For the fifth time in Canadian lottery history, players will have a shot at a prize in excess of $40 million.
The prize in Lotto 6/49's Saturday draw is estimated to be $43 million, according to Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp.
The winning numbers were announced at 10:15 p.m. Saturday as 9, 13, 20, 29, 45 and 46. The bonus number was 5.
However, if no ticket or tickets win this draw, the prize will roll over into next Wednesday's draw.
The biggest payout ever occurred in October 2005. A group of 17 oil and gas workers from central Alberta split a pot of $54.3 million.
Playing the lottery costs two dollars per selection. OLG said retailers can't validate a ticket unless it's been signed.
One fly in the ointment is that kiosks at several locations across Ontario owned by Info Place, have shut down. Info Place, the owner of the kiosks, has declared bankruptcy. However, an OLG spokesperson said the kiosks only account for about one per cent of lottery ticket sales.
Cynics might say you're spending two dollars to buy a chance to live vicariously for a few days or hours, as the chance of winning a given Lotto 6/49 draw are about one in 14 million. But people said the jackpot is so big, they're willing to take a chance.
Some people go for the so-called Quick Pick, where the machine spits out your numbers, while others have arcane formulas and combinations based on relatives' birthdates.
University of Toronto statistics professor Jeffrey Rosenthal said the technique doesn't matter.
To put the odds of winning in context, "if you pick a Canadian at random, then it's about four times more likely that Canadian will be the prime minister of Canada than it is that you will win the jackpot with one ticket," he said.
But some people do live the lottery dream: William Russell of Milton won $3.8 million on Dec. 17, 2008, OLG said in a Friday news release.
OLG said Ontarians have won more than $8.6 billion in prizes since June 1982, including 1,145 jackpot wins.
With a report from CTV Toronto's Zuraidah Alman
