A Lotto 6/49 play costs $3 and enters you in two draws at once: the Classic Draw, with a $5 million jackpot, and the Gold Ball Draw, which has a guaranteed winner every time. Draws are on Wednesday and Saturday.
The Classic Draw
In the Classic Draw you pick 6 numbers from 1 to 49. The Classic jackpot is always $5 million, and the odds of winning it are 1 in 13,983,816. Matching fewer numbers wins smaller prizes.
The Gold Ball Draw
Every play also carries a number for the Gold Ball Draw, so you are entered automatically. The draw uses 30 balls: 29 white and 1 gold. If a white ball comes out, the matching ticket wins $1 million. If the gold ball comes out, it wins the Gold Ball jackpot.
The Gold Ball jackpot starts at $10 million and grows by $2 million with each draw until the gold ball is picked. It can grow to more than $60 million. Because one ball is always drawn, every draw has a guaranteed winner of either $1 million or the jackpot.
This format began with the draw on Wednesday, September 14, 2022.
EXTRA and ticket deadlines
For $1 more, you can add EXTRA, with a top prize of $250,000.
In western Canada, tickets are sold until 9:30 pm CT, 8:30 pm MT or 7:30 pm PT on draw day. If you buy after the cut-off, your play goes into the next draw.
The two draws work very differently. The Classic jackpot odds stay the same every draw, while the Gold Ball Draw guarantees a winner but spreads the chance across everyone who plays. Either way, a lottery ticket is entertainment, not a plan: set a budget and keep to it.
Gambling is for adults (19+ in most provinces, 18+ in Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec) and costs money; free, confidential help is available from ConnexOntario on 1-866-531-2600 or your provincial helpline.
