TELC Launches New App – Tennessee Online Lottery Review
Dozens of U.S. states envisioned a way to boost revenue by launching a statewide lottery. The first wave of state-sponsored lotteries began in the early 1970s. During the 1980s, more states saw what was happening in the states who were offering their residents a lottery.
There was a steady flow of new states adding the revenue from a state-run lottery to their budget. Most target that money towards improving education. By 2000, there were only 10 states left without a statewide lottery. Many were across the southern part of the United States.
One was Tennessee. In 2002, Tennessee’s lawmakers sought to change that. Let’s take a look at how Tennessee’s lottery came about. We’ll explain how to register for an account, plus how to make a deposit and withdraw prizes. We’ll finish sharing a few exciting games on the Tennessee Online Lottery, plus answer some frequent questions.
History of the Tennessee Lottery
By the turn of the Millennium, there were less than a dozen U.S. states without some form of state-run lottery games. Six of those were southern states, if you include Oklahoma.
South Carolina would begin to reverse this trend in 2002, eventually leaving Alabama as the only U.S. southern state without a lottery. Tennessee’s legislators began working to make the necessary changes to the state constitution about the same time South Carolina sold their first official ticket.
Beginning in 2001, lawmakers began to debate the details of the Tennessee Education Lottery Implementation Law. During the summer of 2002, there were enough votes to place the amendment on the Tennessee statewide ballot.
In November, 58 percent of Tennessee voters approved the bill. Lawmakers got to work finalizing the details and establishing a governing agency. Across the next few months, Tennessee’s lawmakers laid the groundwork to create the Tennessee Education Lottery Corporation (TELC).
The TELC would be the agency entrusted with running the state’s new lottery system. Almost immediately, the TELC became a member of the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL).
This allowed Tennessee residents to participate in massive national drawing games such as the Powerball and Mega Millions. The first official lottery ticket in Tennessee was sold on January 20, 2004.
Three and a half years later, in July 2007, Tennessee joined the growing number of states who scrapped ball drawings for a random number generator. The first in-state cash drawing game was Pick 5.
In October 2010, the TELC changed the name to its current Tennessee Cash. The Tennessee Lottery has three in-state cash drawing games, plus the two national games. Tennessee is one of six states with a Cash4Life drawing.
Sports fans will be excited to learn that legislators put the TELC in charge of the licensing and regulation of all online sports betting operations in the state. Soon, you will also be able to place bets on your favorite sports team in Tennessee.
The Tennessee Online Lottery posts winning numbers for all draw games, plus you can register for a free account to play one of 17 current instant games. Instant game tickets range in price from $1 to $30. Let’s talk about the welcome offer for new accounts and how you register.
Tennessee Online Lottery Welcome Offer
The Tennessee Online Lottery doesn’t hand out anything of cash value as a welcome offer for new account registrations. However, as part of the registration process for a free account, you will become part of the valuable Tennessee Online Lottery VIP Rewards club.
The welcome bonus from the Tennessee Online Lottery is a free VIP Rewards Club membership that will keep on giving you bonus drawings and second chances to win. All you need to do is register for a free account. Here’s how you do it.
How to Register for a Free Account
When you register to play games, check winning numbers, or purchase tickets on the Tennessee Online Lottery, you will follow the steps to create a VIP Rewards account. There is not to follow this process. Both are free and both get you ready to win cash.
Step 1: Personal Information
• First Name
• Last Name
• Date of Birth
• Last 4 of your Social Security Number
• Certify that you are over 18
• Click Next
Step 2: Address and Contact Information
• Address
• Email – Confirm Email
• Password – Confirm Password
• Security Question and Answer
• Phone Number and Alternate Phone Number
• Agree to Terms of Service
• Click Submit
In two easy steps, you are now a member of the Tennessee Online Lottery VIP Rewards Club, plus officially registered to play games online, check winning ticket numbers, or get select your numbers for any Tennessee Lottery drawing style game. Now let’s get some money into your account so you can start winning.
Types of Games on the Tennessee Online Lottery
The Tennessee Online Lottery offers two basic game categories. There are drawing-style games that include the national draw games Powerball™ and Mega Millions™. You can also play the exciting Lotto America or the Tennessee Lottery Cash4Life draw game.
Players can also play the Tennessee Lottery Quick Cash, Keno with Bulls-eye, or the two daily drawing games, Cash3 and Cash4. The Tennessee Online Lottery also has 17 exciting instant games.
Ticket prices begin at $1. Jumbo Bucks, 10X and Monopoly are scratch-off instant games with a potential top prize jackpot of $10,000. Lucky 7’s is a matching game with a prize jackpot of up to $7,000. There are six scratch-off matching games available with prize jackpots up to $5,000.
These six games are the Crown Jewels, Red Hot Double Doubler, Beginner’s Luck, Lucky Lady, 7-11-21 and the $5,000 Wild Cherries. These are all jackpot amounts available for a single winning $1 ticket.
Bigger prizes are available as you increase the price of the ticket. The big payouts are five $30 instant games. Royal Jumbo Bucks is the $30 version of Jumbo Bucks. However, the potential winning jackpot is $3,000,000.
