Straight vs Box in Numbers and Win 4
How Straight and Box bets work in New York's Numbers and Win 4, how many ways each can win, and the odds for every kind of combination.
Numbers (three digits) and Win 4 (four digits) are New York's daily digit games, drawn at 2:30 pm and 10:30 pm. Unlike the jackpot games, order can matter, and you choose whether it does when you bet.
Straight
A Straight bet wins only if the digits come out in exactly your order. There are 1,000 possible Numbers results (000 to 999) and 10,000 possible Win 4 results (0000 to 9999), so the odds are 1 in 1,000 and 1 in 10,000. Straight pays the most of any bet type.
Box
A Box bet wins if your digits come out in any order. How many orders there are depends on whether your digits repeat:
| Game | Your digits | Example | Winning orders | Odds (1 in) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Numbers | All different | 123 | 6 | 167 |
| Numbers | One repeated | 112 | 3 | 333 |
| Win 4 | All different | 1234 | 24 | 417 |
| Win 4 | One pair | 1123 | 12 | 833 |
| Win 4 | Two pairs | 1122 | 6 | 1,667 |
| Win 4 | Three of a kind | 1112 | 4 | 2,500 |
More winning orders means better odds but a smaller prize, because the payout is split to reflect the easier win. Triples like 777 or quads like 7777 have only one order, so they can only be played Straight.
Straight/Box and Combination
A Straight/Box bet splits your stake: half on Straight, half on Box. If the exact order comes up you win both parts. A Combination bet buys every Straight order of your digits as separate plays. It costs more, but pays the full Straight prize whichever order is drawn.
How often do repeats come up?
People are often surprised by doubles. In Numbers, a result with at least one repeated digit should happen 28% of the time. Our history shows 28.1% across 25,819 draws since 1980. In Win 4 the expected figure is 49.6%; the history shows 49.5%. Don't be put off picking a number with a repeat just because it looks unlikely.