Lotto Max

Lotto Max is a Canadian lottery game coordinated by the Interprovincial Lottery Corporation, as one of the country's three national lottery games. Introduced on September 19, 2009, with its first draw occurring on September 25, 2009, the game replaced Lotto Super 7. Lotto Max drawings are held every Friday.

Lotto Max is played similarly to its predecessor, with players selecting seven numbers from a field of 49. A single board costs $5, and each purchased board also includes two additional quick picks. The main drawing features a jackpot prize starting at CDN$10 million. After the jackpot reaches at least $50 million, additional drawings are held for auxiliary "MaxMillions" prizes of $1 million each. MaxMillions prizes are carried over until they are won, and additional MaxMillions prizes are added for each week a main jackpot of at least $50 million is not won. Initially capped at $50 million, the main jackpot is capped at $60 million as of the July 17, 2015 draw. Once a jackpot is won, unclaimed MaxMillions prizes, if any, are placed in the main jackpot on top of the $10 million minimum. As with all Canadian lottery jackpot games, winners receive their prizes in a tax-free lump sum.

The launch of Lotto Max was successful, attracting higher revenue in its first 10 months of operation than Super 7 did in its best year of sales. A representative of OLG attributed Lotto Max's popularity to the size of its total prize pools (which approach the larger jackpots seen in U.S. lotteries), and the perception of consumers that the MaxMillions system increased the probability that they could win a major prize.

Lotto Max is administered by the Interprovincial Lottery Corporation, which works with the five regional lottery corporations owned by the 10 provinces and 3 territories. Retailers receive from the lottery a percentage for tickets sold by their store (the money is not taken from the prizes.) Retailer agreements vary by jurisdiction.

^* When applicable. The 6+/7 pool swells with a $60 million capped jackpot as excess funds not used toward a Maxmillions prize goes into this pool. When a capped jackpot is won, the Maxmillions prizes not won go towards the next jackpot cycle, often resulting in a starting jackpot above $10 million.

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