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Poor valueActiveWIN FOR LIFE · $2 · New York Lottery
WIN FOR LIFE: Poor value. A $2 ticket pays back $1.00 on average.
▼ -16.5 pts vs launch#12 of 13 · $2 NY gamesUpdated Jun 16, 2026, 6:30 PM
▼ -16.5 pts vs launch#12 of 13 · $2 NY gamesUpdated Jun 16, 2026, 6:30 PM
WIN FOR LIFE is a $2 scratch-off ticket from the New York state lottery. Its current expected value is 50.0%, down 16.5 percentage points from the launch value of 66.5%. 1 of the original 5 $1K/WK/LIFE top prizes are still unclaimed. Approximately 88% of the 45.6M printed tickets have been sold.
50.0%
expected return
1 in 3.75
odds of any win
1 of 5
$1.0M jackpots left
88%
claimed · 40.3M of 45.6M printed
Odds, in plain terms
If you bought 100 tickets today
Based on the 1,400,049 winning tickets still unclaimed.
4 win more than $2
$4 – $200, an actual profit
22 win their money back
a $2 prize, so you break even
74 win nothing
the house edge, made visible
Prizes of $500 or more hit about 1 in 2,626,335 tickets, so they won't show up in a batch of 100.
Value map
Where the $1.00 comes from
The average payback per ticket, split by prize size. Small wins do most of the work.
Small wins $2 – $200
$0.80 · 40.1% of price
Mid prizes $3K
$0.00 · 0.0% of price
Jackpots $1.0M+
$0.20 · 9.9% of price
Realistic return, jackpots set aside
40.1%
Just 1 ticket out of 5.3M carry the $1.0M+ prizes. This is your expected return if none of them is yours.
Most of the value pays out as
$2 – $200 wins
1,400,047 winning tickets remain in this range: 80% of total value, and the wins you'll actually see.
Claim progress
88% claimed, and the jackpots are still out there
Counting every ticket since launch, Dec 2020.
45.6M
tickets printed
40.3M
tickets claimed · 88%
5.3M
still out there
Prizes claimed over time
Claim chart needs more snapshot history
Jackpots are outlasting sales: good for buyers.
Jackpots left
20%
Tickets left
12%
20% of top prizes remain with only 12% 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 $2 NY peers
#12 of 13
By expected return. Higher is better for the player.
Figures from New York Lottery published claim data, updated Jun 16, 2026, 6:30 PM.
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