A
Strong valueActiveSET FOR LIFE · $10 · New York Lottery
SET FOR LIFE: Strong value. A $10 ticket pays back $8.43 on average.
▲ +10.3 pts vs launch#1 of 14 · $10 NY games
▲ +10.3 pts vs launch#1 of 14 · $10 NY games
SET FOR LIFE is a $10 scratch-off ticket from the New York state lottery. Its current expected value is 84.3%, up 10.3 percentage points from the launch value of 74.0%. 2 of the original 6 $5K/WK/LIFE top prizes are still unclaimed. Approximately 89% of the 48.1M printed tickets have been sold.
84.3%
expected return
1 in 3.95
odds of any win
2 of 6
$5.2M jackpots left
89%
claimed · 42.8M of 48.1M printed
Odds, in plain terms
If you bought 100 tickets today
Based on the 1,338,451 winning tickets still unclaimed.
15 win more than $10
$15 – $100, an actual profit
10 win their money back
a $10 prize, so you break even
75 win nothing
the house edge, made visible
Prizes of $500 or more hit about 1 in 1,209 tickets, so they won't show up in a batch of 100.
Value map
Where the $8.43 comes from
The average payback per ticket, split by prize size. Small wins do most of the work.
Small wins $10 – $500
$6.38 · 63.8% of price
Mid prizes $1K – $50K
$0.08 · 0.8% of price
Jackpots $5.2M+
$1.97 · 19.7% of price
Realistic return, jackpots set aside
64.6%
Just 2 tickets out of 5.3M carry the $5.2M+ prizes. This is your expected return if none of them is yours.
Most of the value pays out as
$10 – $500 wins
1,338,312 winning tickets remain in this range: 76% of total value, and the wins you'll actually see.
Claim progress
89% claimed, and the jackpots are still out there
Counting every ticket since launch, Jan 2025.
48.1M
tickets printed
42.8M
tickets claimed · 89%
5.3M
still out there
Prizes claimed over time
Claim chart needs more snapshot history
Jackpots are outlasting sales: good for buyers.
Jackpots left
33%
Tickets left
11%
33% of top prizes remain with only 11% 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 $10 NY peers
#1 of 14
By expected return. Higher is better for the player.
Figures from New York Lottery published claim data.
S
Scratchstats