Canadian lottery players are being given the chance to bank a record-breaking cash bonus of over $58.8 million courtesy of Tuesday night’s incarnation of the Lotto Max game. 

Launched in 2009 and administered by the Interprovincial Lottery Corporation, which is jointly owned by Canada’s five provincial lottery commissions, Lotto Max challenges punters to correctly select seven numbers along with a bonus digit from a field of 50 possibilities. 

The competition’s draws take place on Tuesday and Friday evenings and also feature auxiliary MaxMillions prizes of approximately $735,000 if the main jackpot has surpassed a minimum $36.7 million threshold. 

Rewarding Rollover 

The Lotto Max jackpot for Friday’s edition of the draw had stood at a then-record $55.1 million but was immediately rolled over after no one picked the correct numbers. The British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC) revealed this windfall has now been increased by a further $3.7 million to take the potential pay-day up to almost $59 million. 

The BCLC explained Tuesday’s draw is to moreover feature up to 18 MaxMillions prizes, which are to be awarded to anyone who correctly selects the seven winning numbers but fails in their bonus ball pick. The operator disclosed this will take the competition’s overall prize pool to north of $72 million. 

“When the Lotto Max jackpot exceeds $36.7 million, MaxMillions draws will occur and the bonus will continue to grow until the jackpot reaches $58.8 million,” read a statement from the Western Canada Lottery Corporation. “Once this happens, only MaxMillions can grow. To win or share a MaxMillions prize, you must exactly match all seven numbers on one line of your ticket; there are no subsidiary prizes.” 

Productive Prospect 

Lottery aficionados are being reminded they can enter the coming Lotto Max draw, which is destined to have winning odds of about one in 33.2 million, if they are over the age of 18, by visiting the thousands of participating retailers spread across the length and breadth of Canada. 

Tech-savvy punters as well as those located abroad can furthermore buy tickets via multiple online concierge services or by visiting authorized provincial websites such as the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation’s domain at OLG.ca or the BCLC’s PlayNow.com service. 

Although no one scooped the main Lotto Max jackpot on Friday night, the draw did award a number of other large real-money prizes, including a MaxMillions windfall for one lucky punter in the city of Ottawa. The evening additionally saw a pair of secondary awards worth some $209,840 handed over to aficionados in southern Ontario alongside four Encore rewards of about $73,500.