A Pennsylvania PICK 5 Box containing five different digits covers 120 distinct orders and has a posted $425 prize on the $1 play. That award is fixed in the prize schedule. It is not calculated by dividing the $50,000 Straight prize by 120.
The difference is small enough to tempt a quick rounding explanation, but that is the wrong habit. Other Box categories also have their own stated prizes. Identify the pattern first, then use Pennsylvania’s actual row, rather than treating a convenient division as the rules.
Count orders without losing the five-digit requirement
Take an invented Box selection of 02789. All five digits are different, so there are 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1 = 120 distinct arrangements. Both 02789 and 98270 contain the complete selection and qualify as any-order matches.
A result of 02788 does not qualify. It contains an extra eight and no nine. Four familiar digits do not create a partial Box award, and the zero cannot be ignored because it happens to lead the selected sequence.
The 120-way description counts covered complete results. It does not mean a $1 purchase has bought 120 separate $1 Straight stakes. Nor does it allow you to collect the $425 award 120 times after one drawing.
Use the stated $425 instead of dividing the top prize
Pennsylvania’s $1 Straight prize is $50,000 for the exact five-digit order, with a 1-in-100,000 chance. Dividing that prize by 120 gives approximately $416.67, but the published 120-way Box award is $425.
If 98270 is drawn for the example Box, the illustrative gross prize is $425 and the difference after its $1 purchase is $424. If the selected order 02789 is drawn, it is still a Box win paying $425. The written order does not create an unpaid Straight wager.
The matching probability for 120 covered orders is 120 out of 100,000, or approximately 1 in 833.33. That is the chance of the Box condition, not the chance of a $50,000 Straight prize on a Box-only ticket.
Repeated digits move the purchase into another category
For a contrast, 22668 contains two different pairs and a fifth digit. It has thirty distinct arrangements, not 120. Pennsylvania’s $1 thirty-way Box prize is $1,700.
Here again, dividing $50,000 by thirty would produce approximately $1,666.67, not the actual award. A covered result such as 68226 uses two twos, two sixes and one eight and satisfies that Box. A result with the wrong number of repeated digits does not.
You can check the thirty-order count by dividing 5! by 2! for the twos and 2! for the sixes. This is a way to classify coverage, not a method for predicting which pattern will be drawn next.
Keep the other Box patterns straight
The current $1 chart also lists $10,000 for four identical digits plus one different digit, $5,000 for a triple and a different pair, $2,500 for a triple plus two other distinct digits, and $850 for one pair plus three other distinct digits.
For example, 22268 has a triple and two other distinct digits; 22266 has a triple and a pair. They are twenty-way and ten-way patterns respectively. Moving one digit changes the category and its stated prize.
All-identical digits have no different order to cover. Do not count physical swaps of identical digits as new winning sequences. The purpose of the category check is to make sure the ticket’s actual pattern and wager agree with the prize row you are reading.
A near miss needs its own purchased positional wager
PICK 5 separately offers Front Four, Back Four, Front Three, Back Three, Front Pair and Back Pair. These are purchased wagers, not automatic consolation prizes on a losing five-digit Straight or Box.
For a $1 Front Four selection 0278, a result of 02786 meets the first-four-digits condition and has a posted $5,000 base prize. But a $1 Straight on 02789 loses against 02786. The result does not turn that Straight into Front Four after the drawing.
The operator’s base chart lists $500 for a qualifying $1 three-position wager and $50 for a qualifying $1 pair wager. Always identify the positions and play type on the ticket before interpreting a partial match.
Total the purchase and check the correct session
PICK 5 costs $1 per base play. Wild Ball doubles the cost and uses a separate prize schedule; it does not double the ordinary $425 Box award simply because the option was purchased. Keep base and add-on checks separate.
The current guide allows advance drawings and Day or Evening selections. Its sales cutoffs are 1:05 p.m. and 6:57 p.m. respectively, distinct from the later result times. Read the date, session, wager and add-on status on the valid ticket. Printed tickets cannot be cancelled.
The Pennsylvania lottery directory links the official operator for checking and claim instructions. Save the ticket securely and count all spending when assessing a return. The useful lesson from the $425 row is not that one pattern is lucky; it is that published prizes, purchased coverage and the actual drawing must all be checked together.
Official sources
Rules checked 2026-10-20. Use the operator for current prizes, deadlines and ticket validation.