EDMONTON- Lotto fever has hit Edmonton.
Based on projected sales, this Saturday’s Lotto 649 jackpot is an estimated $55 million- the largest single jackpot in Canadian history.
Edmontonians lined up at lottery centres across the city Friday, in hopes of getting their hands on a piece of the prize.
“The reason I’m buying a lottery ticket is I just finished writing an exam for my accounting designation and I don’t think it went well, so hopefully this is my way out,” said Brendon Dehan.
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“I want my shot at the $55 million,” said Tabitha Odegard, who doesn’t normally buy lottery tickets. “It’s just really exciting. I’d like to at least have a couple chances.”
And if they win, what will these Edmontonians be spending their money on?
“A house somewhere where I never have to deal with this up and down, 20 centimetres of snow forecast in April,” Dehan said with a laugh.
“A family vacation. And there’s 16 of us all together so it would be a huge family vacation,” said Odegard.
When it comes to big lottery wins, Alberta has been particularly lucky. The three biggest Lotto 649 jackpots have been won by people in our province.
The biggest of those jackpots, and the previous lottery jackpot record in Canada, was $54.3 million, which was won in October 2005 by a group of oilfield workers in Camrose.
The reason this week’s jackpot is so large is because there hasn’t been a Lotto 649 winner for nine consecutive draws, so the top prize has continued to roll over since mid-March.
You’ve still got time to get your hands on a ticket. Lotto 649 sales end at 7:00p.m. Saturday.
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