Cash4Life

Cash4Life is a lottery game that began in New York and New Jersey on June 13, 2014. It added Pennsylvania on April 7, 2015, and will become available in Virginia on May 3. (Cash4Life replaced Sweet Million in New York, and will replace Decade$ of Dollar$ in Virginia.) Drawings are on Mondays and Thursdays.^[1]

Each game costs $2; players choose (or select the "quick-pick" option) 5 of 60 numbers in the main field, and 1 of 4 (hence the game's name) green "Cash Ball" numbers in a second field. Matching all six numbers wins, or shares ("split-prize liability"), the equivalent of $1,000-per-day-for-life, or $7,000,000 cash, at the winner's option. Second prize, however, can have multiple winners of $1,000-per-week-for-life and/or $1,000,000 cash. (New Jersey Lottery regulations "require" that a player choose cash or annuity when playing; a "cash" ticket is binding while an "annuity" ticket can be changed to cash after winning.)^[2]

Virginia's entry in Cash4Life will replace Decades of Dollars, which had been a four-state game, but will be ending as a Virginia-only game.

Prizes:

• Match 5+1: $1,000/day for life†
• Match 5+0: $1,000/week for week†
• Match 4+1: $2,500
• Match 4+0: $500
• Match 3+1: $100
• Match 3+0: $25
• Match 2+1: $10
• Match 2+0: $4
• Match 1+1: $2

†The top three prize tiers each have a liability limit. If there are an excessive number of winners of a "lifetime" prize tier, such prizes will be paid in lump sum to each winner.^[2] Cash option values (which can change periodically) are $7 million for the top prize, and $1 million for second prize.

The prize pool is 55 percent of sales.^[3]

Cash4Life also was the name of a significantly different game offered from March 30, 1998 to September 7, 2000 by the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL); players received numerous sets of four numbers for each play. The top prize, $1,000-per-week-for-life, was won if the top set of four numbers matched those drawn. As with the current Cash4Life, if there were multiple winners of the top prize, it became a pari-mutuel prize; however, the MUSL version did not give such winners the option of choosing cash.

References

External links

Official website

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