claimed has little left at the top end, whatever its published odds say.
We read official Colorado Lottery prize reports daily. Read our full methodology for how we source data and calculate expected value and ROI in the states that publish full prize tables.
Prize Activity Summary
Over the past 31 days, scratch-off games in this state paid out approximately $1.7 million in prizes, averaging $55,489 per day across 39 active games. The overall prize pool decreased by 10.3% during this period, with 318 individual prizes claimed across all tiers. 200X leads in prize activity with $1.0 million claimed ($20 ticket). Only 1 top prize remains. Decade of Dollars follows with $600,000 in claims, with only 1 top prize remaining.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the best Colorado scratch-offs to buy right now?
The three Colorado scratch-offs with the best published odds that still have a top prize left are $3,000,000 EXTREME FORTUNE ($50), TRIPLE RED 777 ($20) and $25 Million Cash Explosion® ($20). Rankings change daily as prizes are claimed.
Which Colorado scratch-off is most likely to win?
The Colorado game with the best odds of winning any prize is $3,000,000 EXTREME FORTUNE ($50) at 1 in 2.56. It still has 1 top prize of $3,000,000 left. Most of those wins are small, often just your ticket price back, so good odds are not the same as a good buy.
What's the best Colorado scratch-off at each price?
The best published odds at each price today, among games with a top prize left: $1: Reindeer Riches; $2: COLORADO CA$H CROP™; $3: $30,000 Golden Casino; $5: LOTERIA™ Grande; $10: $250,000 JUMBO BUCKS CROSSWORD; $20: TRIPLE RED 777; $50: $3,000,000 EXTREME FORTUNE. The price filter on this page ranks every game at each price.
Which Colorado scratch-offs should I avoid?
10 Colorado games are still on sale even though every top prize has been claimed: $3,000,000 Millionaire Maker, $500,000 Crossword (#364), Wild Cherry Crossword, Crossword Multiplier, MONOPOLY™ (#369), LOTERIA™ (#398), LADY LUCK, Dynamite Crossword, Denver Nuggets and TRIPLE Play. You pay full price with no chance at the top prize. The Top Prizes Claimed (Avoid) filter on this page lists them.
How do I claim a winning Colorado scratch-off?
Prizes up to $599 can be cashed at any lottery retailer in Colorado, and prizes of any amount at a Claims Center (Pueblo HQ, Denver, Fort Collins, Grand Junction). You can also claim by mail for prizes of any amount; our guide to where to cash scratch-off tickets covers the forms and ID you need. Federal tax of 24% is withheld on prizes over $5,000, and Colorado taxes lottery winnings as income at up to 4.4% (more on taxes on scratch-off winnings).
How long do I have to claim a Colorado scratch-off?
You have 180 days from the date the lottery officially ends the game, not from the day you bought the ticket. Check a game's end date before you buy, especially if it is ending soon. Our guide to whether scratch-off tickets expire lists every state's deadline.
Can I buy Colorado scratch-offs online or with a card?
Scratch-offs are not sold online in Colorado, so you have to buy them in a store. In stores, debit cards are accepted if the store chooses and credit cards are not allowed. You must be 18 or older to buy. More in our guides to buying scratch-offs online and with a debit card.
Do more expensive Colorado scratch-offs have better odds?
Usually, yes. Typical (median) odds of winning any prize by ticket price: $1, 1 in 4.58; $2, 1 in 4.19; $3, 1 in 3.66; $5, 1 in 3.84; $10, 1 in 3.57; $20, 1 in 3.14; $50, 1 in 2.93. Better odds mostly means more small wins, often just your ticket price back.
Are Colorado scratch-offs worth it, or do any pay back more than they cost?
Not as an investment. Colorado's lottery does not publish enough prize data for us to calculate how much its games pay back, but lotteries keep a share of every ticket sold, so a scratch-off that pays back more than it costs is rare. Play for fun with money you can afford to lose. More on whether scratch-off tickets are worth it.
Should I buy Colorado games that are ending soon?
Sometimes, when good prizes are still left. The Ending Soon filter on this page lists the Colorado games ending within the next 90 days. Bear in mind that scratch-off tickets do expire: in Colorado you have 180 days from the date the lottery officially ends the game.
Disclaimer: This information is provided for educational purposes only. All data is sourced from the official Colorado lottery website and is updated regularly, but we cannot guarantee 100% accuracy. Lottery games are games of chance, and past performance does not guarantee future results. Please play responsibly and never spend more than you can afford to lose. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER.
