A Weekend for Numbers: Did Your Ticket Hit the Jackpot?
The first weekend of the new year brought the usual anticipation across the Garden State as New Jersey Lottery players eagerly waited for the latest draw results. From the daily numbers games to the coveted multi-state jackpot, Saturday, January 3, was a night of opportunity for residents hoping to turn a simple ticket into a life-changing windfall.
Here is a roundup of the winning numbers for the evening draw for Pick-3, Pick-4, Cash 5, and Cash4Life, along with a look at some of the major prize potential for the night.
The Saturday Night Lineup
The daily numbers games are always a popular draw, and the Saturday evening results for **Pick-3** featured the winning combination of 3, 6, 9, with a Bonus number of 7. In the **Pick-4** game, the winning numbers were 3, 3, 4, 5, and the Bonus number was also 7.
Moving on to the larger prize pools, the multi-state **Cash4Life** game offered its signature top prize: $1,000 a day for life. The winning numbers for the Saturday draw were 3, 9, 24, 35, 59, and the Cash Ball was 1. While a top-tier prize winner was not immediately announced, thousands of players across the nine participating states secured smaller cash prizes by matching some of the numbers.
For players focused on the in-state jackpot, the **Jersey Cash 5** game was also on the line, with an estimated jackpot of $465,000 for the night’s drawing. [cite: 3 from step 3] The game requires players to match all five numbers drawn from 1 to 45, plus the XTRA number, to claim the grand prize.
New Year, New Millionaires in New Jersey
The excitement of the Saturday draw follows what has been an excellent start to the year for some lucky New Jerseyans. Just days earlier, a player in Hudson County celebrated a massive win, pocketing the $3 million top prize on a “Win for Life!” Scratch-Off game. [cite: 6 from step 2] These big local wins serve as a potent reminder that the possibility of becoming a millionaire is a daily reality for players in the Garden State.
More Than Just a Game: Supporting the State
For New Jersey, the lottery is about more than just big payouts; it’s a critical source of state revenue. Since its inception, the New Jersey Lottery has contributed billions of dollars to the state. In recent fiscal years, the Lottery has consistently contributed over $1 billion annually, and those funds are dedicated entirely to supporting the public employee pension system. [cite: 2 from step 2, 4 from step 2] This means that every ticket sold helps fund the retirement benefits for essential workers, including teachers, police officers, and firefighters, bolstering the state’s pension fund. Furthermore, the statewide network of retailers who sell the tickets also benefits significantly, earning hundreds of millions in commissions and bonuses each year. [cite: 2 from step 2]
Whether you walked away a winner or are waiting for the next drawing, the New Jersey Lottery remains a central, and beneficial, part of the state’s financial landscape.