‘Life-changing’ $64M Lotto 6/49 Gold Ball ticket sold in N.B., a new record

Atlantic Lottery is looking for the lucky winner of a ticket worth a record $64 million sold in New Brunswick’s Gloucester County.

In a release, Atlantic Lottery said the ticket is a Gold Ball winner for the April 15 draw of Lotto 6/49. It asked people to check their tickets.

According to Molly Cormier, director of brands and communications at Atlantic Lottery, the draw had the largest 6/49 jackpot in nearly seven-and-a-half years, though she noted Lotto Max jackpots have reached higher levels.

The prize is the largest ever in Atlantic Canada, surpassing a $60-million win in Newfoundland and Labrador in February 2018.

“I can imagine that it will be significant for the winner or the winners that come forward,” Cormier said in an interview.

“Sixty-four million dollars absolutely is life-changing, and for those who play the lottery and who buy Lotto 6/49 tickets, I think everyone has that bit of hope and excitement that it could be them who takes home the jackpot.

“We are just so excited to meet whoever it is, we are still waiting for someone to come forward. There’s someone who bought a ticket in Gloucester County who potentially doesn’t know they are a multi-millionaire right now.”

Gloucester County, in the northeastern corner of the province, contains 19 municipalities. Cormier said Atlantic Lottery is “very purposeful” about advertising at the county level, as there will be a prize claim process when a potential winner comes forward.

“At that point, that’s when we can match up the retain store where it was purchased,” she said. “We will advertise that once we have our winner.”

The Gold Ball draw is a relatively new aspect of the Lotto 6/49 game, having been launched in September 2022.

For that draw, a player receives a unique 10-digit Gold Ball draw number, and one number is drawn at random for all Gold Ball draw numbers issued across Canada.

To determine how much is won, she said there is a draw system that has white balls (worth $1 million each) and one gold ball, which goes up in value each draw until one is selected.

“On Saturday night, we knew that the draw only had two white balls left and the gold ball was in there as well, and it was worth 64 million dollars,” said Cormier.

“Basically, there was a one-in-three opportunity that someone could take home 64 million dollars.”

According to the Atlantic Lottery website, the winning Gold Ball numbers for the April 15 draw are: 93331474-01.

This comes after another recent record-breaking win, after a New Waterford, N.S., woman won $31 million from a ticket she received for her birthday. At the time, it was the biggest prize won in the Maritimes.