Is the $5 Millionaire for Life a better deal than the old $2 Cash4Life?
When Millionaire for Life replaced Cash4Life on February 22, 2026, the price went from $2 to $5 and the top prize went from $1,000 a day for life ($365,000 a year) to $1 million a year for life. Run both prize tables through the same math and the per-dollar value barely moves. At cash value, Millionaire for Life returns about 52.9 cents of each dollar in expected prizes. Cash4Life returned about 52.4 cents.
| Cash4Life (ended February 21, 2026) | Millionaire for Life | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $2 | $5 |
| Numbers | 5 of 60, Cash Ball 1 to 4 | 5 of 58, Millionaire Ball 1 to 5 |
| Top prize | $1,000 a day for life | $1,000,000 a year for life |
| Top prize cash option | $7,000,000 | $18,000,000 |
| Top prize odds | 1 in 21,846,048 | 1 in 22,910,580 |
| Second prize | $1,000 a week for life ($1,000,000 cash) | $100,000 a year for life ($2,200,000 cash) |
| Second prize odds | 1 in 7,282,016 | 1 in 5,727,645 |
| Overall odds | 1 in 7.76 | 1 in 8.47 |
| Expected return per $1, cash value | 52.4 cents | 52.9 cents |
Look at the parts and they match almost exactly. The seven smaller prize levels return about 29.5 cents per dollar in both games. The top prize's cash value works out to 16.0 cents per dollar on Cash4Life and 15.7 cents on Millionaire for Life. The second prize is a little richer now, 7.7 cents against 6.9. The new game is basically the old one scaled up. The price and the big prizes grew by about the same factor, while the odds stayed close.
The difference is in how that value arrives. A player who spent $10 a night on Cash4Life bought five tickets, at 1 in 7.76 each, and could expect about 0.64 winning tickets a night. The same $10 now buys two Millionaire for Life tickets at 1 in 8.47, about 0.24 winners a night. The shot at the top prize shrinks too. Five Cash4Life tickets gave about a 1 in 4.4 million chance at $1,000 a day. Two Millionaire for Life tickets give about a 1 in 11.5 million chance at $1 million a year.
What a player gets in return is size. The annual top prize is about 2.7 times larger, $1 million against $365,000, and the cash option is about 2.6 times larger, $18 million against $7 million. Millionaire for Life also guarantees the annual payments for at least 20 years, so a winner's estate collects even if the winner dies early. Drawings are held nightly.
It does hit. According to Multi-State Lottery Association results in our database, Millionaire for Life has produced three top-prize winners and eight second-prize winners in its first 228 nightly drawings, through October 7, 2026, including a quick pick sold in Maple Heights and an Ingham County woman who won $100,000 a year.
So is the $5 ticket worth it over the old $2 one? For value per dollar, it's a wash. For a player who liked frequent small wins on a few dollars a night, the old game was better, since each dollar bought two and a half times as many tickets. For someone playing only for a life-changing prize, the new one offers a much bigger one at roughly the same price per dollar of chance. Our guide to playing Millionaire for Life covers all nine prize levels.
How we did this. Cash4Life prizes and odds are from the New York Lottery's official odds sheet, and its cash options are from Wikipedia's Cash4Life page. Millionaire for Life prizes, odds, and cash options are from Wikipedia's Millionaire for Life page, checked against draw data in our database. Expected return multiplies each prize by its exact odds, counting the two lifetime prizes at their cash options, then divides by the ticket price; it ignores taxes, shared top prizes, and Cash4Life's optional $1 add-on. Overall odds for Millionaire for Life are computed from its prize table. Winner counts are drawings in our database from February 22 through October 7, 2026.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is Millionaire for Life better than Cash4Life?
Per dollar spent, they are nearly identical. At cash value, Millionaire for Life returns about 52.9 cents per dollar and Cash4Life returned about 52.4 cents. Millionaire for Life has a bigger top prize but costs $5, so each dollar buys fewer chances.
What replaced Cash4Life?
Millionaire for Life, a $5 nightly game from the Multi-State Lottery Association that began February 22, 2026. Cash4Life and Lucky for Life held their final drawings the night before, and most states that sold them switched to the new game.
What are the odds of winning Millionaire for Life compared with Cash4Life?
The top prize is 1 in 22,910,580 on Millionaire for Life, against 1 in 21,846,048 on Cash4Life. Because a Millionaire for Life ticket costs $5 instead of $2, $10 now buys a 1 in 11.5 million chance instead of 1 in 4.4 million.
Phil Nageotte is a writer covering scratch-off odds, expected value, prize data, and more. He joined ScratchCheck in 2026 after years of tracking lottery payouts in spreadsheets of his own.
