Lotto Max
Lotto Max is a Canadian lottery game coordinated by the Interprovincial Lottery Corporation, as one of the country's three national lottery games. Introduced on September 19, 2009, with its first draw occurring on September 25, 2009, the game replaced Lotto Super 7. Lotto Max drawings are held every Friday.
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. After the jackpot reaches at least $50 million, additional drawings are held for auxiliary "MaxMillions" 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. Initially capped at $50 million, the main jackpot is capped at $60 million as of the July 17, 2015 draw.[1] Once a jackpot is won, unclaimed MaxMillions prizes, if any, are placed in the main jackpot on top of the $10 million minimum. 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.[1][2]
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 (each combination of numbers has a 1 in 85,900,584 chance of winning; each ticket has three sets of numbers) |
| 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
Main prize
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. At the time, it was the second-largest lottery jackpot in Canadian history, behind a $63.4 million Lotto 6/49 drawing in 2013.[4][5]
The Lotto Max record was first surpassed on September 25, 2015 by the first ever Lotto Max drawing for $60 million, with a single winning ticket sold in Brampton, Ontario.[6][7]
Prize pool
The July 6, 2012 drawing was the first to offer a major prize pool (for matching all 7 numbers exactly) of $100 million, with a $50 million jackpot and 50 of the $1 million Maxmillions prizes.[8] Three consecutive weeks of rollovers fuelled the large payout, which marked the largest Lotto Max drawing under the previous caps.[9] This combination of a $50 million jackpot and 50 of the $1 million Maxmillions prizes, totalling $100 million in main prizes, has been replicated on other occaisions, including June 2015.[10]
A new record was established on the August 12, 2016 draw, with a total major prize pool (for matching all 7 numbers exactly) of $102 million, anchored with the new cap of $60 million for the main jackpot and 42 of the $1 million Maxmillions prizes.[11] The jackpot had rolled over for eight consecutive weeks, fuelling the new prize pool record.[11] The $102 million prize pool figure ($60 million plus 42 of the $1 million Maxmillions) was replicated on the draw of January 6, 2017.[12]
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.
- ↑ "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.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Passifiume, Bryan (2015-06-06). "Calgary Takes Home Share of Record $100 Million". Calgary Sun. Retrieved 2017-01-04.
- 1 2 Slattery, Jill (2016-08-12). "Lotto Max Jackpot could Handout Over $100 Million". Global News. Retrieved 2017-01-04.
- ↑ Staff (2017-01-07). "1 winner for $60 million Lotto Max jackpot, 22 tickets win Maxmillions". Canadian Press. Global News. Retrieved 2017-01-08.