A First at Loto-Québec! - Québec Residents Win 62 prizes of One Million Dollars or More in 2010-2011: a New Record

Montréal, May 6, 2011 - Loto‑Québec awarded 62 prizes of one million dollars or more to Québec residents during its 2010‑2011 fiscal year. That is twice the number awarded during the previous year, and is a first!

This record is notably due to the popularity of Lotto Max and its Maxmillions concept. In the 2010‑2011 line-up of lotteries with the most winning selections of million-dollar+ prizes in Québec, Lotto Max takes first place with 23 prizes. Extra is in second place with 20 prizes, followed by Lotto 6/49 with 12 prizes. In all, online games resulted in 57 wins of one million dollars or more in Québec. Other games such as special editions and instant lotteries produced five such wins.

Not only did Loto-Québec reach a record number of million‑dollar+ prizes in the April 1, 2010‑March 31, 2011 period, the corporation also paid out the biggest prize ever awarded to a Québec resident, a 37 million dollar Lotto Max jackpot last August. Among the biggest prizes won in Québec during the year were three prizes worth between 20 and 25 million dollars and three prizes worth between 11 and 16 million dollars (see table below).

What purchasing habits led to these wins? More than half the lucky tickets were bought through group play, including one using Formule groupe and two through subscriptions to Lotomatique. In all, more than 200 Québec residents shared major prizes.

Retailers from throughout Québec also profited from these prizes of one million dollars or more, earning a 1% commission on their customers’ winning tickets for a total of more than 2.3 million dollars. This commission is paid by Loto‑Québec to retailers whenever they sell a ticket that wins a prize of $1,000 or more.

Since Loto‑Québec was created in 1970 and as of March 31, 2011, Loto-Québec has received and paid out 1,177 prize claims for amounts of one million dollars or more. The first million-dollar Loto-Québec prizewinner came from a Super Loto draw in 1976.

The 2010‑2011 fiscal year achieved unparalleled performance in terms of jackpots won in Québec. Perhaps chance will be even kinder this year... Since April 1, 2011, Loto-Québec has already awarded 10 prizes of one million dollars or more to Québec residents, including one 17 million-dollar prize and one 16 million-dollar prize.

The 10 biggest prizes awarded in Québec in 2010‑2011:

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Information: 

Jean-Pierre Roy
Media Relations Department
514 499-5151

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