Indiana established its lottery — officially named the Hoosier Lottery — in 1989 after several unsuccessful attempts at doing so. The lottery sold its first scratch tickets in October 1989, while the first draw game began in April 1990.
Today, the lottery features eight draw games, five of which are Indiana-specific, more than 70 scratch-offs and numerous fast-play games. The bulk of the lottery revenue goes to infrastructure funding and retirement funds for police officers, firefighters and teachers.
This page covers the Hoosier Lottery’s essential features: what the games are, how you can buy tickets and play, and what other gambling options there are in the state.
Indiana online lottery
Lottery players in Indiana can currently buy their tickets only from licensed local retailers, as the state doesn’t allow you to buy lottery tickets online. However, there is an official Hoosier Lottery app you can download that may help you speed up the process.
The app allows you to create your own digital pay slip containing the numbers you want to enter into the drawing. It also helps you find the nearest retailers, learn about the games, enter losing tickets into second-chance drawings, and scan your tickets to see if you’ve won.
What lottery games can I play in Indiana?
As we’ve already mentioned, the Hoosier Lottery offers eight draw games. Three of them are nationwide, multi-state games, while the other five are for Indiana. The lottery also features scratch cards and fast-play games.
Indiana lottery multi-state draw games
The Hoosier Lottery joined the Multi-State Lottery Association in 1990. It offers three of the most popular multi-state draw games — Powerball, Mega Millions and Cash4Life.
Indiana Powerball
Powerball started in 1992 and is available in 48 US jurisdictions. Indiana players have been able to buy Powerball tickets since the very beginning of the game.
You can buy Powerball tickets from licensed retailers for $2 per play. You’ll pick five different numbers from 1 to 69 and one Powerball number from 1 to 26. You can also choose the quick pick feature to receive random numbers instead.
The Power Play feature is available for an additional $1 per play. This multiplies your non-jackpot prizes by two, three, four, five or 10. The game selects each multiplier value at random.
Afterward, you’ll get to choose whether you want to enter your ticket in a single or multiple (up to 10) drawings.
Powerball offers nine ways to win, with your overall chances at scooping a prize being 1 in 24.9. Naturally, the most sought-after prize is the jackpot, which will be in the millions, and sometimes billions, of dollars. To win the jackpot, you must match all six numbers.
Indiana players have won the Powerball jackpot 12 times. The largest such win was $435.3 million on a Lafayette ticket in February 2017. However, this is far from the record jackpot of $1.586 billion, which went to players from Tennessee, Florida and California in 2016.
Indiana Powerball key points
- Ticket price: $2 per play plus $1 for the Power Play feature.
- Nine ways to win.
- Largest Powerball jackpot in Indiana: $435.3 million.
Indiana Mega Millions
Mega Millions launched in 1996, when it was known as The Big Game. In the years since, it has undergone multiple changes, including rebranding. Still, the game has remained one of the most popular multi-state draw games in the US. The Hoosier Lottery added it to its portfolio in January 2010.
As is the case with Powerball, the cost of a Mega Millions ticket is $2 per play. To enter the ticket into a drawing, you need to select five numbers between 1 and 70 and one number between 1 and 25, also known as the Mega Ball number. Instead of choosing the numbers yourself, you can also opt for the quick pick option.
Another helpful feature is the Megaplier, which multiplies any non-jackpot winnings up to five times. It costs $1 per play. If you are a regular player, you can enter a ticket in up to 10 subsequent drawings.
As with Powerball, the game offers nine ways to win. Likewise, to win the jackpot, all six of your numbers, including the Mega Ball number, need to match the Mega Millions numbers.
Indiana tickets have claimed the Mega Millions jackpot twice. The larger of these jackpots was worth $536 million, and it was won in 2016 in Cambridge City. The nationwide record for a Mega Millions jackpot is $1.537 billion, to someone in South Carolina in October 2018.
Indiana Mega Millions key points
- Ticket price: $2 per play plus $1 for the Megaplier.
- Nine ways to win.
- Largest Mega Millions jackpot in Indiana: $536 million.
Indiana Cash4Life
Compared to Mega Millions and Powerball, Cash4Life is a relatively new multi-state draw game. It originated in New Jersey in 2014 before eventually spreading to eight other states. Indiana began offering the game on Sept. 19, 2016.
A Cash4Life ticket costs $2 per play. You’ll choose five numbers from 1 to 60 and one number from one to four, also known as the Cash Ball number. The quick pick option will provide you with random number selections. After you choose your numbers, you can enter them in up to 10 consecutive drawings.
The jackpot and second prize each offer two options to winners — you can go for the lump sum option or the annuity option, which means you’ll receive your prize in annual increments for the rest of your life. The game rules state that prizes will be paid out over the course of 20 years or for the duration of the winner’s life, whichever is longer.
The top prize is $1,000 per day for the rest of your life or $7 million if you choose the lump sum. The second prize is $1,000 a week for life or $1 million as a lump sum.
With Cash4Life, there are nine ways to win, and the overall odds are 1 in 8. To win the top prize of $1,000 a day for life, you need to match all five numbers plus the Cash Ball number.
No one from Indiana has won a Cash4Life jackpot yet.
Indiana Cash4Life key points
- Ticket price: $2 per play.
- Nine ways to win.
- Top prize: $1,000 a day for life.
Indiana lottery multi-state draw times
- Powerball — Drawings take place every Wednesday and Saturday at 11 p.m. ET. Players must buy the tickets by 9:58 p.m. ET.
