OLG reveals where highest-earning lotto tickets were sold in Ontario this year
While there's no sure-fire way to guarantee a winning lotto ticket, Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) has started compiling data on where the highest winning tickets have been sold in the province.
OLG is using a technology called the Data Analysis and Retrieval Technology (DART) system to compile a list of retailers in Ontario who have sold winning tickets of $10,000 or more in an effort to provide more transparency as to where winning tickets are sold and who the winners are.
The data can be searched by the public here.
According to the data, the biggest win of the year was a $70,000,0000 winning ticket sold at Mayer Service in Noelville, Ont. on Feb. 26.
The top ten highest wins, according to OLG’s data, are as follows:
- $70,000,000.00 - Sold at Mayer Service, located at 62 David Street N. in Noelville, on Feb. 26.
- $65,000,000.00 - Sold at Marinas Express Mart, located at 19659 Leslie Street in Sharon, on July 6.
- $50,000,000.00 - Sold at Canadian Tire Gas Bar, located at 1101 Ontario Street in Stratford, on Mar. 16.
- $15,231,359.10 - Sold at Super Convenience, located at 574A Plains Road East in Burlington, on April 13.
- $15,035,008.70 - Sold at J & P Variety, located at 509 Ingersoll Avenue in Woodstock, on Feb.10.
- $15,000,000.00 - Sold at Mac's, located at 16 Government Road East in Kirkland Lake, on April 20.
- $11,401,277.30 - Sold at Pioneer Energy, located at 300 Painted Post Drive in Scarborough, on April 14.
- $9,440,109.40 - Sold at Target Food, located at 128 Queensway West in Simcoe, on June 12.
- $6,000,000.00 - Sold at Fortinos, located at 102 Hwy 8 in Stoney Creek, on Mar. 20.
- $5,000,000.00 - Sold at West End Convenience, located at 499 Dundas Street West in Trenton, on June 2.
The list is not updated daily, OLG says, and could include some discrepancies with recent winners.
“It’s updated using a little bit of automation, but also through what we can input ourselves,” OLG spokesperson Tony Bitonti told CTV News Toronto on Wednesday.
“We have 10,000 retailers across the province. We have more winners than any other region across Canada as well too, so there may be a little bit of lag time in terms of updating the system,” he said.
WHERE ARE THE LUCKIEST RETAILERS?
As it turns out, there is no lucky area of Ontario that sells more winning tickets than others.
“We don't like to say there's lucky areas or unlucky areas because, really, we deal in randomness,” Bitonti said.
Instant tickets are dispersed randomly through the province, well in advance of sales.
“If it's an instant ticket or one of the scratch tickets, those are distributed across the province in a very random way,” he said.
“Tickets like Lotto 649, Lotto Max or Lottario — anything that comes up at the terminal — is generated by the computer, so again, more randomness.”
Bitonti did say, however, that retailers that see higher traffic do tend to generate more winners. Although, this is due to higher populations, not luckier retailers.
“What we do see is high-traffic retailers — retailers that are busy, retailers that have a lot of people coming through tend to have more winners.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'He's in our hearts': Family and friends still seek answers one year after Nathan Wise’s disappearance
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
'My family doctor just fired me': Ontario patients frustrated with de-rostering
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
Ottawa pizzeria places among top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world at international competition
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
Canada Post cracks down on Nunavut loophole to get free Amazon Prime shipping
Amazon's paid subscription service provides free delivery for online shopping across Canada except for remote locations, the company said in an email. While customers in Iqaluit qualify for the offer, all other communities in Nunavut are excluded.
Wildfire near Fort McMurray more than triples overnight, several evacuation alerts remain in place
The fire burning near Fort McMurray grew from 25 hectares to 5,500 hectares over the weekend.
Putin replaces Russian defence minister in rare cabinet shakeup
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin began a Cabinet shakeup on Sunday, proposing the replacement of Sergei Shoigu as defence minister as he begins his fifth term in office.
Suspect sought after fatal slashing in downtown Toronto
Police are searching for a suspect in a homicide investigation after a man was slashed in downtown Toronto on Sunday.
WATCH Dashcam video shows terrifying near-miss on two-lane northern Ontario highway
There were some scary moments for several people on a northern Ontario highway caught on video Thursday after a chain reaction following a truck fire.
Edibles, armchairs and adapters: Here are the recalls for this week
Health Canada announced various product recalls this week, including electric adapters, armchairs, cannabis edibles and vehicle components.