
$5 million waiting to be claimed: Your NJ Lottery tickets are expiring
💲 Check your winning scratch-offs — they have an expiration date
💲 Dozens of scratch-off games are scheduled to expire in 2025
💲 You have a year from the end of game's run to claim your prize
The clock is ticking on more than 50 scratch-off games from the New Jersey Lottery, along with more than $5 million in prize money that has yet to be claimed.
Like many products in your local convenience store, scratch-off games have a shelf life. When they're pulled from machines and from behind counters, players with prizes have just one year to present their winning tickets in order to get paid. Once a year has passed from the end of a game, you're out of luck if you've got a winner.
So if you have a stash of winners somewhere, you may want to make sure they're still active.
Expiring scratch-offs in New Jersey
Gallery Credit: Dino Flammia
Which scratch-off games have ended in New Jersey?
According to the New Jersey Lottery website, there are 54 scratch-off varieties that are no longer being sold but are still eligible for prize redemption, as of Jan. 23, 2025.
Many games expire at the end of January 2025.
For many of the games, one or more top prizes still haven't been claimed.
RELATED: What are your odds with scratch-offs in New Jersey?
Ideally, big winners are still getting their affairs in order before submitting the ticket to the New Jersey Lottery. But it's also possible that the big winners were never sold, or — worst-case scenario — the person who played the ticket never realized they had a winner in their hands, and threw it away.
Top-tier prizes left behind, as of now, total $4,926,500, according to the New Jersey Lottery website. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in lower-tier prizes are unclaimed as well.
SEE ALSO: NJ bill would prohibit some sports-betting advertising
When a scratch-off game has officially expired, the New Jersey Lottery gets control of the unclaimed winnings. A minimum of 30% must be devoted to educational programs or state institutions. According to the New Jersey Lottery, nearly all unclaimed prize dollars go to these causes — a small percentage is reserved to help with future prizes.
See below for the latest list of soon-to-be-expired scratch-offs in New Jersey.
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