Lotto 649 along with lotto super 7 is Canada’s national lottery. There are two draws each week. The first draw is held every Wednesday and the second draw is held on the following Saturday. Lotto 649 was launched in the year 1982 as a nationwide lottery and since then has made numerous Canadian citizens and citizens of other countries instant millionaires. Lotto 649 needed printed numbers initially; however, with the introduction of 6/49 printed tickets became obsolete.
Lotto 649 as the name suggests requires players to choose six numbers from 1 – 49 and the minimum prize offered is $3 million. A bonus number can also be drawn and this is the seventh number. If a player is able of predict five out of six numbers correctly and the bonus number he or she is declared the winner of the second prize. The winner of the second prize may pocket a cool $100,000 to $500,000. There are many lesser prizes awarded to players who match three numbers and two plus one bonus number. In the event there is no winner for the first prize then the jackpot size increases till there is an eventual winner of the jackpot.
The lotto 649.ca is reasonably prized at $2 per game and this has been increased from the $1, which was charged initially, to offer larger jackpots to players. The minimum jackpot has been jacked up from $2million to $3.5 million. One of the largest jackpots was worth nearly $54 million in Oct, 2005 and it broke the previous record of $37.8 million for super7 for the draw held on17 May, 2002. When the jackpot had hit this level record numbers of tickets were sold in Canada, crossing well over 100 tickets per hour. Close to $100 million worth tickets were sold and the when the draw was declared the winning numbers were 5, 11, 20,30,37,43 and the bonus number was 31.
One of the best administered lotteries in the world lotto 649.ca is run by the Interprovincial Lottery Corporation. This is an alliance of five major provincial and state lottery corporations that cover entire Canada. Each corporation also operates two regional games in addition to the main game; this game is called extra and costs an additional $1 per game. The extra, or encore as it is called in some places, is actually six or seven numbers that are added to the ticket and if the player is lucky and six digits are matched then he or she is eligible for a prize of $100,000 and if all the seven numbers match then the player is entitled to a prize of $1 million.
Lotto 649.ca has become an intrinsic part of Canadian culture and it is very difficult to find even a single Canadian who has not played this game at least once in their lifetime. The lottery is promoted on national television and winners become instant celebrities. Results are eagerly awaited every Wednesday and Saturday evening and get a great deal of local media attention.