Report names Saskatchewan 'unluckiest province' for lottery players
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After crunching recent numbers, an online casino guide is calling Saskatchewan the “unluckiest province” in Canada for lottery winnings.
According to Datslots’ report, which analyzed lottery winnings of $10,000 or more over the past 12 months in three national draws (Lotto Max, Lotto 6/49 and the Daily Grand), Saskatchewan recorded average winnings of $17,360 per 1,000 residents. It said the biggest lottery win in Saskatchewan in the past year was $5 million claimed by a person playing Lotto 6/49 in Saskatoon.
Northwest Territories was ranked below Saskatchewan in the study, with average winnings of $11,438 per 1,000 people — the lowest winnings of any region.
Nunavut was named Canada’s luckiest region, with average winnings of $172,473 per 1,000 people and Alberta came in second with $67,566 per 1,000 people.
In an emailed statement from Lotteries and Gaming Saskatchewan, Sask. Lotteries and the Western Canada Lottery Corporation are “not affiliated with the study and weren’t contacted by the authors of the study regarding its methods or results.”
The statement from Lotteries and Gaming Saskatchewan said lottery draws are completely random and the proportion of major wins by region tends to balance out over time. As a result, over time, one province or region will be no more significantly “lucky” or “unlucky” when it comes to lottery winnings.
According to Lotteries and Gaming Saskatchewan, short-term studies of the distribution of lottery winnings are “much more likely to identify these types of anomalies compared to longer-term studies.”
“For example, although the biggest lottery jackpot win in Saskatchewan over the past year is $5 million, Saskatchewan residents claimed lottery prizes of $20 million, $50 million, and $70 million during the first four months of 2022,” the statement read.
“As a result, a short-term study that included the first four months of 2022 may well have concluded that Saskatchewan was one of the ‘luckiest’ provinces when it comes to major lottery wins.”
Lotteries and Gaming Saskatchewan said Saskatchewan residents have claimed 210 prizes of $10,000 or more on the national lottery games since 2016, totalling nearly $334 million. With regional lottery games added in residents have claimed an additional 958 major prizes, totalling in excess of another $92 million.
