Amazing Lottery Facts

Are people who live in Toronto luckier than people who live in Squamish?

We decided to get to the bottom of the great lottery debate and find out where Canada's luckiest people are located. The results may surprise you. In fact, the Canadian lottery system, for the most part, is very fair. And your odds at winning the lottery are, yes, equal to being struck by lighting - completely random. But don't just take our word for it, click on the photo below to check out the findings for yourself.

SLIDESHOW: AMAZING LOTTERY FACTS

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The brain doesn't understand the concept of random

According to Andrea Marantz, a spokeswoman for the Western Lottery Gaming Corporation, the majority of numbers that players choose are under 30. This is most likely because numbers are selected according to significant dates, like a birthday or anniversary. As a result, you'll have a higher chance of splitting your winnings with a larger number of people.

Sometimes it's better not to be #1

LOTTO 649, Canada's national lottery, will celebrate its 30^th birthday on June 12^th, and three years ago, in an odd occurrence, there were a series of winners who selected numbers in the 40s range. The outcome of this was thousands of first prizewinners who split the top prize because they selected number sequences. And those who came in second were disappointed because the third prize was much larger than the second prize. The verdict: No specific number will give you an edge.

Location, Population & Sales

According to the OLG, the largest number of winning lottery tickets come from Ontario. But this is not attributed to any kind of gaming bias; it's simply because of its larger population size and a that a greater amount of tickets are purchased in this region. That said, the latest Lotto MAX jackpot winner – and eighth Ontarian in a row to win -- is Toronto's Timothy Schell ($50 million winner). Incidentally, he only moved to the nation's largest city a couple of years ago from Lloydminster. Hmm. ...


Old Faithful

If you think that playing the same numbers over and over again will increase your odds – think again. If you play a particular set of numbers one week and then play them again a week or so later, your odds won't change. When the ball drops from the machine where it lands is entirely random; it doesn't care who you are or how many times you've used your 'lucky' numbers.


Choose your neighbours wisely

In Peers, Alberta the population may be home to only 120 inhabitants, but when it comes to lottery winners they sure can hold their own. In 2005, one resident of Peers won $8.2 million when they played LOTTO 649, and in 2007, their neighbour took home a cool $11 million also playing LOTTO 649.

Saskatchewan can represent

Some of Canada's largest jackpots have come from this province. Take, for example, the $40 million win in Paradise Hill, a village of 486 people, located northwest of Saskatoon, and in the village of Ile-a-la Crosse, population 1600, someone won $25 million. Who says Saskatchewan is nothing but flat?


Northern luck

The Northwest Territories has had its share of lottery winners, too.
This region has had LOTTO 649 winners, MAXMILLIONS winners and plenty of scratch & win prizewinners, including a $100,000 winner hailing from Nunavut.


What's in a name

In 2010, 18-year-old Taylor Witzke, thought she'd just work for a bit to save up for her post-secondary education, after she graduated from high school. Well, a random decision to buy a ticket for Manitoba's Set for Life on her birthday changed all that. She won the $1 million purse -- and it was the first time that she ever played the lottery. Ahh ... beginner's luck!


Oh, this old thing?

Ladies, have you ever switched purses and forgot an item in your other purse? What ever you do, don't throw it out before you've given it a thorough inspection. A woman in Western Canada decided to look through her old purse and by chance she found a forgotten $4 million ticket.


Grandma's got game

A Manitoba woman stopped by a store to purchase a Set for Life scratch & win ticket before she went to watch her grandson's hockey tournament. As a result, she went on to win $1 million. One year later, the same woman bought another scratch & win card before attending the same grandson's hockey tournament, and won another $1 million.