“Milly’s Lottery Pool” celebrates after playing Hoosier Lottery games together for 11 years.

On Saturday, August 16, one Hoosier Lotto® ticket sold in Columbus matched all six numbers, making it the third Hoosier Lotto jackpot win of the year. Today, a group of five Columbus-area residents referring to themselves as “Milly’s Lottery Pool” claimed their winnings at the Hoosier Lottery Prize Payment Office in downtown Indianapolis. 

Milly and her group have played Hoosier Lotto and other Hoosier Lottery games for 11 years. Over time, group members have come and gone. The current five members—Milly, Tony, Kendra, Jenny, and Roxanne—initially met at their factory job and have stayed in touch ever since. Four of them have been a part of the group since day one. They enter each Hoosier Lotto drawing to have some fun and excitement together with the dream of one day winning the jackpot. 

Now they have.

The $9.9 million winning ticket was purchased at Jack’s Place located at 910 3rd St. in Columbus. “Milly’s Lottery Pool” opted to take the cash value of $4,682,171 split five ways. 

Milly, who has a Lottery YouTube channel called “Oldladyscratcher” takes the lead to purchase the tickets and then posts images of the tickets on Facebook Messenger as the group’s way to communicate. For the Saturday, August 16 drawing, Milly had forgotten to post the tickets until Monday, August 18. Milly scanned the ticket on the Hoosier Lottery app as she was posting the photo to the group and saw the amount was too large to pay at a retailer. She quickly looked up the numbers and realized they had won! A follow up message was sent: "OMG! Everyone, we hit it. We won!"

Word spread quickly amongst the group. 

Tony was charging his phone on the kitchen counter. The phone nearly jumped off the counter with the messages flooding in. "I was sitting down to dinner when I read the message that we won. At that point I couldn't eat dinner."

Kendra was leaving work and saw she'd received a call through Messenger. At first, she thought it was a butt dial from the group and then saw the message they had won. "I thought, 'this is not real.'"

Jenny had just read news on Facebook that a jackpot winning ticket was sold in Columbus. "I thought, 'I wish that was me.'" Quickly thereafter, she saw the message that they had won. She tried not to tell her adult son and daughter; but, after a week, she asked them to come to her house for some news. They were nervous it was bad news, but her daughter figured it out when she heard about the winning ticket sold in Columbus. They began celebrating together!

Roxanne and her family had just parked at the airport on their way to an Alaskan cruise. Her son had just read the WTHR news story aloud that a jackpot winning ticket was sold in Columbus. Within minutes, Roxanne got the message that they had won. For a minute she considered staying home to claim the prize knowing the rest of the group would be anxious to do so. She went ahead with her trip. The group patiently waited for her to return home to claim.

Hoosier Lottery Executive Director Sarah M. Taylor was able to visit with the group as they claimed the prize, saying: “We love when Hoosiers play Indiana’s hometown favorite jackpot game, and we especially love it when Hoosiers win. The fact a group of longtime friends and co-workers from the Columbus-area have won this jackpot together adds an extra layer of excitement.”  

Each winner has general plans for the winnings ranging from a new car, new house, and placing money in the bank. More than anything, similar sentiment was shared appreciating that this win will “take weight off their shoulders.” 

As for Jack’s Place, by selling the winning Hoosier Lotto jackpot ticket, the retailer will receive a check from the Hoosier Lottery for nearly $100,000. 

The winning Hoosier Lotto numbers for Saturday, August 16, were: 1-21-26-31-33-34. 

The previous Hoosier Lotto jackpot wins in 2025 both occurred in March. On March 12, the $42.5 million jackpot was won when it ranked as the highest state lottery jackpot and third-largest U.S. jackpot behind only Powerball® ($378 million) and Mega Millions® ($277 million). The jackpot was won again on March 22 with a jackpot of $1.2 million.

The Hoosier Lotto jackpot for Saturday, August 30, is an estimated $1.4 million. Players have until 10:39 p.m., ET, to get their tickets for the 11 p.m., ET, drawing. 

Players can purchase a $2 Hoosier Lotto ticket at any participating retailer. Players also can add +PLUS for $1 for a chance to win $1 million or other prizes in a second drawing that occurs immediately after the Hoosier Lotto drawing.

Hoosier Lotto® Overall Odds 1 in 6
+PLUS Overall Odds 1 in 6