What Is Ham4Ham? How the $10 Hamilton Lottery Works in 2026
Ham4Ham is the $10 ticket lottery for Hamilton. Alexander Hamilton is on the $10 bill, so winners pay “a Hamilton for Hamilton.” On Broadway you enter online at HamiltonMusical.com or in the official Hamilton app between Friday at 10 a.m. Eastern and the following Thursday at noon, and winners get front-row orchestra seats for $10 each. The North American tour runs its own $10 lottery in each city it visits.
This guide explains how the lottery works today, how it differs on Broadway and on tour, what happens after you win, and where the name came from.
How the Ham4Ham lottery works on Broadway
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| Where to enter | HamiltonMusical.com or the official Hamilton app. Choose New York, then pick performances. |
| Entry window | Opens Friday at 10 a.m. Eastern for the following week. Closes Thursday at noon. |
| How many entries | One entry per person per performance. You can enter every performance you are able to attend. |
| Tickets per winner | One or two. Pairs may be split if two together are not available. |
| Price | $10 per ticket |
| Seats | Front rows of the orchestra at the Richard Rodgers Theatre |
| Results | Thursday afternoon, by email and app notification, to winners and non-winners |
| Claim window | Two hours to claim and pay by credit or debit card. Unclaimed tickets are forfeited. |
| Pickup | At the box office with a valid photo ID matching the name drawn |
Time Out’s guide to the lottery counted 46 lottery seats in the first two rows at each Broadway performance. The producers have changed the details several times since 2015, so read the terms shown on the entry screen for your performance before you rely on any number here.
Two details people miss
First, the two-hour claim window is strict. If the notification arrives while you are in a meeting or on a flight, the seats go back to the box office. Set your phone so the Hamilton app can send notifications, and keep your card handy on Thursday afternoon.
Second, the name on your entry has to match your ID at pickup. If you enter under a nickname or a partner’s account, you can lose the tickets at the window. Enter under the legal name on the ID you will carry.
How the lottery works on the Hamilton tour
The North American tour runs a separate lottery for each engagement, with the same $10 price. Its published rules follow the same weekly rhythm as Broadway, but in local time:
- Entries open Friday at 10 a.m. local time for the following week’s performances and close Thursday at noon.
- Winners and non-winners are notified Thursday between noon and 4 p.m.
- Winners have two hours to claim and pay.
- Each winner can buy up to two tickets.
- You must be 18 or older, and you need a valid photo ID that matches the name on the entry.
- Tickets are nontransferable and void if resold.
The lottery usually opens about a week before an engagement starts and runs for its whole stay. If the city you want is not taking entries yet, the engagement probably has not reached its lottery window. Do not enter another city’s lottery instead, since a ticket for the wrong city is useless. Our Hamilton tour guide lists the current stops and links to each official box office.
Your odds, and how to give yourself the best chance
The lottery does not publish entry counts, so nobody can tell you your real odds. The one public number is a warning: when the Broadway lottery first moved online on January 5, 2016, more than 50,000 people entered and the site crashed. Demand has cooled since then, but a Broadway Saturday is still a long shot. What you can control:
- Enter every performance you could actually attend. The rules allow one entry per performance, not one per week. Entering six performances gives you six draws.
- Favor weekday performances. Fewer people can make a Tuesday or Wednesday night, so fewer people enter for them. This is a reasonable assumption rather than a published fact, but it matches how demand works for every other Broadway ticket.
- Ask for the number of seats you really need. If you are going alone, request one. If you need two, request two, but know that a pair may be split.
- Be ready on Thursday afternoon. Losing a win to the two-hour claim window is the most avoidable way to miss out.
- Consider a tour city. If you can travel, a touring engagement in a smaller market can be a better bet than Broadway, because the pool of entrants is local.
If you win: show day checklist
Winning is only half of it. The lottery seats are held under your name at the box office, and the rules are strict enough that a few small mistakes cost people their seats every week.
- Confirm the payment went through. After you claim, look for the purchase confirmation, not just the “you won” notice. A win you did not pay for within two hours is gone.
- Bring the right ID. A valid government photo ID with the exact name on the entry. On tour you must also be 18 or older.
- Know when the box office releases lottery seats. Time Out’s guide says Broadway winners can pick up starting two hours before the curtain. Arriving early also gives you time for the security line on West 46th Street.
- Your guest comes with you. If you won two seats, bring your guest to pickup and go in together. Lottery tickets cannot be handed off to someone else.
- Expect front-row sight lines. You will be close enough to see faces clearly, but you will be looking up at the stage, and the orchestra pit or stage lip can block the floor of the set. Most winners consider that a fair trade for a $10 ticket.
