You just spent twenty bucks on a handful of scratch-offs at the gas station. You sit in your car, scrape away the latex with a lucky dime, and... nothing. Zilch. A bunch of losers. Most people would just crumple those tickets into a ball and toss them into the floorboard trash or the nearest bin.
Wait. Don’t do that.
If you're in the Volunteer State, those "losers" are actually your golden ticket to the tennessee play it again lottery. It’s a second-chance program that literally lives up to its name, giving you another shot at the top prize of a game that has officially ended. Honestly, it’s one of the most overlooked perks of playing the Tennessee Lottery, and people are leaving millions of dollars on the table simply because they don't want to deal with a mobile app.
How the Tennessee Play It Again Lottery Actually Works
The concept is basically a safety net for your bad luck. When the Tennessee Education Lottery (TEL) launches a scratch-off game, they print a set number of top prizes—think $50,000, $1 million, or even $4 million. Sometimes, a game reaches the end of its life cycle and is pulled from retailers, but one of those massive top prizes was never claimed.
Maybe the winning ticket was lost in someone's couch. Maybe it was accidentally thrown away. Or, more likely, it was sitting in a pack that was never sold.
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Instead of the Lottery just pocketing that money, they put it into a special drawing. This is where the tennessee play it again lottery kicks in. They take the last remaining top prize from a bunch of different ended games and draw new winners from the pool of non-winning tickets that players have entered online.
It’s a bizarrely fair system. You’ve already paid for the ticket. The prize money is already sitting there. Why not try to grab it?
The Steps to Getting Back in the Game
You can't just mail your losers to Nashville and hope for the best. Everything happens through the VIP Rewards program. You have to register an account at tnviprewards.com or download the official Tennessee Lottery app.
Scanning is the way to go.
If you try to type in the 12-digit ticket number and the 10-digit entry number manually, you're going to lose your mind after three tickets. The app lets you use your phone camera to scan the barcode. Once you scan a non-winning instant ticket, two things happen automatically:
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- You earn VIP Rewards Points (usually 1 point per $1 spent).
- You are entered into the next "Play It Again!" drawing.
There’s no "extra" button to click for Play It Again. If the game is eligible, the system just tosses you into the hopper.
The Numbers Are Actually Staggering
People win real, life-changing money here. We aren't talking about a free $2 ticket or a $10 coupon for a car wash. Since the program's modern iteration launched with IGT back in 2020, over $39.2 million in cash prizes have been awarded through these drawings.
Take Nancy Carter from Nashville, for example. She won a $2 million top prize through a Play It Again drawing. She joked about moving to Hawaii, but she actually used the money for home improvements and bills. Then there's Martha Spears from Friendship, who bagged $300,000. These aren't "consolation prizes"; they are the actual top prizes from the original games.
Usually, these drawings happen about three times a year. Because they wait for enough games to end to make the prize pool worth the effort, there isn't a set "every Tuesday" schedule. You just keep scanning and let the entries pile up.
What Most People Get Wrong
The biggest misconception is that you need to keep your physical tickets. You don't. Once the app says "Ticket Accepted" or "Success," you can legally and safely throw that piece of paper in the recycling. The Lottery tracks your entry via your digital account. If you win, they’ll call you or email you based on the info in your VIP profile.
Another mistake? Thinking every ticket is eligible.
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Only "Instant Games" (scratch-offs) go into the Play It Again drawings. Drawing-style games like Powerball, Mega Millions, or Tennessee Cash earn you VIP points, but they don't get you into the Play It Again pool. Those usually have their own "Second Chance" drawings, which are slightly different and often tied to specific promotions, like a trip to New York for New Year’s Eve.
Common Frustrations
It’s not all sunshine and million-dollar checks. The app can be... finicky. Users often complain about the scanner not picking up the barcode if the lighting is bad or if you’ve scratched through the code by accident. If you get an "Invalid Entry" message more than five times, the system locks you out for 12 hours. It’s a security thing, but it’s incredibly annoying when you have a stack of 20 tickets you're trying to churn through.
Also, keep an eye on the "Eligible Games" list. If a game is too old, the entry period might have closed. If it’s brand new, it might not be in the Play It Again pool yet because the game hasn't ended.
Why This Matters for Tennessee Students
It’s easy to get caught up in the "what if I win" fantasy, but the mechanical reality is that this program keeps the lottery ecosystem healthy. Since 2004, the Tennessee Lottery has raised over $7 billion for education. This includes the HOPE Scholarship and various after-school programs.
By keeping players engaged through the tennessee play it again lottery, the state ensures that even when people "lose," they feel like they still have skin in the game. That engagement keeps the revenue flowing toward those scholarships. It’s a cycle that seems to work, even if it requires you to spend five minutes scanning barcodes on your lunch break.
Actionable Tips for Your Next Batch of Tickets
If you're going to do this, do it right. Don't be the person who enters one ticket and expects a miracle.
- Download the App Immediately: Don't tell yourself you'll enter them on the computer later. You won't. You'll lose the tickets or the dog will eat them. Scan them as soon as you realize they aren't instant winners.
- Check Your Profile: Make sure your phone number and email are current. If you win $1 million and the Lottery can't find you because you're using an email address from 2012, that's a tragedy.
- Maximize the Points: Remember that you can earn up to 5,000 points a month. While Play It Again entries are unlimited, the points you get alongside them have a cap. Use those points for the monthly "VIP Rewards Drawings" which are separate from Play It Again.
- Organize Your Scans: If you have a lot of tickets, mark the ones you've already scanned with a small "X" on the back. It prevents the "Already Entered" error message that slows down the process.
The reality of the tennessee play it again lottery is that it’s a game of patience. You scan, you forget, and maybe—just maybe—you get a phone call from a Nashville area code that changes everything. Even if you don't win the millions, you’re at least getting the full value out of the five dollars you spent on that scratch-off.