Winning ticket puts record-setting Lotto 6/49 money where its Whitemouth is

A small town in eastern Manitoba is abuzz with excitement after one of its residents claimed a record $46-million jackpot in last Saturday’s Lotto 6/49 gold ball draw.

Dileep Kumar, who owns First Stop Grocers in Whitemouth, said the lucky ticket was purchased at his store by a regular customer, who returned Tuesday to scan the ticket and find out if he was a winner.

“I felt really happy for him when he won that jackpot,” Kumar told the Free Press Thursday. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing.”

“It wasn’t $46,000, it was $46 million.”

Kumar wasn’t at the store when the man checked his ticket. One of Kumar’s employees called to inform him a customer had won a $46,000 prize in the national lottery game.

“I was like, ‘OK — $46,000,’ and then I got another call (from the employee). It wasn’t $46,000, it was $46 million,” Kumar said. “(The ticket holder) was very happy, and we took some pictures with him.”

The winning number in Saturday’s gold ball draw was 24182524-02. Western Canada Lottery Corp. has not revealed the community where the ticket was purchased nor any information about the winner or winners.

WCLC spokeswoman Emily Olsen said the prize claim had just begun as of Thursday, with details to be released to the public once the process is complete and verified.

Largest Lotto 6/49 gold ball jackpot

Olsen confirmed it is the largest Lotto 6/49 gold ball jackpot ever won in Manitoba. The previous record holder was Fraserwood resident Keith Spulnick’s $27.5-million win in May 2021.

The Free Press is not naming the man who contacted the lottery corporation to claim Saturday’s jackpot. The man could not be reached for comment Thursday.

A distant relative and residents who know the man told the Free Press they were excited for him.

“It is, for sure, exciting,” said the distant relative, who didn’t want to comment further.

Whitemouth, an unincorporated urban centre about 80 kilometres east of Winnipeg, had a population of nearly 400 as of the 2021 census. The wider Rural Municipality of Whitemouth was home to 1,630 people.

“The buzz around town is, of course, everybody is pretty excited,” said RM of Whitemouth Reeve Walter Amerongen. “For something like this to happen in our community is a pretty big deal.”

A lottery prize of this magnitude has probably never been awarded to someone from Whitemouth, he said.

Duncan McDougald, a councillor for the RM, agreed the lottery win was the talk of the town.

“Everybody is quite happy for the winner,” he said.

No bonus commission on winnings

WCLC is a non-profit organization that manages, conducts and operates lottery and gaming-related activities for its members, including the Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta governments.

Olsen said Lotto Spot retailers (in Manitoba, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut) do not make a commission on winning tickets. The retailers make their commission on ticket sales.

A Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries spokesperson said lottery retailers earn a five per cent commission on the sale of draw-based lottery, Scratch and Win, and Sport Select tickets, as well as a two per cent redemption for all prizes paid up to $1,000. They may also receive bonus commissions ranging from an additional one to 3.5 per cent depending on their lottery sales volumes.

Some of WCLC’s counterparts in Canada award a set bonus commission or percentage-based seller’s prize to retailers on winning tickets, noted Kumar, who has owned First Stop Grocers in Whitemouth for about four months.

He had lived in Ontario, where he said retailers receive a bonus commission when they sell top prize-winning tickets. Atlantic Lottery Corp. awards a one per cent seller’s prize to retailers.

Kumar said Manitoba retailers should receive similar bonuses when they sell top prize-winning tickets.

“We are putting the same efforts as the retailers in other provinces,” he said.

Next jackpot $12 million

Lotto 6/49, which launched in 1982, is played on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The game evolved in 2022 to include the gold ball jackpot, alongside the classic jackpot.

For every $3 entry, a ticket holder receives a six-number selection for the classic draw and a 10-digit gold ball draw selection.

While the classic jackpot is always $5 million, the gold ball prize starts at $10 million and increases by $2 million each draw until the gold ball is drawn. The prize can exceed $60 million.

Each round starts with 30 balls (one gold and 29 white). The Wednesday or Saturday draw’s prize is $1 million if a white ball is drawn.

Each white ball that is drawn is removed from play, improving the odds of winning the gold ball jackpot, WCLC said.

The game resets once the gold ball jackpot is won. All 30 balls go back in, and the starting prize returns to $10 million.

WCLC said the odds of winning a gold ball draw are one out of the number of selections issued for that draw.

The current gold ball jackpot is $12 million ahead of this Saturday’s draw, after a white ball was drawn Wednesday night.

The EXTRA, a separate draw with a top prize of $250,000, can be added to a ticket for an additional $1.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca

Chris Kitching
Reporter

Chris Kitching is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He began his newspaper career in 2001, with stops in Winnipeg, Toronto and London, England, along the way. After returning to Winnipeg, he joined the Free Press in 2021, and now covers a little bit of everything for the newspaper. Read more about Chris.

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