South Dakota · Game #1172

Merry & Bright

$5per ticket

active · Collected Oct 15, 2026, 8:33 AM CDT · Claim deadline May 16, 2027

Latest lottery dataData updated Oct 15, 2026

Game summary

What to know about this ticket

Take a closer look ↓
Estimate went upEstimate went downFewer prizesCount changed
Our estimate

Average payout

$3.09

Across lots of tickets, we estimate an average of $3.09 back for each $5 ticket.

$0.62 back per $1 spent · -$1.91 after the ticket cost

No changevs Oct 14, 2026
What does this mean?
Think of a big pile of tickets: this is the prize money per ticket on average. It doesn’t tell you what your next ticket will pay.
Our estimate

Payout without the jackpot

$2.64

For a $5 ticket, the estimated average payout is $2.64 when the $10,000 top prize is treated as $0.

Return vs. ticket price, without the jackpot: -47.2%

No changevs Oct 14, 2026
What does this mean?
Big jackpots can make a ticket's average look much better even though winning one is extremely unlikely. This number shows its estimated value if the biggest prize pays $0.
Our estimate

Chance of Any Prize

24.2%

About 1 in 4.13 remaining tickets

Includes the top prize and prizes that only return your ticket cost. A prize does not necessarily mean a profit.

No changevs Oct 14, 2026
What does this mean?
This estimates the chance that a remaining ticket has any published prize. A winning ticket may only break even, so this is not your chance of making money.
From the lottery

Top prize

$10,000

The lottery report doesn’t give a separate top-prize count for this game.

Calculated top prizes left: 1. This is separate from a published remaining count.

What does this mean?
How many of the game's biggest prizes the lottery says are still unclaimed. This does not establish whether tickets are still for sale.
Our estimate

Chance of coming out ahead

12.0%

A prize worth more than the ticket price. Winning your ticket cost back doesn’t count as coming out ahead.

Our estimate

Chance of the top prize

<0.1%

About 1 in 22,346.04 remaining tickets. This is an estimate.

Remaining prizes and tickets

What’s left in this game

See every prize amount ↓
Worked out from lottery data

Unclaimed prizes

Not published

Out of 44,388 prizes in the source table.

Worked out from lottery data

Calculated remaining prizes: 5,409.

Worked out from the model’s count inputs below. The source does not publish a complete remaining count.

Counts include tickets already sold whose prizes haven’t been claimed.

From the lottery

Top prizes left

Not published

Out of 3 top prizes originally.

Worked out from lottery data

Calculated top prizes left: 1.

This uses the model’s count inputs. It is not a published remaining count.

From the lottery report for this game.

Our estimate

Estimated tickets left

22,346

182,435 tickets estimated at the start.

No changevs Oct 14, 2026

Tickets left are an estimate. Unclaimed prizes don’t tell us exactly how many tickets are still for sale.

First on sale
Sep 16, 2025
Ticket sales end
Nov 17, 2026
Last day to claim
May 16, 2027

We use lottery data to estimate average payouts and tickets left. These are estimates, not promises about your next ticket. See how we work it out →

Original vs. current

Original and current numbers

See the original numbers next to what we estimate for the tickets left.

Odds of any prize

Original at launch
1 in 4.1124.3% chance · Lottery-published
Latest estimate
1 in 4.1324.2% chance · PrizeGauge estimate

0.13 percentage points lower than launch

Average prize payout

Original at launch
$3.46Per ticket · Estimate using original data
Latest estimate
$3.09Per ticket · PrizeGauge estimate

$0.37 per ticket lower than launch

A smaller “1 in” number means a higher chance. Any prize includes prizes that only return the ticket cost. Original odds may be rounded; current values are estimates, not guaranteed outcomes.

Compare the price and average payouts

Here’s how the ticket price compares with the average prize payout we estimate. Your ticket could pay more, less, or nothing.

Ticket costs
$5.00
Estimated average payout
$3.09
Without the top prize
$2.64
What do these numbers mean?
From the lottery

Published by the lottery.

Worked out from lottery data

Worked out from the lottery’s own numbers.

Our estimate

Our best estimate, using data and assumptions we explain.