Ham4Ham and other Broadway lotteries
Hamilton made the digital Broadway lottery famous, but it is now standard practice. When Hamilton’s lottery moved online in 2016 it ran through Broadway Direct, and many current Broadway shows run their own weekly or daily lotteries through Broadway Direct, Lucky Seat, TodayTix or their own sites. The rules differ by show: some draw daily, some weekly, some include a rush option. If you are planning a New York trip around a lottery, enter Hamilton and two or three other shows you would be just as happy to see. Your chance of winning at least one seat goes up quickly when you are not betting the whole night on a single drawing.
Other ways to see Hamilton for less
If the lottery does not come through, these are the real options, based on what the production and Playbill’s guide report:
- Broadway Week: two-for-one tickets offered in January and September. Hamilton has taken part in recent years.
- Veterans: a $25 discount on Broadway tickets with ID.me verification.
- Groups of 10 or more: group rates through the production’s group sales channel.
- Standing room: only offered when every seat is sold, which has rarely happened since the pandemic.
- Rush and TKTS: Hamilton has no rush policy and rarely appears at the TKTS booth.
Expect resale prices to swing with the calendar. As with most Broadway shows, midweek performances in January and February tend to be the cheapest, and holiday weeks and summer Saturdays the most expensive. If your dates are flexible, that pattern is worth more than any discount code. Before you buy from a reseller, read our guide to keeping theater tickets safe.
Where the name came from: the Ham4Ham shows
After its run at the Public Theater, Hamilton began Broadway previews at the Richard Rodgers Theatre on West 46th Street in July 2015. More than 700 people showed up hours before the first preview to enter what was then an in-person lottery. To entertain the crowd, Lin-Manuel Miranda started stepping out the stage door before the drawing to perform short pieces under the marquee, usually on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Fans called them the Ham4Ham shows, after the $10 price.
The crowds grew so large that the producers moved the lottery online on January 5, 2016, citing dangerously large crowds on West 46th Street. That first digital drawing crashed the site, and the in-person lottery returned briefly while the system was fixed. The weekly in-person lottery and live Ham4Ham shows ended after August 31, 2016. Since then the lottery has run digitally for every performance, and the name stuck.
Ham4Ham FAQ
What does Ham4Ham mean?
Ham4Ham means paying a Hamilton for Hamilton. Alexander Hamilton is on the $10 bill, and the lottery sells winning seats for $10 each. The name also covers the free street performances Lin-Manuel Miranda and the cast held outside the theater for lottery crowds in 2015 and 2016.
How do I enter the Hamilton lottery?
On Broadway, enter at HamiltonMusical.com or in the official Hamilton app. Entries for the following week open Friday at 10 a.m. Eastern and close Thursday at noon. For a touring city, use the same site or app and pick that city. You enter once per performance and can request up to two tickets.
How much are Hamilton lottery tickets?
Lottery tickets are $10 each on Broadway and on the North American tour. Winners can buy one or two tickets. On Broadway the lottery seats are in the front rows of the orchestra, which normally sell for far more than the lottery price.
When are Hamilton lottery winners announced?
Drawings happen on Thursday for the following week’s performances. On Broadway, winners and non-winners are notified Thursday afternoon by email and app notification. Winners then have two hours to claim and pay by card, or the tickets are forfeited.
Can I give my Hamilton lottery tickets to someone else?
No. Lottery tickets are tied to the winner’s name and are nontransferable. On Broadway you pick them up at the box office with a valid photo ID that matches the name drawn, and the tour rules say lottery tickets are void if resold.
Other Broadway lotteries: see our Broadway lottery and rush guide for every show’s current policy, and our guide to cheap Wicked tickets.
Hamilton still plays the same theater where Ham4Ham started. Our Richard Rodgers Theatre guide covers seats and the current $10 lottery.
Sources and corrections
Lottery rules and history on this page were checked on October 30, 2026 against these sources:
- Playbill: How to Get Cheap Tickets to Hamilton on Broadway (Broadway lottery steps, discounts, standing room)
- Time Out New York: Hamilton lottery guide (seat count, app entry, pickup rules)
- Hamilton official site: tour lottery (tour price, entry window, claim rules, age and ID)
- TheaterMania: Hamilton lottery goes digital (January 2016 move online)
- NBC New York: Over 50,000 enter first digital lottery
- NBC New York: Hamilton ending in-person Ham4Ham lottery (August 31, 2016)
- Slate: The Ham4Ham shows (origin, crowds, name)
Lottery terms can change without notice. Always read the rules on the entry screen for your performance. Spot an error? Email info@theatertickets.com and we will check it and update this page.
