Syndicate of 17 Win $54.3 Million

The $54.3 million Lotto649 Canadian lottery jackpot of Saturday 21 October has been claimed by a syndicate of 17 energy plant workers. Once verified, this would give the syndicate the bonus of becoming the biggest Candian lottery winners on record. The syndicate consists of 2 women and 15 men, and they will share the $54.3 million prize equally, giving them $3.19 million each.

The syndicate is reported to have been playing the lottery for over five years, and members paid $20 each to invest $340 in tickets for the latest draw which had reached record-breaking levels. The highest Canadian jackpot before last Wednesday was $30 million, and was won by a single ticket holder.

The Lotto649 game, which is operated by the Western Canada Lottery Corporation requires players to pick 6 numbers from 1-49. The draw takes place twice each week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and six main numbers plus one bonus ball are selected at random. The more main numbers a player matches, the more they win, as illustrated below:

Match 6 of 6 to win 80.50% of fund	Odds = 1 in 13,983,816
Match 5 of 6 plus the bonus ball to win 5.75% of fund	Odds = 1 in 2,330,636
Match 5 of 6 to win 4.75% of prize fund	Odds = 1 in 55,491
Match 4 of 6 to win 9.00% of prize fund	Odds = 1 in 1,032
Match 3 of 6 to win $10	Odds = 1 in 57
Match 2 of 6 plus the bonus ball to win $5	Odds = 1 in 81

Article Last Updated: 02/08/2007