Highest jackpot in Lotto 6/49 history up for grabs this weekend

Someone in Canada is going to win close to $70-million from Lotto 6/49 over the next five days.

The first chance is Saturday, with a Gold Ball jackpot of $66 million, which is the highest ever jackpot in Lotto 6/49 history.

If that jackpot is not won, it will bump up to $68 million on Wednesday, Sept. 27, and the jackpot will have to be one by some lucky lottery player.

If you’re a little confused with how that all works, it’s because of changes to the Lotto 6/49 format that were implemented a year ago.

For the last 12 months, there has been a Classic Draw, where players select their numbers for a chance to win a fixed $5-million jackpot, and a Gold Ball Draw.

The Gold Ball Draw replaced the $1-million guaranteed prize and guarantees that a winner will take home either $1 million or a growing jackpot that starts at $10 million.

That is determined by a draw of 30 balls, 29 of them white and one of them gold.

If a white ball is drawn, the winner gets a $1-million prize and the accumulating jackpot raises $2 million.

As that happens, white balls are not put back in the draw, which means the jackpot can keep going up by $2-million increments if the gold ball is not drawn.

We are now at the point that there are only two balls left in the draw, one white and one gold, which means the gold ball will have to either be drawn Saturday or Wednesday.

If that explanation is a little confusing, you can click this link to see a more informative infographic explanation on the BCLC website.

The bottom line is that a Canadian lottery player will either win $66 million on Saturday or $68 million on Wednesday.

Of course, the $5-million Classic Draw jackpot is still up for grabs for anyone who matches all six numbers on a ticket.

You can buy your Lotto 6/49 ticket at any of the 3,400 lottery retailers in British Columbia, online at PlayNow.com or on the BCLC Lotto! app.