Average payout
Think of a big pile of tickets: this is the prize money per ticket on average. It doesn’t tell you what your next ticket will pay.
Return vs. ticket price
How the estimated average payout stacks up against what you spend. A minus sign means the average payout is less than the ticket price.
Payout without the jackpot
Big jackpots can make a ticket's average look much better even though winning one is extremely unlikely. This number shows its estimated value if the biggest prize pays $0.
Chance of Any Prize
This estimates the chance that a remaining ticket has any published prize. A winning ticket may only break even, so this is not your chance of making money.
Top Prizes Left
How many of the game's biggest prizes the lottery says are still unclaimed. This does not establish whether tickets are still for sale.
Estimated Tickets Left
Our estimate of how many tickets may remain. The lottery does not publish this exact number, and sold but unclaimed tickets can affect it.
How reliable is the estimate?
How much trust to put in the estimate. It is not your chance of winning. Unknown means we don’t have a rating.
What does this mean?
Each ticket is a gamble. Better-looking numbers don’t promise a winning ticket.
Take a closer look: prizes, calculations & sources

The numbers behind the ticket

How we work it out →
Our estimate

Estimated average payout today

$3.09

Estimated prize payout per ticket

Our estimate

EV Without the Top Prize

$2.64

Average prize value after treating the biggest prize as $0

Our estimate

ROI Without the Top Prize

-47.2%

How that alternate average payout compares with ticket price

Our estimate

Original EV

$3.46

Launch payout with modeled prize valuations

Our estimate

Modeled ROI

-38.2%

Estimated net return / ticket price

Our estimate

Average payout per $1 spent

$0.62

A 70¢ payout per $1 spent means a 30¢ average loss

Our estimate

Average return after the ticket cost

-$1.91

Estimated average prize payout minus the ticket price

From the lottery

Top prizes remaining

—

Original top prizes: 3

Our estimate

Estimated Tickets Left

22,346

An estimate, not an exact count from the lottery

Our estimate

Analytics availability

Launch: available

Full current EV: available

Without top prize: available

Chance of any prize: available

Confidence rating not published

We use lottery data to estimate average payouts and tickets left. These are estimates, not promises about your next ticket. See how we work it out →

How this estimate was made

Launch basis: published inception odds. Inventory basis: inferred from prize odds.

The lottery reports don’t give us enough reliable information to show this number.

The lottery reports don’t give us enough reliable information to show this number.

The lottery reports don’t give us enough reliable information to show this number.

Model assumptions
  • The complete original winning-prize counts and published overall odds describe one unchanged print cohort.
  • At least two tiers with 500 or more original prizes estimate remaining ticket inventory, weighted by original prize count; prize claims can lag ticket sales.

What goes into this estimate

Uses the complete prize table and changes in prize counts.

Original prize table: complete. Remaining prize table: complete.

See calculated counts and prize-value assumptions

These are the model’s inputs. A calculated or estimated count is separate from the literal count in the prize table.

Count and value inputs considered by the model
Prize wordingValue usedOriginal count usedRemaining count used
$5$5.00Published cash value18,252Published count2,720Calculated: original − paid
$10$10.00Published cash value10,617Published count1,311Calculated: original − paid
$15$15.00Published cash value6,104Published count529Calculated: original − paid
$20$20.00Published cash value6,084Published count638Calculated: original − paid
$50$50.00Published cash value2,980Published count196Calculated: original − paid
$100$100.00Published cash value332Published count13Calculated: original − paid
$500$500.00Published cash value16Published count1Calculated: original − paid
$10,000$10,000.00Published cash value3Published count1Calculated: original − paid

From the official source

The lottery’s prize table

Original overall odds: 1 in 4.11

These are the source’s published rows. A dash means the count is not published. Calculated original totals are labeled, and any derived remaining counts appear separately in the model inputs.

