Cash4Life is a multi-state lottery drawing game best known for its two headline jackpot prizes:
- $1,000 a day for life
- $1,000 a week for life
Read on for BettingUSA’s full Cash4Life rundown. We explain how it works, where to buy Cash4Life tickets online, the odds of winning, how it compares to other lottery games, and more.
$3 Off First Tickets
Must be 18 or older to play the lottery. Jackpocket is not affiliated with any State Lottery. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER. Please visit Terms of Service at Jackpocket.com for full terms of service.
Ticket Discounts
18/21+, T&Cs Apply. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER
One Free TicketJackpot.com Promo Code: BUSALOTTO
You must be 18 or older to order a lottery ticket. Please play responsibly. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call 1800-GAMBLER; residents of New York call the HOPE line at 1-877-8-HOPENY (1-877-846-7369) or text HOPENY (467369).
21+ to Play, T&Cs Apply. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER
Although Cash4Life jackpots pale compared to Powerball and Mega Millions, players have significantly better odds of winning the top prize.
The way Cash4Life advertises its jackpot prizes is compelling (who wouldn’t love to have an extra thousand dollars a day for life?), but it is fundamentally no different than other prominent multi-state lottery games.
Cash4Life tickets cost $2, and players in Tennessee, New Jersey, and Missouri can activate additional small prizes for an extra $1 (more on that below).
Quick Cash4Life Guide
- Base Ticket Cost: $2.00
- Top Prize: $1,000 a day for life (or $7 million cash option)
- Jackpot Odds: 1 in 21.8 million
- Any-Prize Odds: 1 in 7.76
- Cash4Life Drawings: 9 PM Eastern daily
- Ticket Purchase Deadline: 8:45 PM Eastern
- Watch Drawings Live:
Where to Buy Cash4Life Online
Players can buy Cash4Life tickets online in some states directly from the state lottery’s website or mobile app.
Alternatively, players in some states can play Cash4Life online through the Jackpocket app, theLotter, and Jackpot.com.
Visit BettingUSA’s lottery hub to see which states have online lotteries or legal lottery apps.
States Where Cash4Life is Sold
Cash4Life is available in ten states:
- Florida
- Georgia
- Indiana
- Maryland
- Missouri
- New Jersey
- New York
- Pennsylvania
- Tennessee
- Virginia
Tip: If Cash4Life isn’t available in your state, there’s a good chance you can play Lucky for Life online instead. Lucky for Life features similar prizes, ticket prices, and odds.
Cash4Life launched in 2014, beginning with New Jersey and New York, and expanded to seven additional states within three years. Missouri became the latest member when it switched from Lucky for Life to Cash4Life in 2021.
New Jersey remains Cash4Life’s flagship member state and hosts the nightly drawing live from the New Jersey Lottery’s headquarters in Trenton.
How to Play Cash4Life
First, decide whether to play Cash4Life online (select states only) or in person.
- Online: Open your favorite lottery app or visit your state lottery’s website to log in and select Cash4Life from the games menu.
- In-Person: Visit your nearest lottery retailer and request a Cash4Life payslip.
Next, select six numbers as follows:
- Five numbers between 1 and 60
- A Cash Ball number between 1 and 4
Alternatively, you can request a Quick Pick ticket to let the computer choose random numbers on your behalf.
Return the completed payslip to the cashier or hit “submit” if playing online.
Watch the live drawing at 9 PM ET or check the results later at your state lottery’s official website to see if you’ve won. Legal Cash4Life apps like Jackpocket also notify customers if they win.
The goal is to match all five white balls and the Cash Ball. Doing so wins the top prize, $1,000 a day for life, or the cash option. If you match all five white balls and miss the Cash Ball, you’ll win the second-largest prize, $1,000 a week for life, which also has a cash-out option.
Heads-up: Ticket sales for same-day drawings end at 8:45 PM ET. This translates to 7:45 PM CT, 6:45 PM MT, and 5:45 PM PT. Tickets purchased after the cutoff will enter the following night’s drawing.
Cash4Life Add-On Features
Players in three states can pay an extra $1.00 per ticket for enhanced or additional payouts.
EZ Match is an instant-win game that pays immediate cash prizes of $2 to $500 and provides a 1 in 4.21 chance of winning any prize.
| Prize | Odds |
|---|---|
| $500 | 1 in 84,000 |
| $250 | 1 in 84,000 |
| $100 | 1 in 28,000 |
| $50 | 1 in 8,400 |
| $20 | 1 in 3,360 |
| $15 | 1 in 2,100 |
| $10 | 1 in 442.11 |
| $5 | 1 in 420 |
| $4 | 1 in 76.36 |
| $3 | 1 in 14.48 |
| $2 | 1 in 6.68 |
Activating the EZ Match feature adds five random numbers to your Cash4Life ticket. If any of the EZ Match numbers match your Cash4Life numbers, you win the amount printed next to the EZ Match number.
Here’s a screenshot taken from the Missouri Lottery website for context:
The New Jersey Doubler feature doubles all non-jackpot prizes. That shifts the minimum Cash4Life prize from $2 to $4, and since a Doubler ticket costs $3, it moves the game’s lowest prize from an even-money scratch to a positive gain.
However, note that doubling your prize doesn’t affect your odds of winning. In fact, adding $1 to your bets gives the NJ Lottery a slightly bigger advantage.
