WATCH ABOVE: This is only the sixth time such a big prize has been put on the table. Vinesh Pratap has more on all the buzz.
EDMONTON – With $100 million up for grabs in this week’s Lotto Max draw, lotto fever has officially hit Edmonton.
“I’ve been hoping and buying and buying,” said Marg Walter, who was buying tickets at West Edmonton Mall Friday.
This week’s prize money is broken up into one $50-million jackpot and 50 $1-million prizes. The last time this much money was up for grabs was in March 2014.
“It’s been steady all week,” said Amir Pradhan, owner of the West Edmonton Mall Market Mini Mart. “We were busy for a while, then we had a little break, then we were busy again. So they come in spurts.
“They’re always looking forward to winning the big one.”
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While winning the “big one” sounds like a dream come true, the odds aren’t exactly in anyone’s favour. If you were to buy one $5 ticket, your odds of winning one of the top prizes is one in 28.6 million. But the odds don’t seem to deter those who love to play and have their sights set on winning big.
“I’d be happy with even $1 million,” said Walter. “I would pay off my debts, give my grandchildren some money and then take a good holiday.”
Fellow lottery player Karla Pawluk is confident she’ll be this week’s big winner.
“It would be amazing. It would be crazy. It would be wonderful. I would be so happy. I wouldn’t even know what to do. I’d be screaming for probably an entire day, if not a week, if not a year.”
Lady Luck has long been on Albertans’ side. Last year in Alberta there was a record 45 lotto prizes topping $1 million, which totalled just over $206 million in winnings. The prize total for Edmonton was $117 million.
READ MORE: ‘I can pay off that parking ticket’: Alberta’s latest $50M lottery winner
This is just the sixth time a $100-million prize has been on the table in Alberta.
With files from Vinesh Pratap, Global News.
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