GuidesFlorida Pick 3
Which Pick 3 play type should you choose?
What each play type costs, what it pays, and what you give up to win more often.
Facts checked
Pick 3 asks for three digits. The digits are the easy half. The play type is the half that decides what you actually win, and it is the one most tickets get chosen by habit rather than by comparison.
The trade every play type makes
Every option below is the same trade in a different proportion: win less often for more money, or win more often for less. Nothing on this list is a better bet than anything else — they are different shapes of the same wager.
Straight — one order, the biggest prize
Your digits must match in the exact order drawn. It pays $250.00 on a 50-cent play or $500.00 on a $1.00 play, at 1 in 1,000. If you have a number you always play in the same order, this is the play type that rewards it.
Box — any order, a smaller prize
Your digits match in any order. It wins several times as often as a Straight play and pays proportionally less. Exactly how much less depends on whether one of your digits repeats, which is worth understanding before you pick — the companion guide covers it.
Straight/Box — a dollar split between the two
A $1.00 play that is really two 50-cent plays, one of each. It pays the larger amount if the order is exact and the box amount otherwise, so a near miss on order still returns something. On three different digits that is $290.00 or $40.00.
Combo — every order, at the Straight price
A Combo buys each possible order as its own Straight play. You are paid at the Straight level whichever order comes up, and you pay for the coverage: six orders at $1.00 each is a $6.00 ticket for a $500.00 prize.
Front Pair and Back Pair — two digits instead of three
A pair play uses only the first two or the last two digits and ignores the third position. Short odds at 1 in 100, and a correspondingly small prize: $25.00 or $50.00.
A practical way to choose
- Care about the order? Straight, or Straight/Box if you want a consolation.
- Care about the digits, not the order? Box, or Combo if you would rather be paid at the Straight rate.
- Want to win more often for less? A pair play.
- Only ever play one number? Compare Straight against Combo on your specific digits — the ticket price differs a lot.
Whichever you pick, each drawing is independent of the ones before it, and no play type changes what the machine produces.