The New Jersey Lottery has been “Giving Dreams a Chance” since 1970. Over $28 billion has gone to state initiatives, including retirement benefits for teachers, police officers, and firefighters, as well as other community projects. Voters overwhelmingly supported plans to establish a state lottery in 1969 and the rest, as they say, is history.
Even though New Jersey was at the forefront of the quest to repeal PASPA – The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act – to get legalized sports betting started in the United States, the Lottery has not been as aggressive in changing with the times. New Jersey Lottery tickets can still only be purchased at approved retailers, with two notable exceptions.
Jackpocket, Jackpot.com, and Lotto.com are licensed retailers in New Jersey, so tickets can be purchased through those third-party sellers. New Jersey does not directly sell tickets online or mobile through its lottery.
New Jersey Lottery Games
The New Jersey Lottery features nine draw games and also offers Fast Play and Instant-Win Scratch-Offs through the state’s retailers. The state has a mobile app, as well as a VIP Players Club where players can earn reward points and enter second-chance promotions.
The lottery is only available to players 18 or older.
New Jersey Lottery Draw Games
Powerball
Since 2010, New Jersey has been one of the states to participate in Powerball drawings on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. ET. Players pick numbers ranging from 1 to 69 and a Powerball from 1 to 26 for $2 per play. New Jersey also offers the $1 optional add-on for the Power Play, which is a multiplier of non-Jackpot prizes.
New Jersey also offers Double Play, which is a second draw that follows the main Powerball draw and features a top prize of $10 million.
The Powerball Jackpot starts at $20 million and grows from there if no winners of the grand prize are selected.
Ticket sales for the NJ Lottery’s Powerball drawings are cut off at 9:59 p.m. ET.
Mega Millions
New Jersey was the seventh adopter of Mega Millions and the first outside of the original six states of Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Virginia. That happened in May 1999.
Mega Millions numbers are drawn on Tuesday and Friday at 11 p.m. ET and the Jackpot begins at $20 million and grows until a grand prize winner is found. Ticket sales are cut off about 15 minutes before the drawing.
With Mega Millions, numbers from 1 to 70 are selected, plus a Mega Ball from 1 to 25. Each play costs $2 with an optional $1 add-on for the Megaplier, a multiplier of non-Jackpot prizes.
New Jersey also offers a “Just The Jackpot” draw for $3 with two lines to win all or nothing.
Cash 4 Life
A lot of states have either Lucky For Life or Cash 4 Life. In New Jersey, it is Cash 4 Life, a daily drawing where players can win $1,000 a day for life by matching all six numbers. The second prize is $1,000 a week for life by matching all five of the basic numbers, which range from 1 to 60. The Cash Ball bonus ball is from 1 to 4.
Each play costs $2 with a Doubler optional add-on for another $1. New Jersey is the only state that offers the Doubler option with Cash 4 Life. Drawings are held every night around 9 p.m. ET for this game and ticket sales are cut off about 15 minutes prior.
Cash 4 Life is played in Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Virginia. New Jersey was an original member on June 13, 2014.
Pick 6 with Double Play
The New Jersey Lottery’s state-specific six-number lotto draw game is called Pick 6. Numbers range from 1 to 46 and each play costs $2, which includes the XTRA multiplier of non-Jackpot prizes for free. There is a Double Play option with this game for a second drawing with prizes up to $250,000.
This game is drawn on Monday and Thursday around 11 p.m. ET, with ticket sales cut off seven minutes before the draw.
The Jackpot begins at $2 million for this game and grows from there based on the previous draw results.
Jersey Cash 5
The NJ Lottery also has Jersey Cash 5, which is a five-number draw game ranging from 1 to 45. One of the balls will be the “Bullseye” number, which is automatically included in the $2 base ticket price. The XTRA multiplier is not included with this game and costs another $1 to put into effect to multiply the non-Jackpot prizes.
Jersey Cash 5 drawings are held every night around 10:57 p.m. ET and ticket sales cut off a few minutes prior.
Pick 4
Like most states, the New Jersey Lottery offers a Pick 4 drawing multiple times per day. In NJ, there is a Midday Drawing around 1 p.m. ET and an Evening Drawing just before 11 p.m. ET. The wrinkle for Pick 4 is that it includes “Fireball” in NJ, which is an optional add-on that doubles the cost of a ticket, but creates more ways to win prizes.
