Lucky for Life (LFL) is a lottery drawing game, which, as of June 28, 2021, is available in 22 states and the

District of Columbia ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

. Lucky for Life, which began in 2009 in Connecticut as ''Lucky-4-Life'', became a

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

–wide game three years later, and added eleven lotteries during 2015. LFL's slogan is "The Game of a Lifetime". Drawings are performed by the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) using a digital drawing system to pick the numbers . Lucky for Life is drawn nightly (7 days a week) at approximately 10:30 p.m.

Eastern Time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small port ...

. Lucky for Life was modified on September 17, 2013, adding a second "lifetime" prize tier, and a cash option for either annuity tier; LFL was modified again in January 2015 to its current format. Each Lucky for Life play costs $2. The

joined Lucky for Life (the first member added without changing the game's double matrix) on February 15, 2015,

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

on March 22, 2015,

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

on November 15, 2015,

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

on January 24, 2016,

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

on February 7, 2016,

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

on February 26, 2016,

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

on July 17, 2016,

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

on November 15, 2016,

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

on December 4, 2016,

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

on June 4, 2017,

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

on August 20, 2017, and

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

on February 25, 2018. This gave Lucky for Life 26 members. As of June 28, 2021, Missouri, South Carolina, and Minnesota have dropped out of Lucky for Life, with Missouri switching to the rival "cash 4 life"

First and second-prize payouts

Unlike other American lottery games (the exception being the 10-state

Cash4Life Cash4Life is an American multi-jurisdictional lottery drawing game; as of April 2021, it is offered by ten state lotteries, and is drawn nightly. Ticket sales began on June 13, 2014, in New York and New Jersey; the first drawing took place thr ...

) Lucky for Life offers two annuitized prize levels; both are advertised as "lifetime" prizes. Beginning with the 2013 game modification, a first-prize winner can choose

cash In economics, cash is money in the physical form of currency, such as banknotes and coins. In bookkeeping and financial accounting, cash is current assets comprising currency or currency equivalents that can be accessed immediately or near-imm ...

in lieu of the lifetime annuity; second-prize winners also are offered a cash option. A first-prize winner, if the annuity is chosen, receives, or shares, the equivalent of "$365,000 a YEAR, FOR LIFE" (the timing of the payments is according to the rules where the ticket was sold), with a 20-year guarantee; if the winner dies, payments continue to the winner's estate. Second prize is $25,000 A YEAR, FOR LIFE. Lucky for Life's double matrix, used beginning in January 2015, is 5 of 48 white balls and 1 of 18 green "Lucky Balls". The original, Connecticut-only version, was 4 of 39 white balls and 1 of 19 green balls; hence the name ''Lucky-4-Life''. The format upon the change to its current name was 5/40 + 1/21; the 2013 game modification (including the new second "lifetime" prize tier and the introduction of a cash option) had 43 balls in each of the two drums. The 5/43 + 1/43 version never produced a top prize-winning ticket; the first winner under the current matrix was sold in

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

for the November 19, 2015 drawing. The winner, who claimed the prize anonymously under SCEL rules, was the first winner to choose cash in lieu of the annuity for the game's ''top prize'', as all previous top prize winners are receiving their winnings under the game's pre-2013 rules.

Odds and prizes

A player wins a prize according to the following chart (effective January 27, 2015): † First-prize cash option is $5,750,000; multiple winners share the top prize regardless of payment option(s) chosen. Second-prize cash option is $390,000. The cash option amounts are decided by a unanimous vote of the LFL lotteries; these amounts are posted at least 30 days before the change(s) occur. ‡ Second and third prizes also have liability limits. The prize pool is approximately 60 percent of sales. The overall odds of winning are 1:7.8.

Participating lotteries

Twenty-two states and D.C. currently participate in Lucky for Life. Three states formerly participated in the drawing but have since stopped. † Original member; game started as ''Lucky-4-Life''. Connecticut continues to host the drawings. ‡ The minimum age to play Lucky for Life in Iowa is 21, while in Nebraska it is 19; elsewhere it is 18.

Former members

Missouri ended sales of Lucky for Life on April 8, 2021, switching to ''

'' three days later.

and

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

left Lucky For Life after the drawing on June 28, 2021.

References

External links