British Columbia Lottery Corporation is expected to have higher lottery activity as the jackpot for Lotto 6/49 reached a whopping CA$68 million. The provider of lottery products said that it projects 20% higher ticket sales in the game for the record draw on September 27, 2023, in comparison to other mega-sized jackpots over the recent couple of years.
Lotto 6/49 Gold Ball draw is guaranteed to find a winner, as thirty balls – 29 white and one gold are put in the drawing. If the gold bold is randomly selected, one ticket sold for that draw will win CA$10,000,000. If a white ball is chosen, the winner gets CA$1 million and the Gold Ball jackpot increases by CA$2 million for the next draw. The next draw then has 28 white and one gold.
Historic Draw
Wednesday’s September 27, 2023 draw of the nationwide Lotto 6/49 marked the first time since the introduction of the format that all 29 white balls have been drawn before the gold one. Therefore, the next round of the game is guaranteed to feature a maximum Gold Ball jackpot of CA$68 million. The odds of winning it depend on the total number of tickets purchased across Canada.
A spokesperson for the BCLC said that the Crown corporation does not keep real-time statistics on how many tickets it has sold for Wednesday’s draw so far. But even if it did, the exact figures will not be issued to the public to the business interests. The representative explained that the Crown sees an increase in ticket sales when the jackpots reach CA$50 million or higher.
For the occasion of the record-setting main prize, BCLC celebrated the draw with another round of its “Feeling Golder” promotion. It kicked off at noon on Wednesday, and it saw the regulator giving away 6,800 free CA$3 Lotto 6/49 tickets to individuals who wore visibly gold clothing or accessories at BCLC mall lottery kiosks. This does not apply to everyday jewelry.
Canadians Cash Out Lotto 6/49 Payouts
The new and improved version of Lotto 6/49 was officially implanted in September 2022, but this has not stopped Canadians from already cashing out on some amazing prizes from it. The first-ever Gold Ball jackpot in the game was won by the Quebecer – Jean-Marc Poirier. He landed a prize worth a hefty CA$36 million from the October 29, 2022 draw of the popular lottery offering.
Fast-forwarding to February 2023, when the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation reported that three winners with two winning tickets will share a CA$5,000,000 jackpot from the New Year’s Eve draw. The first winning ticket belongs to Debra and Kenneth Skitch from Bowmanville and they have been playing the lottery for over 40 years.
Then the second eligible ticket for the award came from New Tecumseh with the 54-year-old Shane King as the owner of the ticket. Mr. King revealed that he has been playing the lottery for over 10 years now, and shared that his emotion took over once he realized that he is the winner of a sizeable CA$2.5 million windfall from Lotto 6/49.
Source: Holliday, Ian “BCLC expecting 20% increase in ticket sales for record Lotto 6/49 jackpot” CTV News Vancouver, September 27, 2023
