This is the most popular of all lotto games that are played all over the world. It is essentially a game in which you have to draw a combination of six numbers from 1 – 49. Each play costs about $2 and the jackpot grows till it is won by one or more lucky winners. You are able to play up to 10 draws in advance with every draw held on Wednesday and Saturday. However, the draw days may be different in some countries.
Playing the 649 is relatively easy. All you have to do is mark 6/49 in the game box of the selection slip and choose six numbers from 1 – 49. The selection slip has 10 boards with each board costing around $2 each, so, if you play all the 10 boards you will have to shell out $20 and become eligible for a prize worth millions of dollars or pounds. For all those who are not good at drawing the winning combinations or are plain lazy to even think of drawing the six numbers the quick pick option is available. The lottery terminal will randomly pick the six numbers for you.
Let’s assume that the jackpot has grown in size and is worth millions of dollars. If you draw all the six numbers correctly, the odds for which are 1 in 13,983,816 you stand to get almost 80.5% of the pools fund. There are several price categories however you are entitled to any one prize category.
If you happen to draw the correct combination of numbers you are entitled to collect 40% of the pools fund. If you draw five out of the six numbers plus a bonus numbers you are entitled to 16% of the pool fund, in case you draw s/6 numbers your prize is 15 % of the pool fund, four correct numbers will entitle you to a prize of 29% of the pool fund. However, the amount you will actually receive will depend on the number of players who have drawn the combinations correctly.
In all the there are six prizes and the odds begin at 1 in 13,983,816 for the first prize 6/6 and the odds for the 2/6 are as low as 1 in 81. The odds of you winning any one of the above prizes is as low as 1 in 32.
Now a little bit on how the prize money is distributed. The prize pool for lotto is based on the pari-mutual share. This means that total money allocated to a particular category is divided equally amongst all the winners in that particular category. It has been noted that sometimes players select certain number combinations more correctly than others and in such case the prize allocated is less.
Generally the prize money has to be claimed within 12 months of the draw date. The jurisdiction of the local state government or province is applicable.