Lineups likely as Canadians dream of winning $41-million Lotto 6-49 draw
TORONTO — Sales of Lotto 6-49 tickets have jumped by 40 per cent ahead of this weekend’s huge jackpot.
The jackpot is an estimated $41 million and it could be a record-setter for Ontario if it’s won on a single ticket.
Sarah Kiriliuk of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. says $40 million is a “sweet spot” number that drives ticket sales up dramatically.
That means anyone planning to buy a lottery ticket ahead of Saturday’s draw should be prepared for a lineup.
The current estimated $41 million prize would beat the nearly $40.5 million won on a single Lotto 6-49 ticket on Nov. 1, 2008.
Kiriliuk puts the odds of winning Saturday’s prize at about one in 14 million.
To put that in perspective, University of Toronto statistics professor Jeffrey Rosenthal says if you chose someone at random the chances are about four times as likely they will one day be prime minister of Canada as it is that you will win Saturday.
The Canadian record for a Lotto 6-49 prize is $54.3 million won in 2005 by 17 people in Camrose, Alta.
Earlier this week, a 78-year-old man from Oakville, Ont., became Canada’s newest multimillionaire.
Donald MacDonald struck it rich to the tune of $10 million in Friday’s Lotto Max draw and collected his cheque on Tuesday.
Last month, two tickets split a $50-million Lotto Max draw — one in Quebec and the other in British Columbia. Last November, Marie Fontaine of Pine Falls, Man., pocketed a $50-million Lotto Max prize.
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