Canadian 6/49 Lottery

There are 2 lottery games offered nationally in Canada. Lotto 6/49 is one of them. Both of these lottery games are operated by the Interprovincial Lottery Corporation or the "ILC". The ILC is basically an alliance that was formed by all 5 provincial/regional lotteries that exist in the country of Canada. Lotto 6/49 was a pioneer in Canadian lotteries by being the first national lottery in Canada that allowed players to select their own numbers. Prior to Lotto 6/49, Canada offered 3 national games that offered tickets with pre-printed numbers. These lotteries were called the Olympic Lottery, Loto Canada, and Super loto. Lotto 6/49 has been around for quite some time and it dates back to June 12, 1982.

How to Play Lotto 6/49

The name, Lotto 6/49, describes the basics of the game pretty succinctly. A player selects 6 numbers and the winning 6 numbers are randomly selected from a group of 49 numbers. In actuality, there are 7 numbers that are drawn because, in addition to the 6 jackpot numbers, a bonus number is drawn as well. In order to win the main jackpot prize, a player must have selected 6 numbers, on one line, that match the 6 jackpot numbers that were officially drawn. The Bonus number comes in to play for the secondary jackpot which is paid to tickets that hold 5 jackpot numbers and the bonus number.

Lotto 6/49 tickets were originally sold for 1 dollar per line, but in the middle of 2004, they increased it to 2 dollars per line. That is also the time that the ILC increased the minimum jackpot prize to 3 million dollars.

If you would like to play Lotto 649 online you can simply go to this website to buy your lotto ticket online - and you don't have to be a resident of Canada to play the Lotto 6/49.

Odds on Winning the Lotto 6/49

These are the odds and payouts of Lotto 6/49 (if there is a jackpot winner of $30 million, or more):

Prize What it Takes to Win Odds of Winning on a Single $2 Line
The Main Jackpot which is a minimum of $3 million or an 80.5 % share of the total funds in the pool. You must match all 6 jackpot numbers, most commonly referred to as 6 of 6 13,983,816 to 1
A 5.75 % share of the total funds contained in the pool. You must match 5 of the jackpot numbers and the bonus number. This is also known as 5 of 6 + bonus. 2,330,636 to 1
A 4.75 % participation in the total pool’s funds. You must match 5 of the 6 jackpot numbers on a single line (5 of 6). 55,492 to 1
Participation in a share of the 2.75 % pool fund. You must match 4 of the 6 jackpot numbers using only a single line (4 of 6). 1,033 to 1
$10 Prize You must match 3 of 6 jackpot numbers per line (3 of 6). 56.7 to 1
$5 Prize Using a single line you must match 2 of the 6 jackpot numbers and also have the bonus number on the same line. 81.2 to 1
Chance of winning any prize. Odds of winning any prize 32.3 to

In the event that a jackpot of $30 million or more is not won the payouts would be as follows:

 

Prize

What it Takes to Win

Odds of Winning on a Single $2 Line

The Main Jackpot is a minimum of $3 million or a 40 % share of the total funds in the pool.

You must match all 6 jackpot numbers, most commonly referred to as 6 of 6

13,983,816 to 1

A 16 % share of the total funds contained in the pool.

You must match 5 of the jackpot numbers and the bonus number. This is also known as 5 of 6 + bonus.

2,330,636 to 1

A 15 % participation in the total pool’s funds.

You must match 5 of the 6 jackpot numbers on a single line (5 of 6).

55,492 to 1

Participation in a share of the 29 % pool fund.

You must match 4 of the 6 jackpot numbers using only a single line (4 of 6).

1,033 to 1

$10 Prize

You must match 3 of 6 jackpot numbers per line (3 of 6).

56.7 to 1

$5 Prize

Using a single line you must match 2 of the 6 jackpot numbers and also have the bonus number on the same line.

81.2 to 1

Chance of winning any prize.

Odds of winning any prize

32.3 to

 

The Advantages of Playing Lotto 6/49

Like most other lotteries, when the Lotto 6/49 jackpot numbers are drawn and the top jackpot is not won, the jackpot will be increased for the following draw. Even after someone wins the jackpot, the jackpot is still sizable, reverting to the minimum jackpot amount of $3,000,000. The Lotto 6/49 also offers an additional jackpot that is won by having the bonus number and 5 jackpot numbers on your ticket. It is usual for this second jackpot to pay in the range of $100,000 to, as high as, $500,000.

One of the things that make playing Lotto 6/49, is the very large jackpots that come around whenever the jackpot is carried over for a few draws. Lottery ticket sales are always higher when the jackpot gets bigger which makes it quickly spiral upwards. If you are looking for big jackpots then Lotto 6/49 is the ticket to get. Lotto 6/49 holds the record for the highest jackpot in Canadian history. In 2005 on October 26th, the single winning ticket was held by 17 co-workers at a refinery in Camrose, Alberta.

Originally the jackpot was estimated to be 40 million dollars. However, because of the ticket-buying fever in anticipation of the record-breaking jackpot, ticket sales rose to one hundred tickets per minute. The winning numbers of 5, 11, 20, 30, 37, and, 43, paid $54,294,712. The bonus number on that draw was 31.
Lotto 6/49 also holds the Canadian record for the second-largest jackpot that was won on the 21st of February, 2009. These winning numbers were 11, 20, 33, 34, 37, and 39and with a jackpot prize of, a little more than, $50 million. The bonus number was 22. For this jackpot there were 34 winning tickets, 1 of which was sold in Quebec and the other 3 were sold in Ontario.