Demystifying the Ontario 49 Lottery: A Comprehensive Guide

Overview

The Ontario 49 Lottery is one of the top lotteries in Canada.  This lottery saw its first draw in 1997 and since 2000 has been run by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation.  Draws for this lottery take place biweekly and offer CAD$2 million every Saturday and Wednesday.  This lottery also has a bonus number that is taken from the same drum as the standard number selection.  This number is only used for the 2^nd and 7^th place prizes. 

History of the Ontario 49

The very first Ontario 49 draw was held on October 1^st, 1997. When the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation was founded in 2000, it began running this lottery.  Since 2006, this organization became known as the OLG.  The OLG runs 9 drawing lottery games throughout the province of Ontario. 

How to Play the Ontario 49

The rules of this lottery game are fairly simple.  First, players will need to choose 6 different numbers.  The numbers can range between 1 and 49 in either 10-block forms or 5-block forms.  Additionally, players can complete 9, 8 or 7 systematic number forms that contain all possible combinations of lines that can occur with the select numbers.  This option will increase the players’ chance of winning a prize in the drawing.  Players can select their numbers in several different ways including manually choosing their numbers or they can use the Quick Pick selection to randomly select their numbers. 

Winning the Ontario 49

During the draw for the Ontario 49, 1 bonus number and 6 standard numbers will be selected from the same lottery number drum.  A jackpot winner is determined when a ticket matches all 6 standard numbers that were selected - no matter what the bonus number is.  Players should keep in mind that the bonus number is only relevant to the 2^nd and 7^th place prizes.  The prize for the Ontario 49 is always fixed at $2 million per drawing.  In addition, the lottery winnings are not taxed.  The odds of winning a prize in this lottery is 1:6.6 while the odds of winning a jackpot prize is 1:14,000,000 

There may be multiple players that win the same prize during the Ontario 49 lottery drawing.  If this occurs with any winning ticket in any category, the prize will be split between all of the winners.  The prizes are split no matter what size they are and include the jackpot prizes.  Winners must claim their prize within 12 months of the date of the drawing.