Plain-English definitions for the 15 terms ScratchOffsNY uses most often. Click any term for the long-form explanation, formula, and links to the relevant data pages.
Average dollar return per ticket if the game were played an unlimited number of times.
ScratchOffsNY composite 0–100 ranking blending seven core factors recalibrated daily.
Total prize pool divided by total ticket sales — sometimes called RTP (return to player).
The single largest advertised prize on the ticket.
Live odds of winning any prize, recomputed from prizes claimed and tickets estimated unsold.
Remaining prizes per estimated unsold ticket; higher is better.
Any prize between $100 and $10,000.
A scratch-off pack opened within the last ~24 hours.
Average days between a winning ticket being sold and being claimed.
Statistical technique that shrinks noisy estimates toward a prior to reduce small-sample variance.
Backtesting that trains on past data and tests on future data with no leakage.
Fraction of a store's pack inventory not shared with neighboring retailers.
NY Lottery program where non-winning scratch-off tickets can be entered for bonus prizes.
Behavioral-economics adjustment that weights large jackpots more than expected value alone implies.
Rate of prize depletion in the last 14 days.
Data sourced from nylottery.ny.gov and NY Open Data. Independent, non-commercial project. Play responsibly — NY Problem Gambling · 1-877-8-HOPENY.