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Decent valueActive$10,000 A WEEK FOR LIFE · $20 · New York Lottery
$10,000 A WEEK FOR LIFE: Decent value. A $20 ticket pays back $14.85 on average.
▼ -0.3 pts vs launch#3 of 13 · $20 NY gamesUpdated Aug 1, 2026, 12:31 AM
▼ -0.3 pts vs launch#3 of 13 · $20 NY gamesUpdated Aug 1, 2026, 12:31 AM
$10,000 A WEEK FOR LIFE is a $20 scratch-off ticket from the New York state lottery. Its current expected value is 74.3%, down 0.3 percentage points from the launch value of 74.5%. 2 of the original 3 $10,000/WEEK/LIFE top prizes are still unclaimed. Approximately 32% of the 24.5M printed tickets have been sold.
74.3%
expected return
1 in 3.72
odds of any win
2 of 3
$10.4M jackpots left
32%
claimed · 7.8M of 24.5M printed
Odds, in plain terms
If you bought 100 tickets today
Based on the 4,479,360 winning tickets still unclaimed.
17 win more than $20
$40 – $200, an actual profit
10 win their money back
a $20 prize, so you break even
73 win nothing
the house edge, made visible
Prizes of $500 or more hit about 1 in 624 tickets, so they won't show up in a batch of 100.
Value map
Where the $14.85 comes from
The average payback per ticket, split by prize size. Small wins do most of the work.
Small wins $20 – $500
$13.41 · 67.0% of price
Mid prizes $3K – $10K
$0.19 · 1.0% of price
Jackpots $10.4M+
$1.25 · 6.2% of price
Realistic return, jackpots set aside
68.0%
Just 2 tickets out of 16.7M carry the $10.4M+ prizes. This is your expected return if none of them is yours.
Most of the value pays out as
$20 – $500 wins
4,478,595 winning tickets remain in this range: 90% of total value, and the wins you'll actually see.
Claim progress
32% of the print run claimed
Counting every ticket since launch, Sep 2025.
24.5M
tickets printed
7.8M
tickets claimed · 32%
16.7M
still out there
Prizes claimed over time
Claim chart needs more snapshot history
Sales are outpacing the jackpots: worse for buyers.
Jackpots left
67%
Tickets left
68%
67% of top prizes remain with 68% of tickets left to claim them.
Where to buy
New York Lottery
At retailers statewide, or online through Jackpocket. Affiliate link: Scratchstats may earn a commission.
Rank vs $20 NY peers
#3 of 13
By expected return. Higher is better for the player.
Figures from New York Lottery published claim data, updated Aug 1, 2026, 12:31 AM.
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