Yahoo Finance Lotto Max record: $117,000,000 up for grabs in Tuesday's draw in Canada
Lottery history has been made with Canada's biggest top prize pool up for grabs in Tuesday's Lotto Max draw, totalling $117 million.
This include a $70 million Lotto Max jackpot, the cap for the game's top prize, and an estimated 47 Maxmillions prizes, each valued at $1 million.
The jackpot and Maxmillions winnings start rolling after someone wins the jackpot. Two tickets back in April shared a $10 million jackpot and it has been growing since then.
Players can purchase tickets until 10:30 p.m. ET Tuesday, June 8, 2021 for the draw that evening.
How do Maxmillions prizes work?
OLG spokesperson Tony Bitonti explained that when Lotto Max was was formulated, people not only wanted big jackpots but they wanted more people to win smaller prizes.
"That's kind of our Canadian sensibilities," Bitonti told Yahoo Canada.
Maxmillions prizes are based on sales so the more people who buy tickets for the Lotto Max draw, the more prizes are available.
"We can still shatter the record without knowing it until the sales are closed," Bitonti said.
Maxmillions are based on the randomly generated numbers so it is possible for someone to split a prize if there are multiple tickets sold with the same numbers.
If no one wins the jackpot on Tuesday's draw, the Maxmillions variable keeps growing, while the jackpot remains at $70 million.
"People can win all the Maxmillions, it's never happened before, but again, there is that possibility that it could happen," Bitonti said.
Ontario wins the most lottery prizes
While lottery winnings deal with luck and chance, the most lottery tickets are sold in Ontario and Ontarians ultimately win the most prizes.
"In the GTA [Greater Toronto Area], where the most tickets are sold, we win a lot of the prizes," Bitonti revealed.
The last time someone won a Lotto Max jackpot in the Greater Toronto Area was back in December 2020 when someone won $60 million.
"That was a lady who was had come to Canada in the 1980s from Laos and her family worked in a [furniture factory] for years and years and years, and they scrimped and saved to send money back to their family in Laos, and also for their kids here," Bitonti said.
"She's now a multimillionaire. We get life changing stories from anyone from $25,000, $10,000 up to the 50, 60 million, $70 million prizes as well."
The last time someone won the $70 million in Ontario was in February 2021 and it was a couple from the Sudbury area.
What do most people want to do if they win the lottery?
While many people dream of the day they win a massive lottery jackpot, a survey from OLG found that 40 per cent of Ontarians say they "dream of being financially stress free."
A win could certainly afford someone a new house or car, but 39 per cent of people in Ontario would rather spend their money on experiences with family and friends, when it is safe to do so, and 24 per cent want to help family and friends financially.
If money was no object, individuals who participated in this survey said they would splurge on a personal chef (38 per cent), a personal trainer (16 per cent), a personal massage therapist (16 per cent), a personal driver (14 per cent).