- Mega Millions — Drawings take place on Tuesdays and Fridays at 11 p.m. ET. Ticket sales end at 10:44 p.m. ET.
- Cash4Life — Drawings take place every day at 9 p.m. ET. You can buy tickets up to 15 minutes before each drawing starts.
Indiana lottery state draw games
The Hoosier Lottery game roster also contains five statewide draw games. Here are their key features:
- Hoosier Lotto with +PLUS — Tickets cost $2 each, and you choose six numbers from 1 to 46 or opt for the quick pick. For one more dollar per play, you can choose the +PLUS feature that enters your numbers into an additional drawing right after the Hoosier Lotto drawing. Both the Hoosier Lotto and the +PLUS non-jackpot prizes can be multiplied up to 10 times, depending on the multiplier. The game jackpot starts at $1 million and keeps growing twice a week until someone matches all six numbers. Hoosier Lotto drawings take place each Wednesday and Saturday, around 11 p.m. ET. You can buy the tickets by 10:39 p.m. at the latest.
- CA$H 5 — Tickets cost $1 per play. To play the game, you need to select five numbers from 1 to 45. You can enter the same number combination in up to 28 consecutive drawings. An additional $1 per play brings you the EZmatch feature, which gives you a chance to win between $2 and $500 instantly. All CA$H 5 prizes are set amounts, except for the jackpot, which starts at $75,000 and increases until someone wins. To win the jackpot, you must match all five numbers. CA$H 5 drawings take place every day at 11 p.m. ET. Ticket sales end at 10:39 p.m.
- Quick Draw with BULLSEYE — To participate in Quick Draw, buy a $1 ticket and opt for your preferred drawing time: midday, evening or both. After that, choose your wager amount: $1, $2, $3 or $5. Then select 10 numbers from 1 to 80 and enter your ticket in up to 28 drawings. You can also add the EZmatch and the BULLSEYE features for an additional $1 per play each. The EZmatch feature offers potential instant wins of $2 to $500, while the BULLSEYE gives you a chance to win up to $200,000 on top of your regular prize. Quick Draw prizes are fixed, and the players who match all 10 numbers will win $300,000, plus an additional $200,000 if their tickets contain the BULLSEYE. Drawings take place twice daily: at 1:20 p.m. ET and at 11 p.m. ET. You can buy tickets up to 10 minutes before the midday drawing and up to 20 minutes before the evening drawing.
- Daily 3/Daily 4 — To play Daily 3/Daily 4, you must choose three or four numbers from 1 to 9. Then, you’ll choose the amount you want to wager: $0.50, $1, $2, $5 or $10, and the drawing time you want to enter your ticket into: midday, evening or both. Next, choose one of the options for how to play: straight, 1-off, box, combo, wheel or front pair/back pair. Double the price of your wager to add the SUPERBALL number that can replace any of the numbers drawn to help you make a winning combination. The Daily 3/Daily 4 prizes are fixed — $500/$5,000 on a $1 wager. Drawings take place daily at 1:20 p.m. ET and at 11 p.m. ET. You can buy the midday drawing tickets up to 10 minutes before the draw, and evening tickets up to 20 minutes in advance.
Indiana lottery scratch tickets
The Hoosier Lottery offers over 70 scratch tickets, though the exact number varies frequently as the lottery adds new titles and cancels old ones. You can buy scratch-off tickets from authorized lottery retailers. Visit the official Hoosier Lottery website to check the complete current offer.
The tickets can have up to nine price points — $1, $2, $3, $5, $10, $20, $25, $30 and $50. Prizes range from $50 on a $1 card to $4 million on a $50 card.
Other gambling options in Indiana
Gamblers in Indiana have a lot of options to choose from. Along with the lottery, you can also play casino games in one of many land-based and riverboat casinos across the state. As of 2019, sports betting has also been legalized in Indiana, allowing casinos, racinos and other facilities to apply for licenses.
The state also allows Indiana online sports betting, but not online casinos. At this moment, the best options for Indianans who like online casino games are sweeps coins casinos or social casino apps. These include sites like Stake.us, Pulsz, Chanced, and Funrize.
Indiana has two horse tracks featuring casinos — Indiana Grand Racing & Casino in Shelbyville and Hoosier Park in Anderson. Other notable land-based casinos include French Lick Resort Casino, Horseshoe Hammond, Ameristar Casino East Chicago and Hollywood Casino & Hotel Lawrenceburg.
Indiana lottery history
After a few unsuccessful attempts at its establishment, the lottery in Indiana finally launched in 1989 as the Hoosier Lottery. It officially took off in October 1989, when it sold its first scratch-off ticket, named Hoosier Millionaire.
The Hoosier Lottery joined the Multi-State Lottery Association in 1990 and launched its first draw game, Lotto Cash, in April of the same year. October of 1990 saw the introduction of Lotto America, but the Hoosier Lottery later replaced this game with Powerball.
Indiana added another extremely popular multi-state draw game, Mega Millions, in 2010. As of 2016, Indiana has been one of only nine states to offer Cash4Life, a multi-state draw game that awards $1,000 a day for life as its grand prize.
In the meantime, the lottery has launched several Indiana-only draw games, five of which are currently available. In addition to draw games, it also offers scratch-off and fast play tickets for a chance at instant rewards.
Over the years, the Hoosier Lottery has paid out over $14.8 billion in prizes, over $1.6 billion in retail commissions and $6.3 billion in state aid. The lottery also gives back to the community by investing in teachers’ retirement funds, police and firefighters’ pensions and infrastructure.
