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Average valueActiveWIN FOR LIFE · $2 · New York Lottery
WIN FOR LIFE: Average value. A $2 ticket pays back $1.36 on average.
▼ -3.0 pts vs launch#1 of 12 · $2 NY gamesUpdated Aug 1, 2026, 12:31 AM
▼ -3.0 pts vs launch#1 of 12 · $2 NY gamesUpdated Aug 1, 2026, 12:31 AM
WIN FOR LIFE is a $2 scratch-off ticket from the New York state lottery. Its current expected value is 68.0%, down 3.0 percentage points from the launch value of 71.0%. 5 of the original 10 $1,000/WEEK/LIFE top prizes are still unclaimed. Approximately 51% of the 48.1M printed tickets have been sold.
68.0%
expected return
1 in 3.97
odds of any win
5 of 10
$1.0M jackpots left
51%
claimed · 24.5M of 48.1M printed
Odds, in plain terms
If you bought 100 tickets today
Based on the 5,950,544 winning tickets still unclaimed.
8 win more than $2
$4 – $200, an actual profit
17 win their money back
a $2 prize, so you break even
75 win nothing
the house edge, made visible
Prizes of $500 or more hit about 1 in 421,915 tickets, so they won't show up in a batch of 100.
Value map
Where the $1.36 comes from
The average payback per ticket, split by prize size. Small wins do most of the work.
Small wins $2 – $200
$1.14 · 56.8% of price
Mid prizes $3K
$0.01 · 0.3% of price
Jackpots $1.0M+
$0.22 · 11.0% of price
Realistic return, jackpots set aside
57.0%
Just 5 tickets out of 23.6M 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
5,950,488 winning tickets remain in this range: 83% of total value, and the wins you'll actually see.
Claim progress
51% claimed, and the jackpots are still out there
Counting every ticket since launch, Aug 2024.
48.1M
tickets printed
24.5M
tickets claimed · 51%
23.6M
still out there
Prizes claimed over time
Claim chart needs more snapshot history
Jackpots are outlasting sales: good for buyers.
Jackpots left
50%
Tickets left
49%
50% of top prizes remain with only 49% 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
#1 of 12
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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