Swipe to see all columns →

Prize amounts and counts from this report. Current odds and average payout contributions, where shown, are estimates.
PrizeOriginal prizesPrizes already paidRemaining prizes
$5
Count sources & details
Prize row source →Retrieved Oct 15, 2026, 1:33 PM UTC
Response fingerprintaf8e7e7f6f5c5b37516af57bdd5d6186bdc0be819f13fb6e3b791ca05045ef1c
18,25215,532—
$10
Count sources & details
Prize row source →Retrieved Oct 15, 2026, 1:33 PM UTC
Response fingerprintaf8e7e7f6f5c5b37516af57bdd5d6186bdc0be819f13fb6e3b791ca05045ef1c
10,6179,306—
$15
Count sources & details
Prize row source →Retrieved Oct 15, 2026, 1:33 PM UTC
Response fingerprintaf8e7e7f6f5c5b37516af57bdd5d6186bdc0be819f13fb6e3b791ca05045ef1c
6,1045,575—
$20
Count sources & details
Prize row source →Retrieved Oct 15, 2026, 1:33 PM UTC
Response fingerprintaf8e7e7f6f5c5b37516af57bdd5d6186bdc0be819f13fb6e3b791ca05045ef1c
6,0845,446—
$50
Count sources & details
Prize row source →Retrieved Oct 15, 2026, 1:33 PM UTC
Response fingerprintaf8e7e7f6f5c5b37516af57bdd5d6186bdc0be819f13fb6e3b791ca05045ef1c
2,9802,784—
$100
Count sources & details
Prize row source →Retrieved Oct 15, 2026, 1:33 PM UTC
Response fingerprintaf8e7e7f6f5c5b37516af57bdd5d6186bdc0be819f13fb6e3b791ca05045ef1c
332319—
$500
Count sources & details
Prize row source →Retrieved Oct 15, 2026, 1:33 PM UTC
Response fingerprintaf8e7e7f6f5c5b37516af57bdd5d6186bdc0be819f13fb6e3b791ca05045ef1c
1615—
$10,000
Count sources & details
Prize row source →Retrieved Oct 15, 2026, 1:33 PM UTC
Response fingerprintaf8e7e7f6f5c5b37516af57bdd5d6186bdc0be819f13fb6e3b791ca05045ef1c
32—

About the estimates

Methodology & source

Each lottery publishes different information. We use the available game data and stated assumptions to estimate average payouts and tickets left. An unclaimed prize count is not a count of tickets still for sale.

Published prize observations stay separate from estimates. The model uses this game's reported coverage, ticket inventory and count assumptions; unavailable values retain their source explanations.

How we work it out →

Game history

See how the numbers have changed

A gap means we don’t have a number

We keep the last update of each day, using Central Time. If a day has no number, we leave a gap. We don’t fill in guesses.

Past numbers include calculations from archived prize reports. This covers the dates we have collected. 7-day change: insufficient history. 30-day change: insufficient history.

Estimated average payout Our estimate · dollars per ticket
No changevs Oct 14, 2026

Swipe across the chart →

$3.01$3.27$3.53Original average payout $3.46Oct 14, 2026: $3.09Oct 15, 2026: $3.09Oct 14, 2026Oct 15, 2026
See the daily numbers in a table

Swipe to see all columns →

Estimated average payout observations
DateEstimated average payoutChange from previous day
Oct 14, 2026$3.09No daily comparison
Oct 15, 2026$3.09No change compared with Oct 14, 2026
Prizes remaining Last update of each day · Central Time
No daily comparison

We need more daily numbers to chart prizes remaining. At least two days with available values are needed.

See the daily numbers in a table

Swipe to see all columns →

Prizes remaining observations
DatePrizes remainingUnclaimed countTotal prizesChange from previous day
Oct 14, 2026——44,388No daily comparison
Oct 15, 2026——44,388No daily comparison
Top prizes remaining Last update of each day · Central Time
No daily comparison

We need more daily numbers to chart top prizes remaining. At least two days with available values are needed.

See the daily numbers in a table

Swipe to see all columns →

Top prizes remaining observations
DateTop prizes remainingChange from previous day
Oct 14, 2026—No daily comparison
Oct 15, 2026—No daily comparison
Estimated tickets left Our estimate · ticket count
No changevs Oct 14, 2026

Swipe across the chart →

22.35K22.35K22.35KOct 14, 2026: 22,346Oct 15, 2026: 22,346Oct 14, 2026Oct 15, 2026
See the daily numbers in a table

Swipe to see all columns →

Estimated tickets left observations
DateEstimated tickets leftChange from previous day
Oct 14, 202622,346No daily comparison
Oct 15, 202622,346No change compared with Oct 14, 2026