History
If you’re interested in the history of Cash for Life, you can see a timeline of all the key events that have happened since the game’s launch. Find out when the lottery started, when each state began to sell tickets and when major changes have been introduced.
Pre-Launch
Before the current version of Cash for Life was established, another multi-state game went by the same name. The original Cash4Life was played between March 30, 1998 and September 7, 2000 and was very different, with ticket holders having to match sets of two-digit numbers. It was played in 11 states and had a top prize of $1,000 a week for life, with no cash option.
It was well over a decade later that Cash for Life was rolled out again in a new format:
April 18, 2024
An incredible win came in this draw, as the lucky New Jersey ticket holder who landed $1,000 a week revealed that he had recently received a message inside a fortune cookie that read ‘Believe in Miracles’. The anonymous winner had used a courier service to order his ticket, another development in the evolution of playing the lottery.
September 19, 2023
Robert Goldup from New York scored a remarkable Cash for Life win, as he netted the jackpot and three lots of the second prize. The Schenectady resident had played the same main numbers on all four lines, with a different Cash Ball for each. He took the cash option for each one, giving him a combined total of $10 million ($7 m + $1m + $1m + $1m) before taxes.
April 18, 2023
There were two winners of the top prize in this historic drawing, as one ticket holder from New Jersey and another from Tennessee both matched all the winning numbers. The jackpot was split between the lucky players.
April 11, 2021
Missouri became the tenth and final state to offer Cash for Life. Another multijurisdictional lottery – Lucky for Life – had been available in Missouri until April 8, 2021. In Missouri, you can also add the EZ Match option for an extra $1 for the chance to win up to $500 instantly.
March 16, 2020
As Covid-19 swept across the U.S. and the rest of the world, a statewide curfew began in New Jersey, where Cash for Life drawings are hosted. Drawings continued with extra safety procedures and social distancing, while an off-camera announcer was used rather than a draw host. The NJ Lottery extended the claims period for prize winners. Similar restrictions were implemented virtually everywhere, but ticket sales stayed strong.
July 1, 2019
Cash for Life underwent a significant change as the schedule moved from twice a week to daily draws. More than 142,000 prizes were paid out on this day.
May 15, 2017
The New Jersey Lottery introduced the Doubler feature, giving players the chance to double any non-jackpot prizes won. This was the first time that a state lottery had added such an option.
February 17, 2017
Tickets went on sale in Florida. The Florida Lottery is one of the biggest state lotteries in the U.S., contributing more than $1 billion to support education every year.
September 19, 2016
Just three weeks after Georgia’s arrival, Indiana became Cash for Life’s eighth participating state as the Hoosier Lottery began to sell tickets.
August 29, 2016
The number of Cash for Life states grew again as the Georgia Lottery jumped on board. More than 6,000 prizes were paid out to Georgians in the Peach State’s first draw.
January 26, 2016
The expansion of the game continued as Maryland entered Cash for Life during the winter of 2016. Ticket sales in the Old Line State help to raise money for the General Fund, which benefits education, healthcare and public safety sectors.
November 1, 2015
The Tennessee Lottery joined the four other Cash for Life states, selling tickets for the first time ahead of the draw on November 2, 2015. More than 9,000 players from the Volunteer State picked up prizes. You can also play Quick Cash in Tennessee to give you more chances to win.
May 3, 2015
Virginia rolled out Cash for Life - it replaced the multi-state game Decades of Dollars, which had run from January 2011 and was originally played in four jurisdictions before ending as a Virginia-only game.
April 7, 2015
Cash for Life got a third participating state lottery as tickets were put up for sale in Pennsylvania. It was launched just three months after the ‘Pick’ collection of games began in the state.
November 13, 2014
Joseph Ianiro and John Opaluch were named as the first New Jersey Cash for Life winners. They had teamed up to buy a ticket from Nick’s Quick Stop on Boulevard in Hasbrouck Heights and reacted by shouting at the television when they saw the numbers on the news. They decided to take the $7 million lump sum.
July 14, 2014
Retired Queens police officer Edna Aguayo became the first player to claim the Cash for Life jackpot. She said that she had won because a psychic at an amusement park had told her 16 years earlier to buy a ‘for life’ lottery ticket. “I thought I would win the second prize,” she said. “I didn’t think I was ever going to win the top prize.”
June 16, 2014
The first Cash for Life draw took place at the New Jersey Lottery’s headquarters at Lawrence Park in Trenton, with Erica Young as the host. The five main white balls drawn were 9, 36, 44, 53 and 59, and the green Cash Ball was 3. Nobody won the top prize. Cash for Life was initially just a twice-weekly lottery, taking place every Monday and Thursday.
June 13, 2014
Cash for Life, styled as Cash4Life, was officially launched as tickets went on sale in New York and New Jersey. The two state lotteries jointly established the game as a way to give players the chance to win $1,000 a day for life. The number matrix was the same at the outset as it is now, while the prizes available have stayed the same too.