2024-08-28

MONCTON (N.B.) – Retirement plans have been top of mind for Mike MacDonald of Keswick Ridge, N.B. for some time now. While the federal government employee was expecting about six more months of work before hitting the milestone, his timeline just moved up thanks to a $5-million Lotto 6/49 Classic Jackpot win on a ticket he bought through his online account.

“I got up in the morning and checked my email and saw I had won something, but it didn’t say any amount in it,” MacDonald said. “Usually, it says if you won $10 or $20, so I opened the app to check the ticket and saw all kinds of balloons and everything and then saw ‘$5 million.’”

Lotto 6/49 draws take place every Wednesday and Saturday with two multi-million jackpots available to be won. The classic jackpot is always set at $5 million and the Gold Ball jackpot starts at $10 million and can grow past $60 million. The Gold Ball draw guarantees a winning ticket on every draw, with the winner taking home $1 million if a white ball is drawn or the growing Gold Ball jackpot when a gold ball is drawn.

MacDonald’s ticket matched all six of the Classic Draw numbers for the Aug. 21, 2024 draw, resulting in his $5-million jackpot win.

MacDonald immediately shared the good news with his wife, before taking a moment to reconfirm what he saw in the app before continuing the celebrations.

“I had to check the numbers again just to make sure,” MacDonald said. “I’ve never had something like this happen before.”

In addition to moving up his retirement date, MacDonald’s plans include paying off bills, helping the couple’s two adult children and travelling. He is also excited to purchase a new red Jeep, just like the one he had and loved many years ago.

“It’s a strange feeling knowing you’ve won a lot of money,” MacDonald said. “Every day it gets a little bit more real.”

MacDonald purchased his winning Lotto 6/49 ticket on alc.ca.

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Media contact:
Lindsay Meekins
Atlantic Lottery Public Relations Strategist
506-431-6466
lindsay.meekins@alc.ca

Backgrounder: About Lotto 6/49

• Lotto 6/49 holds draws every Wednesday and Saturday with two multi-million jackpots available to be won.
  
  
• Each $3 ticket includes one Classic Draw selection of six numbers players can choose or use Insta Pik to have the numbers selected for them, and a 10-digit computer generated Gold Ball Draw number.
  
  
• The Classic Jackpot is always set at $5 million.
  
  
• The Gold Ball Jackpot starts at $10 million and can grow past $60 million.
  
  
• The Gold Ball draw guarantees a winning ticket on every draw. The winner of the Gold Ball draw will take home either $1 million, or the growing Gold Ball jackpot.
  
  
• For $1 each, players can add TAG and Atlantic 49. These add-on games give you additional chances to win and are only available in Atlantic Canada.