As of November 14th, 2022, the New Jersey Lottery pays winners fixed prize amounts to players who have pick 3 tickets that match the winning numbers for the play type they choose.
This Fireball feature gives players an additional opportunity to create winning combinations.
The top prize (matching all 5 numbers drawn) is a progressive jackpot that starts at an estimated $100,000.
In September 2003, two numbers were added to make Jersey Cash 5 a 5/40 game, and the top prize level was changed to a progressive jackpot.
This feature gives players the opportunity to multiply their non-jackpot winnings up to 5 times by matching 3 or 4 out of 5 numbers.
The “XTRA” feature originally awarded a $2 prize for matching 2 of the six numbers drawn.
On April 7, 2022, the game matrix scaled back to the 6/46 matrix, the price increased to $2 per play and a new feature called Double Play added to the game, giving players additional chance to win up to $250,000, with other prizes being reduced.
[17][18][19][20] On October 1, 2018, Quick Draw's Bullseye feature was launched giving players higher chances of winning.
Drawings are held live from New Jersey every evening at 9 pm Eastern Time on Livestream.
[28][29] Unusually, New Jersey requires players to choose cash or annuity when playing Cash4Life, instead of after winning.
On January 31, 2010, many MUSL members (until then offering only Powerball) joined Mega Millions; likewise, most Mega Millions members added Powerball; New Jersey offered both games as of the cross-sell expansion date.
The largest prize won on a ticket sold in New Jersey was for the March 26, 2024, Mega Millions drawing.
On March 13, 2010, New Jersey became the first previously Mega Millions-only jurisdiction to produce a jackpot ticket for Powerball after the cross-sell expansion.
On January 15, 2012, the most recent format change for Powerball included a price increase; games are $2 each, or $3 with Power Play.
Unusually, for Pick-6 (as well as for Cash4Life, Mega Millions, and Powerball within New Jersey), players must choose cash or annuity when playing, instead of after winning.
There is no annuity option in Jersey Cash 5, as its jackpot shares are paid in lump sum.
[33] The original version of the game was called 5 Card Lotto, and was offered from January 11, 1988, to September 18, 1990.
A ticket with any game matching all five cards won (or shared) the cash jackpot, which started at $200,000 and remained there until sales supported a higher top prize.
Unusual at the time, 5 Card Lotto drawings were originally broadcast during the early afternoon, before being shifted to evenings.
The second play was called "Win Tonight", where a nightly jackpot drawing similar to the prior version of the game by matching at least two of the five cards drawn via random number generator would win a cash prize.
An additional $1 bet called "All In" added to the prizes for the "Win Now" play, with a royal flush winning an additional progressive jackpot which started at $10,000, while a straight flush added 10% of the jackpot value to the prize.
[35] In addition, any remaining amount for the "All In" prize pool was carried forward into the Fast Play progressive Jackpot.
It was unpopular with players, who felt the rules, which featured a combination of player- and machine-selected numbers, were too complex and confusing.
On June 4, 2012, the live drawings from the New Jersey Lottery's Ustream channel moved to Livestream.
[39] On July 1, 2014, the New Jersey Lottery live drawings moved to WPIX/channel 11 (New York City) and WPHL/channel 17 (Philadelphia), both of which are formerly owned by Tribune Broadcasting.
[41] On the same day, the lottery announced that it would no longer televise midday drawings on WPIX & WPHL.
[43] On June 22, 2020, the New Jersey State Lottery announced that it would no longer broadcast drawings on WPIX and WPHL, but still live stream them on their website, Facebook page, Youtube channel and Livestream.
[46] All NJ Lottery Drawings are under the observation of Mercadien P.C., a CPA and Asset Management firm.
‡ Live drawings take place on Livestream, NJ Lottery's Facebook page and Youtube channel.
† Live drawings take place on WABC-TV (on some occasions), WXTV-DT (in Spanish), and WTXF-TV.