Tennessee passed a referendum making it legal across the Volunteer state in 2002 and the first tickets being sold in January 2004. These days you can play a huge range of games in Tennessee, with proceeds going towards funding the local education system.
Legal Lottery Options in Tennessee
There are over 5,200 retailers within the Tennessee state lines where you can purchase your lottery tickets. The official lottery website offers a
search tool that you can use to find your nearest store.
p>Below we take a look at all the draw games you can play from Tennessee.
Tennessee Multi-State Games
If you want to win huge amounts of money, then these are the games you'll want to set your sights on. These multi-state games offer jackpots that regularly get into the hundreds of millions and have even made players billionaires.
US Powerball
Originating in 1988, the Powerball was previously known as Lotto America and came to Tennessee in April 2004. Tickets are on sale for $2 and prize draws are held every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday night. You can also boost your non-jackpot winnings by adding the Powerplay option, it costs a little more but boosts your potential winnings with a multiplier of up to x10.
Mega Millions
Tennessee added Mega Millions as their second multi-state game in January 2010. Rivaling the payouts of the Powerball and regularly surpassing the jackpot amount, this popular game has the longest odds at 1:302,575,350 but also has given players the biggest paydays. In fact, the largest single payout in lottery history was from the Mega Millions, when a South Carolina player won $1.537 billion in October 2018.
Tickets are $2 and this game also comes with the option to boost any non-jackpot winnings with a Megapliear for an extra $1 and draws are held every Tuesday and Friday.
Lotto America
Taking its name from the original Lotto America that was offered until 1992, this game was revived in 2017 and is now offered over multiple states. Tickets are just $1 with the ability to boost your winnings with the All Star Bonus and Quick Cash options at additional costs.
Draws are held every Wednesday and Saturday, and you have a greater chance of winning millions of dollars with this game, with odds of 1:25,989,600 to win the jackpot.
Cash For Life
This game offers you the chance to win $1,000 a day for the rest of your life if you hit the jackpot. There's also a second prize that will bless you with $25,000 a year for life too.
Tickets are on sale for $2 with the option of playing the Quick Cash game for an additional $1. Draws for Cash For Life are held every night.
Tennessee Exclusive Lottery Games
Tennesse has a reasonably small population compared to other states in the country. Therefore, the in-state games aren't as big as some other states' offerings, but they still offer better odds to win life-changing money than the massive multi-state games.
Tennessee Cash
This local game offers the chance to win hundreds of thousands of dollars with tickets on sale for just $1. You have a 1 in 1,623,160 chance of winning the jackpot with this game, which in comparison to the Powerball makes you nearly 180 times more likely to win.
Draws are held every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and you can also add the Quick Cash game to your ticket for an extra $1. This is an instant win game where you can get up to $500 cash on the spot, and you'll get odds of 1:5.24 of getting a prize.
Keno To Go
This is the most fast-paced action in Tennessee, with draws every 4 minutes. Pick your numbers and get a ticket from just $1 to be in with a chance of winning up to $200,000.
Cash 3 & Cash 4
These are lucky number games that offer you some of the best chances of winning any of the games you'll find, with the Cash 3 jackpot paying out 1 in every 1,000 times. Tickets are on sale from $0.50 and there are morning, midday, and evening prize draws every day other than Sunday.
Additional Games
You can also enjoy a wide range of instant win games whilst in Tennessee, with tickets starting at $1 and ranging up to $30 apiece. Some games can see you win up to $3 million, so they aren't to be sniffed at.
Tennessee State Lottery History
- April 2000 - The first steps to a legalized lottery are taken when the majority in both the Tennessee House and Senate approved legislation that would allow a vote for a lottery.
- November 2002 - A statewide referendum passes with a 58% vote in favor of legalizing a lottery in the state.
- June 2003 - Governor Phil Bredesen signs the legislation into law and creates the Tennessee Lottery.
- January 2004 - The first lottery tickets are sold on January 20th, with $10.8 million in sales on the first day alone.
- March 2004 - The state launches its first draw game, Cash 3.
- April 2004 - The state joins forces with the MUSL to offer the Powerball.
What Does the Tennessee State Lottery Fund?
The Tennessee Lottery funds a scheme branded Education Wins, this has seen over $6 billion in revenue passed to education programs.
There are lottery-funded scholarships and grants awarded to students. To learn a little more, check out this page of the
Tennessee Lottery website.
Where Can You Play the Lottery in Tennessee?
There are over 5,200 locations across the state of Tennessee where you can participate in draw games and grab some instant win tickets. When it comes to the online side of things, you can't buy tickets, but you can enter draws, earn points and sign up for plenty of promotions using the website or the mobile apps available from the Apple App Store and the Google Play store.