If you thought there were a lot of winning lottery tickets sold in Southwestern Ontario this year, you would be right. However, an OLG spokesperson says it's just the luck of the draw.
"2017 certainly was a good year for Chatham-Kent lottery players, mainly because there were two major jackpot winning tickets -- $26-million in Tilbury and $6.1-million sold in Chatham," says Dita Kuhtey, manager of media relations.
In total there have been seven major lotto wins this year in Chatham-Kent, ranging from $50,000 to $26-million.
The OLG says two of the seven winning tickets are considered "outstanding." One ticket worth $6-million has been claimed but has not been fully paid due to some legal issues. The other ticket worth $1-million from the 6/49 draw on December 23, has yet to be claimed.
Windsor has also had a lot of lotto winners this year. Data shows that there have been 18 prizes handed out, for a total of $17.6-million.
When comparing data from 2017 to previous years, it appears to show a slight pattern in Chatham-Kent and Windsor. In 2014, Chatham-Kent had six major wins, whereas 2015 and 2016 only had four. Windsor also showed a slight dip in 2015 and 2016.
However, Kuhtey says there isn't an actual trend when it comes to tracking the luck in each town or city.
"Though it may seem that some region or city is luckier than another, every ticket has an equal chance to win," she says. "It really comes to the luck of the draw."
Kuhtey adds there is an increase in sales when jackpots are raised. She says more people seemed to have bought more tickets just before the holidays for the $60-million Lotto Max draw.
"Looking at our games nationally from a broad perspective, 66% of all lottery tickets are sold in Ontario and consequently 66% of total lottery winning go out to Ontario players," she says. "So it's just as likely that our next jackpot winner will come from a small town like Wallaceburg or Tilbury, as a big city like Toronto."
Note: Data sent from the OLG on major lotto wins for Chatham-Kent and Windsor are based on prizes of $50,000 or more.