Lotto Max
Lotto Max is a Canadian lottery game coordinated by the Interprovincial Lottery Corporation, a group representing the five regional lotteries that operate in the country. Introduced on September 19, 2009, with its first draw occurring on September 25, 2009, the game replaced Lotto Super 7, and holds drawings on Friday nights.
Lotto Max is played similarly to its predecessor, with players selecting seven numbers from a field of 49. A single board costs $5, and each purchased board also includes two additional quick picks. The main drawing features a jackpot prize starting at CDN$10 million. The jackpot was previously capped at $50 million; beginning with the July 17, 2015 drawing, the maximum jackpot is now $60 million.[1] Once the jackpot prize reaches at least $50 million, "MaxMillions" draws are conducted for prizes of $1 million each. MaxMillions prizes are carried over until they are won, and additional MaxMillions prizes are added for each week a main jackpot of at least $50 million is not won. Once a jackpot is won, unclaimed MaxMillions prizes are placed into the main jackpot for the next drawing (or the jackpot is reset to $10 million if no MaxMillions prizes remain.) As with all Canadian lottery jackpot games, winners receive their prizes in a tax-free lump sum.
The launch of Lotto Max was successful, attracting higher revenue in its first 10 months of operation than Super 7 did in its best year of sales. A representative of OLG attributed Lotto Max's popularity to the size of its total prize pools (which approach the larger jackpots seen in U.S. lotteries), and the perception of consumers that the MaxMillions system increased the probability that they could win a major prize.[2][1]
Organization
Lotto Max is administered by the Interprovincial Lottery Corporation, which works with the five regional lottery corporations owned by the 10 provinces and 3 territories. Retailers receive from the lottery a percentage for tickets sold by their store (the money is not taken from the prizes.) Retailer agreements vary by jurisdiction.
Prize structure
| Match | Prize | Chance of Winning on a C$5 play |
|---|---|---|
| 7/7 | Jackpot Win or share of 89.25% of Pools Fund | 1 in 28,633,528.(by dividing approx. 86 million combinations by 3; odds for each number set are 1 in 85,900,584) |
| 6/7 + bonus number | Win or share of 3.15% of Pools Fund | 1 in 4,090,506.5 |
| 6/7 | Win or share of 3.35% of Pools Fund | 1 in 99,768.7 |
| 5/7 | Share of 4.25% of Pools Fund | 1 in 1,583.96 |
| 4/7 | C$20.00 | 1 in 71.60 |
| 3/7 + bonus number | C$20.00 | 1 in 77.08 |
| 3/7 | Free Play | 1 in 8.421 |
| Maxmillions (7 of 7) (exact match only)* | Win or share C$1 million each set drawn | 1 in 28,633,528. |
* When applicable. The 6+/7 pool swells with a $60 million capped jackpot as excess funds not used toward a Maxmillions prize goes into this pool. When a capped jackpot is won, the Maxmillions prizes not won go towards the next jackpot cycle, often resulting in a starting jackpot above $10 million.[3]
Largest draws
On July 6, 2012, Lotto Max reached a total of $100 million, including 50 potential Maxmillions prizes.[4] Three consecutive weeks of rollovers fueled the draw's massive payout, the largest in Lotto Max history.[5] This situation was repeated in December 2013, March 2014, May 2015 and June 2015 as the total jackpots again hit $100 million.
The July 17, 2015 drawing was the first held under new rules allowing the main jackpot to exceed $50 million.[1] The $55 million prize was won by a group of 20 employees of a Rona store in Quebec. It was the second-largest lottery jackpot in Canadian history, behind a $63.4 million Lotto 6/49 drawing in 2013.[6][7] The record was surpassed as the second-largest on September 25, 2015 by the first ever Lotto Max drawing for $60 million, with a single winning ticket sold in Brampton, Ontario.[8][9]
References
- 1 2 3 "LOTTO MAX NEW $60M JACKPOT CAP" (PDF). BCLC. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
- ↑ "Lotto Max more popular than Super 7". CBC News. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
- ↑ "Lotto Max game description". Western Canada Lottery Corporation. Retrieved 2011-02-08.
- ↑ Austin, Ian (2012-07-06). "Largest prize total in Lotto Max history to be drawn Friday". Edmonton Journal. Retrieved 2012-07-20.
- ↑ "Winning ticket for $50M Lotto Max jackpot sold in Quebec". CBC News. 2012-07-07. Retrieved 2012-07-20.
- ↑ "4 winning tickets sold for $63.4M lotto jackpot". CBC News. The Canadian Press. 13 April 2013. Retrieved 2013-04-14.
- ↑ "20 Rona employees in Quebec share $55-million jackpot". Canadian Press. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
- ↑ "Largest Lotto Max jackpot in Canadian history up for grabs". CBC Calgary. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
- ↑ "One winning ticket was sold in Ontario". CTV News. Bell Media. Retrieved 28 September 2015.