The NJ Lottery Pick 4 has been around since 1977. The first game was the Pick 3, but the Pick 4 was the third game overall and the second number selection lottery game of the state. Although the NJ Lottery Pick 4 is thriving thirty-five years later from its start in 1977, it has endured low enthusiasm about the amount of payouts and faces stiff competition from other big New Jersey lottery games.

To illustrate why enthusiasm about payouts is so low, consider the fact that despite a daily drawing twice a day, the Pick 4 payouts are minor compared to the other goliath lotteries in the state. For instance, the current payouts for the other lotteries are as follows; Powerball: $50 million, Mega Million: $27 million, and the Pick 6 Lotto: $5.4 million. In comparison, the payout for the NJ Lottery Pick 4 is much lower than the other lotteries' payouts. According to the New Jersey lottery website, in 2012 the average daily amount of winnings associated with the Pick 4 game in 2012 was just over $2,700 if the numbers are guessed in the exact order they are picked and $183 if the numbers are guessed correctly in any order they are picked.

Despite direct competition from New Jersey's other lotteries and the lack of enthusiasm about Pick 4 payouts, the NJ Lottery Pick 4 holds up very well. If you were to ask the leadership of New Jersey, they would respond that there should be no questions about the relevance of the Pick 4 lottery in the day and age of the state's other big lottery games, Powerball, Mega Millions, and the Pick-6 Lotto. For example, in fiscal year 2011, the NJ Lottery Pick 4 earned the third highest portion of total sales revenue out of all of the state's lotteries. In fact, the Pick 4 game accounted for $258.28 million in revenue or 9.8% of the total lottery sales. During this same period, the state's Powerball, Mega Millions, and Pick 6 Lotto games accounted for 5%, 8.7%, and 2.6% of total lottery sales respectively. Out of the seven lottery games used to earn revenue in New Jersey, Mega Millions ranked fourth, Powerball ranked sixth, and Pick 6 Lotto ranked seventh in portion of total lottery sales.

In closing, it is easy to see why the state's leadership feels that the NJ Lottery Pick 4 game is still relevant after 35 years. Despite a national branding for Powerball and Mega Millions, the lure of trying to guess a combination of 5 numbers out of 56 is less attractive than guessing a combination of 4 numbers out of 40. In the end, when it comes to lottery relevance, the old age adage that says 'It's all about the odds' holds true. In other words, what makes NJ Lottery Pick 4 relevant after 35 years is not the payout; but rather the ease at which an individual player could