The box ladder is a pricing table, not a difficulty ranking you can beat. A 4-way box pays six times a 24-way box because it wins six times less often. Both return roughly 48 cents per dollar over any long run, and so does the straight.
The game at a glance
4 digits, 0–9 each
10,000 possible results, repeats allowed, order counts.
2 a day
Every day. Midday 2:30 p.m. ET · Evening 10:30 p.m. ET — 14 draws a week.
1 in 10,000
The same for every one of the possible results, including the one you picked.
Fixed amounts
Printed in advance and paid in full to every winner. $5,000 for a $1 straight.
$0.50 or $1 a play
Operated by the New York Lottery.
18+
Must be 18+ to buy a New York Lottery draw-game ticket.
Win 4, in brief
Win 4 is the New York Lottery's four-digit daily game, the companion to its three-digit NUMBERS. Four digits are drawn, each 0 to 9, giving 10,000 equally likely results and a $5,000 top prize on a dollar.
It runs on exactly the schedule NUMBERS does: midday at 2:30 p.m. and evening at 10:30 p.m., seven days a week, sales closing ten to fifteen minutes before each draw. The two games share a play slip and a broadcast.
Plays cost 50¢ or $1, prizes are fixed rather than pooled, and the slip carries straight, four grades of box, straight/box, combination and a two-digit pair bet. Nothing about a Win 4 prize depends on how many other people won it.
Every bet type, with the odds
| Bet type | Winning arrangements | Odds | Share of draws | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| StraightAll four digits in the exact order drawn. | 1 | 1 in 10,000 | $5,000 on a $1 play, $2,500 on 50¢ | |
| 24-Way BoxFour unique digits in any order. | 24 | 1 in 417 | $200 on a $1 play, $100 on 50¢ | |
| 12-Way BoxOne digit repeated, two others different. | 12 | 1 in 833 | $400 on a $1 play, $200 on 50¢ | |
| 6-Way BoxTwo identical pairs. | 6 | 1 in 1,667 | $800 on a $1 play, $400 on 50¢ | |
| 4-Way BoxThree identical digits and one other. The fewest orderings of the four, and the largest box prize. | 4 | 1 in 2,500 | $1,200 on a $1 play, $600 on 50¢ | |
| Straight/24-Way BoxStraight and box on one ticket. Exact order collects both prizes. | 24 | 1 in 417 | $2,600 in exact order (1 in 10,000), $100 in any other order | |
| Straight/12-Way BoxThe combined ticket on a number with one repeated digit. | 12 | 1 in 833 | $2,700 in exact order (1 in 10,000), $200 in any other order | |
| Straight/6-Way BoxThe combined ticket on two identical pairs. | 6 | 1 in 1,667 | $2,900 in exact order (1 in 10,000), $400 in any other order | |
| Straight/4-Way BoxThe combined ticket on three of a kind. | 4 | 1 in 2,500 | $3,100 in exact order (1 in 10,000), $600 in any other order | |
| 24-Way CombinationEvery ordering bought as its own straight, so any order pays the full $5,000. | 24 | 1 in 417 | $5,000 on a $24 play, $2,500 on $12 | |
| 12-Way CombinationTwelve straights covering a number with one repeated digit. | 12 | 1 in 833 | $5,000 on a $12 play, $2,500 on $6 | |
| 6-Way CombinationSix straights covering two identical pairs. | 6 | 1 in 1,667 | $5,000 on a $6 play, $2,500 on $3 | |
| 4-Way CombinationFour straights covering three of a kind. | 4 | 1 in 2,500 | $5,000 on a $4 play, $2,500 on $2 | |
| Front PairA separate two-digit bet on the first two positions, in order. The last two digits are free. | 100 | 1 in 100 | $50 on a $1 play, $25 on 50¢ | |
| Back PairThe same two-digit bet on the last two positions. | 100 | 1 in 100 | $50 on a $1 play, $25 on 50¢ |
The Instant Win add-on
An extra $1 per play buys a set of numbers printed on the ticket itself, matched against your selections for up to $500. Overall odds 1 in 5.30, settled at the counter, with your draw entry unaffected.
Where Win 4 came from
Adding a digit
Win 4 followed the three-digit game in New York for the same reason it did everywhere else: the retail network, the play slips and the audience were already in place, and one more digit turns a $500 top prize into a $5,000 one without changing how the draw works.
Four repeat patterns instead of two
The one part of the format that genuinely had to grow was the box. A three-digit number is a 6-way or a 3-way and that is all. A four-digit number can have four different digits, one repeated pair, two repeated pairs, or three of a kind, so New York's slip carries a 24-way, a 12-way, a 6-way and a 4-way box.
Pairs, but only two of them
New York sells a front pair and a back pair on Win 4, each covering a hundred of the ten thousand results. It does not sell a mid pair, though the middle two digits exist and some states do offer it. That is a straightforward policy difference, not a mathematical one.
The counter game on top
New York's Instant Win add-on is the modern layer. For an extra dollar the ticket becomes a small scratch-style bet that resolves immediately, with its own published odds of 1 in 5.30. It is a separate wager sold alongside the draw, not a modifier of it.
Playing digits, honestly
Win 4's odds are far shorter than any jackpot game's: 1 in 10,000 for the top prize, against hundreds of millions to one. Shorter odds are not a better bet. The top prize is $5,000, and the payout percentage is the number that decides value.
A combination and a box cover exactly the same results. What differs is that a combination is 24 tickets at 24 times the price, paying the full straight prize instead of a reduced one.
Quadruples like 7777 are not excluded and are not special. There are ten of them among the 10,000 results, and each is exactly as likely as 3-8-1-6.
Win 4 — frequently asked
A straight is 1 in 10,000, because the draw has exactly ten thousand results. Box odds depend on your number's pattern: 24-way is 1 in 417, 12-way 1 in 833, 6-way 1 in 1,667 and 4-way 1 in 2,500. A front or back pair is 1 in 100.
Midday at 2:30 p.m. and evening at 10:30 p.m. ET, every day. Sales close fifteen minutes before the midday draw and ten before the evening one. The two draws are independent and pay identically.
$5,000 on a $1 play and $2,500 on 50¢. New York's Win 4 prizes are fixed amounts, so a heavily played number pays every holder in full rather than splitting a pool.
Because it happens half as often. Two repeated pairs, like 1-1-2-2, have only six arrangements out of 10,000, while one repeated digit has twelve. New York pays $800 against $400 to match, and the two work out to the same return.
No. New York offers a front pair and a back pair and nothing in between, even though a four-digit number has a middle two. Some states, Florida and Texas among them, do sell a mid pair; New York's slip does not.