The $100,000 Bankroll matching game has a 1 in 3 chance of winning. The top jackpot amount is $100,000. Full of $10,000s has even better odds with a jackpot amount of up to $10,000. The two biggest prize jackpots are the final $30 instant games.
Both Gigantic Jumbo Bucks and Jumbo Bucks 300X have a potential prize jackpot amount of up to $4,000,000. Jumbo Bucks 300X is a matching game with a row of 10 potential bonus amounts. A 300X symbol wins 300 times the prize noted on your ticket.
How to Claim Your Prizes
There are three ways to claim prizes you win on the Tennessee Online Lottery. The method is first determined by the amount of the prize. You can preset prize winnings for amounts under $600 to be automatically added to your VIP Rewards account.
Prize claims under $600 can also be claimed at any of the licensed retailer locations for Tennessee Lottery games. To expedite the claim process at retailers, you can print out and complete a claim for before arriving.
Prize jackpots over $600 can be claimed by mail. You must mail in the original ticket. Copies are not accepted. You can also claim prizes over $600 at one of the four Tennessee Lottery Regional offices.
All prize jackpots over $200,000 must be claimed at one of these four offices. To claim prize jackpots over $200,000, you must have photo ID, the signed winning ticket and proof of your social security number. A recent pay stub will work.
Tennessee Online Lottery Website Review
The Tennessee Lottery App is a new feature launched by the TELC. In July 2020, they merged the TN Lottery APP with the TN VIP App. This single app is now the only app you need to check winning tickets, scan tickets, find a retailer or view current jackpot amounts.
The app runs smoothly and mirrors the website version of the Tennessee Online Lottery. This makes shifting from desktop to mobile easy. Through the app or the website, you can keep up with current jackpot amounts on all major draw games.
You will be able to access your VIP Rewards account to enter tickets and earn points. With the Tennessee Lottery App, you can create your own play slip so you can scan and go at any licensed Tennessee retailer.
The website and app both load extremely fast. They are light on unnecessary images and advertisements. There are few problems with either presentation, other than some questionable uses of website color blends.
The white font color posted on two purple variations for a background isn’t the most visually appealing. It reads well enough, but the image carousel for games, winning numbers and VIP rewards gets lost on the page.
Pros
• There are continuous VIP Reward opportunities instead of a onetime welcome bonus.
• Claiming prizes up to $200,000 can be done by the mail or in-person.
• Three scratch-off matching-style instant games have potential prize jackpots of over $3,000,000.
• The app allows players to create a play slip for fast and easy ticket purchases at all Tennessee Lottery retail outlets.
• There is a dedicated page showing the programs that the TELC funds and how much revenue has been generated for Tennessee education.
Cons
• Sign and new registration tabs are not readily accessible on the main header or the homepage menu. They appear only when searching for Tennessee Online Lottery registration specifically. The website color configuration is not visually user-friendly.
• The Tennessee Online Lottery does not provide a cash or free play welcome bonus for new accounts. Promotions and rewards are applied through the free VIP Rewards Club.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Where does the revenue generated by the Tennessee Online Lottery go?
- Why does the Tennessee Online Lottery require the last four digits of a social security number to register?
- Can you play the Tennessee Online Lottery if you don’t have a U.S. social security number?
- Do you have to pay taxes on lottery winnings in Tennessee?
- How do you use VIP Rewards Points?
- Which game tickets are eligible for Play it Again drawings, and how much is the prize?
- Are there any limits or restrictions on VIP Rewards points?
The TELC has put more than $5.5 billion into Tennessee’s education programs. There have been over $1.5 million issued in lottery-funded scholarship programs and college grants. Part of the revenue from lottery sales goes to fund after-school programs and the Tennessee school energy-efficiency program.
All new account registrations must enter their last four digits of their social security number to verify their identity and that they are over 18 years old. The step also helps guarantee the integrity of the Tennessee Online Lottery VIP Rewards program.
Yes, players can complete steps to authenticate that they are over 18 years of age, plus ensure that they are signing up for only one Tennessee Online Lottery account. For a list of required documents, players can contact the Tennessee Lottery VIP Member Support team at 1-800-728-6932.
Yes, all lottery winnings in a calendar year, which are over $600, are taxed at the federal level in the United States. However, Tennessee does not have an income tax, so lottery winnings for Tennessee residents are not taxed at the state level.
Tennessee Online VIP Rewards Club members can use their VIP Rewards Points to play new cash games. Ev ery eligible ticket that is not a winner will earn VIP Rewards Points. Non-winning VIP Rewards tickets are automatically entered in Play it Again drawings and noted second chance drawings.
Each instant Tennessee Online Lottery ticket that is not a Second Chance Drawing is eligible for a Play it Again drawing. Tickets remain in the account until a date is scheduled for the drawing. The top prize is the same as the top prize of the original game play.
There is a 5,000 VIP Rewards Points limit per account per month. Players can still play contests that earn VIP Rewards and win cash prizes. However, after reaching 5,000 points, no VIP Rewards Points can be added to an account until the first day of a new month.