Introducing the new LOTTO 6/49
Two multi-million dollar jackpots, same $3 price: Get ready for the new LOTTO 6/49
All jackpot prizing will be awarded on final draw of current game on September 10
Get ready for the next evolution of one of Canada’s favourite lottery games! LOTTO 6/49 is changing this weekend: Starting on Sunday morning players will have the chance to play for two multi-million-dollar prizes with every draw. And all for the same purchase price of $3 per play!
The main draw – where six numbers are drawn from a range of 1 to 49, hence “LOTTO 6/49” – will remain part of the game. Nodding to the game’s status as Canada’s first national lottery game and its 40-year history, it will now be known as the Classic Draw and will offer a $5 million jackpot for every draw, and subsidiary prizes for matching as few as two numbers on one selection.
The marquee game enhancement sees the previous $1 million Guaranteed Prize Draw become the Gold Ball Draw. There will still be a guaranteed winner on every single draw – but the new Gold Ball element means that the winner will take home either $1 million, or the growing jackpot that starts at $10 million and can grow higher than $60 million.
How does the new Gold Ball Jackpot Draw work?
The Gold Ball Jackpot Draw is an elimination-style draw that determines how much the guaranteed prize winner receives. On the first draw in a sequence, a draw will be made from 30 possible outcomes: 29 white balls and one gold ball.
If a “white ball” is drawn, the winner receives $1 million.
If the “gold ball” is drawn, the winner receives the $10 million Gold Ball Jackpot.
The white balls will continue to be removed – and $2 million added to the Gold Ball Jackpot – for every draw until the gold ball is drawn. If white has been drawn on every draw for 29 consecutive draws, only the gold ball will remain. This means that the Gold Ball Jackpot will be won on the last draw of the sequence, when the jackpot will exceed $60 million.
As with all national draw-based lottery games, LOTTO 6/49 draws are made using a Random Number Generator (RNG).
All jackpots will be awarded this Saturday
Before the game changes take effect, LOTTO 6/49 players will see a special draw this weekend. This Saturday – September 10 – is the last draw of the current LOTTO 6/49 format. To provide a fresh start to the enhanced game format, all jackpot prizing will be awarded on that draw. There will be no carry-over from the September 10 to September 14 draw.
As always, the jackpot will be awarded to any selections that match all six main numbers on one line. But for this draw only, if there is no winning 6/6 selection, the estimated $10 million jackpot will be divided among winners in the 5/6+Bonus, 5/6, and 4/6 prize categories, in predetermined proportions.
Next Wednesday’s draw will kick off the enhanced format, with a $5 million Classic Draw jackpot and a $10 million Gold Ball Jackpot available to be won.
-30-
LOTTO 6/49 - Backgrounder
This summer, LOTTO 6/49 celebrated its 40th year of play! Launched in June 1982, LOTTO 6/49 was the first Canada-wide “pick your own numbers” lottery game. That first draw was for a Jackpot of $500,000.
Since then, LOTTO 6/49 has grown into a Canadian institution, generating more than $66 Billion in sales, and delivering more than $33 Billion in prizes. From small prizes to the biggest Jackpots, there have been more than 1.6 billion winning tickets across all of Canada over the game’s four decades – including $5.1 billion in prizes to more than 265 million winning tickets in Western Canada.
History
In January 1984, the term “Lotto Fever” was coined to describe the excitement generated by LOTTO 6/49 reaching its highest ever prize at the time: $13,980,588, after rolling for five draws in a row. That jackpot was won by a single ticket in Ontario.
The last major change to LOTTO 6/49 came in September 2013, which introduced the $1M Guaranteed Prize Draw, a new free play prize category, better overall odds, and a jackpot starting at $5M
Who plays?
LOTTO 6/49 players are split roughly evenly between the genders, with the bulk of players being older than 40.
- About 22 per cent of Canadian adults play LOTTO 6/49 weekly.
- 14 per cent of adults play it regularly (at least once a month).
66 per cent of Canadian Adults have purchased a LOTTO 6/49 ticket within the last year.
Big Wins
- The largest ever LOTTO 6/49 jackpot was for $64 Million on the October 17, 2015 draw. It was won by a single ticket in Mississauga, Ontario.
- The largest LOTTO 6/49 jackpot in Western Canada was for $54.3 Million on the October 26, 2005 draw. It was won by a group of 17 oil and gas workers in Camrose, AB.
- The largest LOTTO 6/49 win in Saskatchewan was $20 million, won in Carrot River in 2010
- The largest LOTTO 6/49 win in Manitoba was $27,505,455, won in Fraserwood in 2021
