The Lotto Max jackpot for Tuesday night’s draw has grown to a staggering $80 million for the first time in Canadian lottery history.
The record-breaking grand prize grew by $5 million after Friday’s first-ever $75-million jackpot was not won.
Earlier this month, the OLG increased the size of its jackpot cap from $70 million. The cap has now grown by $10-million increments three times since it was first introduced in 2009.
An estimated 18 Maxmillions prizes worth $1 million apiece are also up for grabs in tonight’s draw.
Tickets can be purchased at any participating retailer up until 10:30 p.m.
While picking seven numbers from one to 50 that match the main draw sounds easy, one statistician says it couldn’t be harder.
“If you look at the probability, the chances that you’re going to match those seven numbers that they’re going to pick for the jackpot are just really not that high, and your chances of winning are really very low,” Jeffrey Rosenthal, a statistics professor at the University of Toronto, told CP24 in an interview Tuesday.
The odds of winning the main jackpot, according to the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG), are 1 in 33,294,800.
One $5 ticket gets you three sets of seven numbers that could match those randomly picked in tonight’s draw. According to Rosenthal, there are nearly 100 million different combinations of numbers that could be drawn.
“The reality is, every choice of seven numbers has the same chance of matching [the draw], because they’re picking them randomly. So doesn’t really matter if you pick it yourself or if you use the QuickPick,” he said.
One trick Rosenthal suggested is to avoid picking common numbers, like those associated with birthdays (1-31). That way, if you do win, you’re less likely to have to split the pot with someone else who picked the same.