The Cash4Life option activates an instant-win game in which the computer prints five random numbers on your lottery ticket at purchase. You’ll know if you’ve won as soon as you receive your ticket.
If any of the Quick Cash numbers match your Cash4Life numbers, you’ll win the amount printed next to the matching Quick Cash number. Available prizes range from $2 to $500, and the overall odds of winning a prize are 1 in 5.24.
Cash4Life Jackpots and Prizes
Cash4Life has nine prize levels, including two jackpot-sized “for life” prizes.
| # of Matches | Prize |
|---|---|
| 5 + Cash Ball | $1,000 a day for life |
| 5 | $1,000 a week for life |
| 4 + Cash Ball | $2,500 |
| 4 | $500 |
| 3 + Cash Ball | $100 |
| 3 | $25 |
| 2 + Cash Ball | $10 |
| 2 | $4 |
| 1 + Cash Ball | $2 |
$1,000 a Day for Life
Players who match all five white ball numbers plus the Cash Ball number win the jackpot, advertised as $1,000 a day for life.
Note: Winners don’t literally receive $1,000 a day for life. Instead, they receive an annuity that pays $365,000 once per year for a minimum of 20 years.
Winners can also opt for a lump-sum payout of however much it would cost to purchase the annuity (about $7 million).
$1,000 a Week for Life
Players who match all five white balls but not the Cash Ball win the secondary prize of $1,000 a week for life, delivered as an annual $52,000 payment for at least 20 years. Currently, the lump sum payout is about $1,000,000.
Cash4Life Odds
Although Cash4Life has smaller jackpots than the other prominent multi-state lottery games, players have much better odds of winning.
The probability of winning the $1,000 a day Cash4Life jackpot is just under one in 22 million, while the odds of winning any prize are 1 in 7.76.
That’s about 13 to 14 times better than winning the Powerball (one in 292 million) or Mega Millions (one in 302 million) jackpots. Meanwhile, the odds of winning any prize in Cash4Life are about three times better in Cash4Life than Mega Millions or Powerball.
| Prize | Odds of Winning |
|---|---|
| $1,000 a day for life | 1 in 21,846,048 |
| $1,000 a week for life | 1 in 7,282,016 |
| $2,500 | 1 in 79,440 |
| $500 | 1 in 26,480 |
| $100 | 1 in 1,471 |
| $25 | 1 in 490 |
| $10 | 1 in 83 |
| $4 | 1 in 28 |
| $2 | 1 in 13 |
Cash4Life Strategy
Don’t believe anyone who tells you they have a lottery system that will help you win.
For starters, why would they be giving this top-secret gambling information for free?
Another problem – why aren’t they rich beyond all measure, unimaginably wealthy from consistently beating the state lottery systems?
Every Cash4Life drawing is an independent random event, meaning every number is equally likely to be drawn no matter what happened before. Whether a particular number has been drawn five days running or it’s been missing in action for a week has zero impact on the odds that number will be selected in the next drawing.
In short, 99% of the Cash4Life strategy posted online is garbage. At best, it’s useless. At worst, it’s harmful because it creates unrealistic expectations and encourages players to forgo responsible gambling.
Given the above caveats, here’s a common-sense guide to playing Cash4Life as strategically as possible.
Start by controlling your spending. Even at $2 a ticket, it’s easy to drain your bankroll or spend more money than you wanted to.
The easiest way to manage your spending and approach Cash4Life strategically is to determine how much you want to spend on the game each year. That will tell you how many tickets you can afford each week.
For example:
Suppose you enjoy playing Cash4Life as often as possible but don’t want to lose more than $400 a year. At $2 a ticket, you can comfortably play 200 times a year, and even if you lose on every ticket (unlikely), you’ve stuck to your budget. Two hundred tickets a year is 3-4 a week, which should be plenty to scratch your lottery itch.
Other intelligent (and actually useful) Cash4Life strategies include checking your tickets immediately after each drawing, signing the back of every ticket, and if you win.
Comparison: Cash4Life vs. Lucky for Life
Cash4Life and Lucky for Life cost the same amount to play and offer similar prizes, but the games are different enough to warrant a comparison.
| Cash4Life | Lucky for Life | |
|---|---|---|
| Any Prize Odds | 1 in 7.76 | 1 in 7.8 |
| Top Prize | $1,000/day for life | $1,000/day for life |
| Top Prize Odds | 1 in 21.8 million | 1 in 30.8 million |
| Second Prize | $1,000/week for life | $25,000/year for life |
| Second Prize Odds | 1 in 7.2 million | 1 in 1.8 million |
Both games offer similar top prizes and overall odds of winning, but they diverge significantly in secondary prizes and the odds of winning.
The most noteworthy difference between Cash4Life and Lucky for Life is the value of the secondary prize and the odds of winning. When comparing secondary prizes, there’s an obvious tradeoff:
- Cash4Life’s secondary prize has twice the value of Lucky for Life’s secondary prize
- Lucky for Life gives players a 4x better chance to win the secondary prize in Lucky for Life (1 in 1.8 million) versus Cash4Life (1 in 7.2 million)
The difference in the odds of winning any prize between the two games is minimal, at 1 in 7.76 versus 1 in 7.8.
That’s probably not enough to drive players to one game over another. Then again, since no state offers both games, there’s no real need to compare them in that sense.
Cash4Life FAQ
Randy Ray is a recognized gambling expert, with industry experience dating back to the early 2000’s.