Also, NJ offers the “Instant Match” option for an extra $1 per play to win up to $500 instantly.
With Pick 4, four numbers are drawn ranging from 0 to 9 to produce a four-digit number. Players can choose to play Straight, Box, Straight/Box, Wheel, Front Pair, or Back Pair, with each play ranging from 50 cents to $5.
Pick 3
NJ also has a Pick 3 drawing twice a day at the same times as the Pick 4. Fireball is also included in this game, as is the Instant Match. Numbers can be played Straight, Box, or Pair in this game, with each play ranging from 50 cents to $5.
Instant Match is available for $1 once again with this game. The Fireball option replaces one of the numbers in your ticket for additional ways to win.
Drawings are around 1 p.m. ET and 11 p.m. ET.
Cash Pop
The NJ Lottery is also one of the state lotteries to add Cash Pop. It is a game drawn every four minutes with 15 numbers. Players can pick anywhere from 1 to all 15 numbers. Prizes are randomly selected by the lottery terminal, but each prize will be at least 5 times the wager amount.
The prizes go as high as 250 times the player’s wager. Wager amounts can be $1, $2, $5, $10, or $20 per number and players can choose to have multiple draws per ticket. The prizes and the winning number are randomly selected.
Quick Draw Progressive
Quick Draw is the nickname for Keno for the New Jersey Lottery. Drawings take place every four minutes. Players pick spots out of 80 numbers and can pick up to 10 spots. There are several different multipliers for this game, including BULLSEYE, Double BULLSEYE, and the aptly-named “Multiplier”.
With each Quick Draw, 20 numbers are randomly selected by the lottery and players win by matching as many spots as possible out of the numbers that they have picked or had the computer Quick Pick for them.
Quick Draw wager amounts are $1, $2, $3, $4, $5, or $10.
New Jersey Fast Play Games
Players can go to an approved lottery retailer location and get Fast Play games, which are essentially scratchless scratch-off tickets where matching symbols or like prize amounts results in a winner. These games are randomly selected by the computer at time or purchase.
New Jersey Fast Play Games range from $1 to $20 and there are upwards of a dozen games active at any time.
New Jersey Scratch-Offs
Dozens of scratch-off tickets are available with the New Jersey Lottery, including a lot of themed games based on the upcoming holiday and season. NJ Lottery scratchers cost $1, $2, $3, $5, $10, $20, $25, or $30, depending on the risk amount and the size of the prizes.
The NJ Lottery website and some retailers have the remaining prizes available for all of the active games.
New Jersey Lottery App
The NJ Lottery App is available in both the Apple Store and the Google Play Store. Lottery tickets cannot be purchased through the app, but ePlayslips can be created to save time when getting to an approved NJ Lottery retailer.
The app also allows players to scan and see if their existing tickets are winners, find the latest number draws, and scan non-winning tickets to get their reward points and enter second-chance promotions.
Within the NJ Lottery App, players can also join the VIP Club and get prizes and perks that way.
While the NJ Lottery App does not directly sell tickets, players can buy tickets through third-party sellers Jackpocket and Jackpot.com.
How To Claim New Jersey Lottery Prizes
There are multiple ways to claim New Jersey Lottery prizes.
Prizes of $599.99 and below can be claimed at any NJ Lottery retailer.
Prizes over $599.99 can be claimed through the mail or at one of the NJ Lottery offices. The NJ Lottery website and app have instructional videos and FAQs on how to go through the process.
Prizes of $10,000 up to $500,000 are subject to a 5% state withholding tax. Any prize in excess of $500,000 is subject to an 8% state tax withholding, along with the usual federal taxes.
New Jersey Lottery Frequently Asked Questions
Can New Jersey Lottery Tickets Be Purchased Online?
Yes, but only through third-party sellers like Jackpocket, Jackpot.com, and Lotto.com.
The New Jersey Lottery does not directly sell online or mobile lottery tickets.
How Many New Jersey Lottery Retailers Are There?
There are more than 6,500 approved lottery retailers in the state of New Jersey.
How Old Do I Have To Be To Play The New Jersey Lottery?
Players must be 18 years of age or older.