It took over a month for the Lotto Max jackpot to reach its $70 million maximum, after starting at $10 million on June 23rd and rolling over 11 times. The jackpot was finally won in the July 31st draw after one ticket holder from Thornhill, Ontario matched all seven winning numbers: 8, 16, 19, 22, 28, 31, and 38.
They became the fourth person overall to win the top $70 million prize since the jackpot cap was lifted from $60 million in May 2019 - incredibly, three out of those four winners have come from Ontario. Once the win has been validated by Ontario Lottery and Gaming, the winner’s identity will be disclosed.
In addition to the $70 million jackpot, a further $22 million in MaxMillions prizes was up for grabs. MaxMillions comes into play once the jackpot hits $50 million and offers multiple chances to win $1 million. There’s an additional draw for every $1 million MaxMillions prize, so on July 31st there were 22 MaxMillions draws, taking the prize fund to over $92 million for the night.
Six of those draws produced winners, including one which saw two winners split the million-dollar prize money. The winning tickets for the MaxMillions draws were purchased in British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec, and the Prairies.
The MaxMillions prize money that was not won will be carried over to the next draw on Tuesday August 4th and will be added to the jackpot, which will start at an estimated $26 million as a result.
Although the $70 million jackpot won in Friday’s draw equals the biggest amount ever won, it is not the biggest Lotto Max prize pool to have been given away when you include MaxMillions prizes.
That accolade belongs to the draw that took place on October 26th 2018, when the Lotto Max jackpot hit $60 million - the cap at the time - and an incredible 55 MaxMillions prizes were also offered, taking the total prize pool to $105 million. Twenty-seven of the MaxMillions prizes were won, leaving $28 million to be carried over to the following draw. As the $60 million jackpot was won on that same night, the money was added to the next draw’s starting jackpot, increasing it to $42 million.